Virtual Reality Therapy and Medical Technology

Management

Dr. Niclas Braun; https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Niclas-Braun

Deputy Management

Dr. Marie Atzor; https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Marie-Christin-Atzor

Research Interest

The research group’s goal is to develop and refine VR-based diagnostic and therapeutic methods for mental disorders and to conduct multimodal studies of these methods. The research group also addresses various issues in medical technology, particularly the development and efficacy testing of digital health applications, the conduct of mobile sensing studies, and digitally supported women’s health (FemTech).

Research areas

Development of new examination and therapy approaches for ADHD, panic disorder & agoraphobia, anxiety disorders, depression and obsessive-compulsive disorders.
Experimental studies on the psychopathology and plasticity of the self by means of different body-transfer illusions (e.g. supernumerary limb illusion und resized limb illusion) in dissociative disorders and psychoses.
Multimodal investigation (including EEG, EDA, EMG, ECG, actigraphy, eye tracking and fNIRS) of VR experiments.
Therapeutic testing of electrostimulatory procedures (especially tACS).
Research focus Digital Health Applications (DiGA) and Therapy-Apps.
Mobile sensing using smartphones and health trackers for ADHD and depression.

Currently running research projects

1. Virtual Reality Therapy

Body transfer illusions in dissociative disorders: a series of VR experiments
Virtual reality-based symptom characterization using complex motor tracking in adult ADHD and depression
The Influence of Peritraumatic Perception on the Formation of Intrusive Memories
Usability and clinical potential of a VR scenario for addressing the inner critic
AI-assisted virtual therapists: development of a first prototype

2. FemTec Innovationen

ADHD cycle: ADHD symptoms in menstruation cycle

3. Digital Interventions (DiGAs)

Digital-assisted therapy in depression
Mobile sensing and ecological momentary assessment in ADHD
hiFoon: emotion tracking with ADHD
ADHD @work: Functioning and Challenges in the Workplace

Team

PD Dr. Niclas Braun, research group leader ()
Dr. Marie Atzor, second research group leader ()
Dr. Tobiasz Kaduk, research associate
Dr. Tatiana Goregliad-Fjaellingsdal, research associate
Dr. Max Pensel, medical staff
Julian Pakos, research associate (PhD Candidate)
Laura Marie Asché, research associate (PhD Candidate)
Vivien Manteufel, PhD Candidate

Alumni

Publications (Selection)

Asché, Laura; Pakos, Julian; Schrage, Hannah; Schuder, Johanna; Jung, Luisa; Sanchez, Dario et al. (2026): Multimodal Virtual Reality Assessment of Medication Effects in Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder and Its Distinction From Depression: Cross-Sectional Study. In: JMIR human factors 13, e85351. DOI: 10.2196/85351.
Großmann, Anna; Wiebe, Annika; Edlinger, Nina; Philipsen, Alexandra; Braun, Niclas; Bey, Katharina (2025): Assessment of sense of agency in obsessive-compulsive disorder using a virtual reality stove-checking paradigm. In: Journal of Obsessive-Compulsive and Related Disorders 45, S. 100940. DOI: 10.1016/j.jocrd.2025.100940.
Guth, Matthias; Wiebe, Annika; Ekhlas-Schumann, Mogda; Rodenjohann, Alexa; Rohlfsen, Felicia; Buchholz, Jacqueline et al. (2025): Mobile App-Guided Exposure Therapy for Panic Disorder With and Without Agoraphobia: Randomized Controlled Trial. In: Journal of medical Internet research 27, e76389. DOI: 10.2196/76389.
Wiebe, A., Aslan, B., Brockmann, C., Lepartz, A., Dudek, D., Kannen, K., Selaskowski, B., Lux, S., Ettinger, U., Philipsen, A., Braun, N (2023). Multimodal Assessment of Adult Attention-Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder: A Controlled Virtual Seminar Room Study. Clinical Psychology & Psychotherapy. http://doi.org/10.1002/cpp.2863
*Wiebe A, *Kannen K, *Selaskowski B, Mehren A, Thöne AK, Pramme L, Blumenthal N, Li M, Asché L, Jonas S, Bey K, Schulze M, Steffens M, Pensel MC, Guth M, Rohlfsen F, Ekhlas M, Lügering H, Fileccia H, Pakos J, Lux S, Philipsen A, Braun N. (2022). Virtual reality in the diagnostic and therapy for mental disorders: A systematic review. Clinical Psychology Review, 98, 102213. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cpr.2022.102213 *shared first authorship
Vollständige Liste

Cooperations national and international (Selection)

National Cooperations

Prof. Dr. Stephan Jonas, Universitätsklinikum Bonn, Institut für Digitale Medizin
Prof. Dr. Ulrich Ettinger, Universität Bonn, Allgemeine Psychologie I
Prof. Reinhard Klein, Universität Bonn
Prof. Matthias Hullin, Universität Bonn
Prof. Dr. Dr. Dominik Bach, Universität Bonn
Prof. Mario Botsch, TU Dortmund
Prof. Dr. Chris Davey (University Melbourne)

Industrial Cooperations

BelleHealth
Medice
Neurocast

External Funding

2025: Neurocast (Auftragsforschung): Association between passively recorded smartphone interactions and the severity of ADHD symptoms
2023: InVirtuo (NRW-Verbundprojekt): InVirtuo 4.0 - Experimentelle Forschung in virtuellen Umgebungen
2022: DAISY (BMBF-Verbundprojekt): Developing AI ecosystems improving diagnosis and care of mental diseases
2022: iBehave, IP9 (BMBF-Verbundprojekt): Deciphering heterogeneity and subtyping of ADHD by translational multimodal deep behavioral phenotyping
2020: BONFOR, Instrument 2: VR-based and eyetracking-assisted attention refocusing training for ADHD patients

Prices and Awards

DIVR XR Science Award 2023 in the category „Athletic Performance, Psychology & Health“ with the topic „Virtueller Seminarraum für die Diagnostik und Therapie der ADHS im Erwachsenenalter"
Research grant of Elfriede-Dietrich-Stiftung 2024 to Dr. Max Christian Pensel for conducting a study titled „The impact of peritraumatic perception on the formation of intrusive memories“
MIB Future Panel 2025 Research Grant Awarded to Dr. Marie Atzor and Dr. Victoria Schöffel: “Adapting ADHD Treatment for Women to Account for Hormonal Changes During the Menstrual Cycle (Digital Health)”
1st place Pitch-Night, One full membership at the Digitalhub Bonn, Accelerator Program 12/2025

Contact

Students with relevant academic backgrounds (including psychology, cognitive science, medicine, and computer science) who are interested in completing a research internship in our research group, or who would like to write their master’s or doctoral thesis on a clinical, computational, or neuropsychological topic in the fields of virtual reality, mobile sensing, or app development, are welcome to contact us at .

Broadcast and print media coverage

“Heilen mit VR-Brille” von Janosch Deeg, Gehirn & Geist, 21.08.2025.
“Terra Xplore mit Leon Windscheid & Lola Weippert – Haben jetzt alle ADHS”, ZDF-Dokumentation vom 06.10.2025
„Hirschhausens Check-Up: Hirschhausen und ADHS“, ARD-Dokumentation vom 30.10.2023
“Virtual reality can induce mild and transient symptoms of depersonalization and derealization, study finds”, Interview mit PsyPost vom 02.04.2022
"Virtual Reality - Schöne neue Welt?", Phoenix-Dokumentation vom 22.01.2020
"Mit Apps gegen die Angst: Aus dem Diga-Verzeichnis des Bundesinstituts für Arzneimittel und Medizinprodukte", BR24 Gesundheitsmagazin vom 1.8.2021

Opportunities for internships and theses

Students with relevant academic backgrounds (including those in psychology, cognitive science, medicine, or computer science) who are interested in completing a research internship in our group or writing their master’s or doctoral thesis on one of our research topics are welcome to contact us at .

Current Job Postings

We welcome unsolicited applications related to our research group's areas of focus at any time ()

In the field of Virtual Reality and Artificial Intelligence

In the field of ADHD @ work

Ways to participate

The VR Laboratory and the Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy are constantly conducting new studies and are always looking for new participants of all ages and genders. Please click on the link below to view a list of all studies currently underway at the department for which participants are still being sought, as well as to sign up for the study applicant pool.