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Prof. Dr. Adriane Icenhour

Department of Affective Neuroscience
Faculty of Medicine
Ruhr University Bochum
Universitätsstr. 105
44789 Bochum

Room: 1/135
Phone: +49 (0)234 32-27285
Email: adriane.icenhour@ruhr-uni-bochum.de


Homepage
orcid.org/0000-0001-6323-0960
Prof. Dr. Adriane Icenhour
Prof. Dr. Adriane Icenhour
Research Interests

My research focuses on how our brain processes signals from inside our body such as the gastrointestinal tract, how these interact with our thoughts and feelings along the gut-brain axis, and in what way these close connections shape our behavior. Stress, anxiety, and fear, as well as learning and memory processes, play an essential role in these processes and are crucially involved in disorders of gut-brain communication and in chronic abdominal pain. My translational research approaches at the interfaces of psychology, neurogastroenterology and the neurosciences with close links to clinical fields are in part pursued in a project of the SFB 1280 "Extinction Learning". In experimental studies with healthy subjects and patient groups, I combine different brain imaging methods with psychological, psychophysiological, neuroendocrine, and behavioral measures to gain more holistic insights into the complex relationships along the gut-brain axis and to develop a deeper understanding of phenomena that shape chronic pain.

Öhlmann, H., Lanters, L. R., Theysohn, N., Langhorst, J., Engler, H., Icenhour, A., & Elsenbruch, S. (2023). Distinct Alterations in Central Pain Processing of Visceral and Somatic Pain in Quiescent Ulcerative Colitis Compared to Irritable Bowel Syndrome and Health. Journal of Crohn's & Colitis, 17(10), 1639–1651. https://doi.org/10.1093/ecco-jcc/jjad080

Benson, S., Theysohn, N., Kleine-Borgmann, J., Rebernik, L., Icenhour, A., & Elsenbruch, S. (2022). Positive Treatment Expectations Shape Perceived Medication Efficacy in a Translational Placebo Paradigm for the Gut-Brain Axis. Frontiers in Psychiatry, 13, 824468. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyt.2022.824468

Icenhour, A., Petrakova, L., Hazzan, N., Theysohn, N., Merz, C. J. & Elsenbruch, S. (2021). When gut feelings teach the brain to fear pain: Context-dependent activation of the central fear network in a novel interoceptive conditioning paradigm. NeuroImage, 238, 118229. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.neuroimage.2021.118229

Koenen, L. R., Pawlik, R. J., Icenhour, A., Petrakova, L., Forkmann, K., Theysohn, N., Engler, H. & Elsenbruch, S. (2021). Associative learning and extinction of conditioned threat predictors across sensory modalities. Communications biology, 4(1). https://doi.org/10.1038/s42003-021-02008-1

Norlin, A., Walter, S., Icenhour, A., Keita, Å. V., Elsenbruch, S., Bednarska, O., Jones, M. P., Simon, R. & Engström, M. (2021). Fatigue in irritable bowel syndrome is associated with plasma levels of TNF-α and mesocorticolimbic connectivity. Brain Behavior and Immunity, 92, 211–220. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.bbi.2020.11.035

Icenhour, A., Labrenz, F., Roderigo, T., Benson, S., & Elsenbruch, S. (2020). The Role of Chronic Stress in Normal Visceroception: Insights From an Experimental Visceral Pain Study in Healthy Volunteers. Frontiers in Psychiatry, 11, 107. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyt.2020.00107

Bednarska, O., Icenhour, A., Tapper, S., Witt, S. T., Tisell, A., Lundberg, P., Elsenbruch, S., Engström, M., & Walter, S. (2019). Reduced excitatory neurotransmitter levels in anterior insulae are associated with abdominal pain in irritable bowel syndrome. Pain, 160(9), 2004–2012. https://doi.org/10.1097/j.pain.0000000000001589

Icenhour, A., Tapper, S., Bednarska, O., Witt, S. T., Tisell, A., Lundberg, P., Elsenbruch, S., & Walter, S. (2019). Elucidating the putative link between prefrontal neurotransmission, functional connectivity, and affective symptoms in irritable bowel syndrome. Scientific Reports, 9(1), 13590. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-019-50024-3

Icenhour, A., Witt, S. T., Elsenbruch, S., Lowén, M., Engström, M., Tillisch, K., Mayer, E. A., & Walter, S. (2017). Brain functional connectivity is associated with visceral sensitivity in women with Irritable Bowel Syndrome. NeuroImage. Clinical, 15, 449–457. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.nicl.2017.06.001

Icenhour, A., Labrenz, F., Ritter, C., Theysohn, N., Forsting, M., Bingel, U., & Elsenbruch, S. (2017). Learning by experience? Visceral pain-related neural and behavioral responses in a classical conditioning paradigm. Neurogastroenterology and Motility : The Official Journal of the European Gastrointestinal Motility Society, 29(6). https://doi.org/10.1111/nmo.13026