Kupferberg

NEUROSCIENTIST WITH A PASSION FOR CLINICAL RESEARCH

After spending 6 semesters studying neurobiology and analysing neural correlates of basic motor and cognitive functions, I realized the importance of a better understanding of the neural processes underlying human behavior and its dysfunctions. Therefore, in parallel to neurobiology, I applied for the Master Program “Elite Study of Neuro-Cognitive Psychology” at the Ludwig-Maximilians-University and was very happy to be accepted into the first cohort of students.

After one year of intensive courses in cognitive and clinical psychology I have been given a chance to write my bachelor thesis at the Department of Psychiatry under the supervision of Prof. Dr. R. Engel. I investigated the suppression of unwanted memories in post-traumatic stress disorder using behavioural and brain imaging methods, which additionally strengthened my interest in clinical research.

I received my doctoral degree from the Graduate School of Systemic Neuroscience at the Ludwig-Maximilians-University. My dissertation focused on motor resonance and goal attribution during action observation of biological and artificial agents. After finishing my PhD I have been offered a postdoc position at the University Hospital of Psychiatry in Bern, which I gladly accepted, because it allowed me to work with clinical patients. I am currently investigating social behaviour in individuals suffering from depression. To this end, I perform experiments using fMRI to detect changes in neural activity related to competition avoidance in depressed individuals vs. healthy controls. Further, I am interested in testing the effect of cognitive training of mental health and social behaviour. In a new study which has been brought to life based on the cooperation with various scientific departments, I aim to test the effect of multimodal hearing therapy offed by KOJ-institute on mental health, life satisfaction and relationships with family and friends in hearing-impaired individuals.

Dr. Alexandra Kupferberg, Head of Science, Medical Science Liaison, Associate University of Bern

My last
publications

  1. Kupferberg A, Iacoboni M, Flanagin V, Huber M, Kasparbauer A, Schmidt F, Borst C,Glasauer S Action- and goal-specific fronto-parietal activation during observation of actions performed by artificial agents and humans. Hum Brain Mapp. 2017;00:1–18.
  2. Kupferberg A, Preuss N, Hasler G (2017) Verwendung ökonomischer Spiele für die Diagnostik psychischer Erkrankungen. Zeitschrift für Psychiatrie, Psychologie und Psychotherapie 65(1), 1–10.
  3. Kupferberg A, Bicks L and Hasler G (2016) Social functioning in the major depressive disorder. Neurosci Biobehav Rev. 6:313-332. doi: 10.1016/j.neubiorev.2016.07.002.
  4. Kupferberg A, Hager O, Fischbacher U, Brändle L, Haynes M, Hasler G (2016) Testing the social competition hypothesis of depression using a simple economic game. BJPsych Open 2:163-169.
  5. Kupferberg A. (2013) Of men, monkeys, and machines: Behavioral and neural correlates of goal understanding in humans and non-human primates. Dissertation, LMU München: Graduate School of Systemic Neurosciences (GSN)
  6. Kupferberg A, Glasauer S, Burkart JM (2013) Do robots have goals? How agent cues influence action understanding in non-human primates. Behav Brain Res. 1:47-54. doi: 10.1016/j.bbr.2013.01.047
  7. Huber M, Kupferberg A, Lenz C, Knoll A, Brandt T, Glasauer S (2013) Spatiotemporal movement planning and rapid adaptation for manual interaction. PLoS ONE 8(5):e64982. doi:10.1371/journal.pon
  8. Burkart J, Kupferberg A, Glasauer S, van Schaik C (2012) Even simple forms of social learning require intention attribution in marmoset monkeys. Journal of Comparative Psychology, 126:129-138.
  9. Kupferberg A, Huber M, Helfer B, Lenz C, Knoll A, Glasauer S (2012) Moving Just Like You: Motor Interference Depends on Similar Motility of Agent and Observer. PLoS ONE 7(6): e39637.
  10. Kupferberg A, Glasauer S, Huber M (2011) Accessing robot acceptance by motor interference. In: Advances in Interaction Studies (Dautenhahn K, Cangelosi A, Eds.), pp. 165–184.
  11. Kupferberg A, Glasauer S, Huber M, Rickert M, Knoll A, Brandt T (2010) Biological movement velocity profile increases acceptance of humanoid robots as human partners in motor interaction. AI & Society, 26 :339-345.
  12. Kupferberg A, Glasauer S, Huber M, Rickert M, Knoll A, Brandt T (2009) Video observation of humanoid robot movements elicits motor interference. In: Proceedings New Frontiers in Human-Robot Interaction (Dautenhahn K, Ed.), SSAISB: The Society for the Study of Artificial Intelligence and the Simulation of Behaviour ISBN – 190295680X, Edinburgh, pp 81-85.
  13. Kupferberg A, Glasauer S, Stein A, Brandt T (2009) Influence of uninformative visual cues on gravity perception. Ann NY Acad Sci 1164:403–405.
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