NEMO Research Group - Rene Hurlemann

Rene Hurlemann, MSc MD PhD

René Hurlemann (*17/09/1973 in Cologne) graduated from University of Bonn Medical School, where he received his MD in 2001 for his thesis «Timing of intracranial memory-related event-related potentials in temporal lobe epilepsy». In 2006, he completed a postgraduate MSc in Affective Neuroscience at the Universities of Maastricht and Florence. In 2007, he obtained his PhD from Maastricht University for his thesis «The costs and benefits of emotional memory formation». In 2008, he received the Board Certificate in Psychiatry and became a consultant (attending) psychiatrist at the Department of Psychiatry of the University of Bonn. In 2009, he was promoted to Associate Director of the International Master in Affective Neuroscience program at the Universities of Maastricht and Florence. In 2010, he achieved the venia docendi (Habilitation) in Psychiatry for his thesis «Neurobiological markers of increased vulnerability to psychosis: Evidence from structural and functional imaging». Currently, his wide-ranging clinical responsibilities include the 24-bed inpatient unit for the treatment of affective disorders (Station Schneider; 2 residents) and the diamorphine outpatient clinic for heroin-assisted treatment (3 residents). Academic honors include an outstanding cum laude from Maastricht University for his PhD thesis and the Gerd-Huber-Award 2008 for his radioligand PET studies in patients with early psychosis. His research is funded by the German Research Foundation (DFG) and a Starting Independent Researcher Grant jointly provided by the Ministry of Innovation, Science, Research, and Technology of the German State of North-Rhine Westfalia (MIWFT) and the University of Bonn. He has lectured on the neurobiology of anxiety, depression, schizophrenia, and the experimental modulation of emotion and cognition. He serves as Reviewing Editor for Frontiers in Behavioral Neuroscience and as ad-hoc referee for several public funding agencies [including DFG, Medical Research Council (MRC), National Institute for Health Research (NIHR), and European Research Council (ERC)] and 30 international peer-reviewed journals [including Biological Psychiatry, Current Biology, JAMA Psychiatry, Molecular Psychiatry, The American Journal of Psychiatry, and The Journal of Neuroscience (frequent reviewer)]. He is member of the Society for Neuroscience (SfN), Society of Biological Psychiatry (SoBP), Society for Social Neuroscience (S4SN), German Society for Psychiatry, Psychotherapy, and Nervous Diseases (DGPPN), German Society of Biological Psychiatry (DGBP), and associate member of the Faculty of 1000 Post-Publication Peer Review Board of Psychiatry. René Hurlemann has been appointed 2013 Helen C. Levitt Visiting Professor at the University of Iowa College of Medicine (Department of Psychiatry).

Representative publications as first or senior author

Hurlemann R, Hawellek B, Matusch A, Kolsch H, Wollersen H, Madea B, Vogeley K, Maier W, Dolan RJ (2005) Noradrenergic modulation of emotion-induced forgetting and remembering. The Journal of Neuroscience 25: 6343 - 6349 [IF 7.506] PDF
Kukolja J, Schlaepfer TE, Keysers C, Klingmüller, Maier W, Fink GR, Hurlemann R (2008) Modeling a negative response bias in the human amygdala by noradrenergic–glucocorticoid interactions. The Journal of Neuroscience 28: 12868 - 12876 [IF 7.452] PDF Supporting Information Link
Onur OA, Schlaepfer TE, Kukolja J, Bauer A, Jeung H, Patin A, Otte DM, Shah NJ, Maier W, Kendrick KM, Fink GR, Hurlemann R (2010) The NMDA receptor co-agonist D-cycloserine facilitates declarative learning and hippocampal activity in humans. Biological Psychiatry 67: 1205 - 1211 [IF 8.674] PDF Supporting Information Link
Hurlemann R, Patin A, Onur OA, Cohen MX, Baumgartner T, Metzler S, Dziobek I, Gallinat J, Wagner M, Maier W, Kendrick KM (2010) Oxytocin enhances amygdala-dependent, socially reinforced learning and emotional empathy in humans. The Journal of Neuroscience 30: 4999 - 5007 [IF 7.271] PDF Supporting Information Link Research Highlight: Nature (2010) 464: 1107 PDF Journal Club Feature: The Journal of Neuroscience (2010) 30: 9347 - 9348 PDF & PDF Research in Germany - Land of Ideas PDF
Striepens N, Kendrick KM, Maier W, Hurlemann R (2011) Prosocial effects of oxytocin and clinical evidence for its therapeutic potential. Frontiers in Neuroendocrinology 32: 426 - 450 [IF 11.429] PDF
Becker B, Mihov Y, Scheele D, Kendrick KM, Feinstein JS, Matusch A, Aydin M, Reich H, Urbach H, Oros-Peusquens AM, Shah NJ, Kunz WS, Schlaepfer TE, Zilles K, Maier W, Hurlemann R (2012) Fear processing and social networking in the absence of a functional amygdala. Biological Psychiatry 72: 70 - 77 [IF 8.283] PDF Supporting Information PDF Cover art based on this article Link
Scheele D, Mihov Y, Kendrick KM, Feinstein JS, Reich H, Maier W, Hurlemann R (2012) Amygdala lesion profoundly alters altruistic punishment. Biological Psychiatry 72: e5 - e7 [IF 8.283] PDF
Striepens N, Scheele D, Kendrick KM, Becker B, Schaefer L, Schwalba K, Reul J, Maier W, Hurlemann R (2012) Oxytocin facilitates protective responses to aversive social stimuli in males. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences USA (PNAS) 109: 18144 - 18149 [IF 9.681] PDF Supporting Information PDF
Scheele D, Striepens E, Güntürkün O, Deutschländer S, Maier W, Kendrick KM, Hurlemann R (2012) Oxytocin modulates social distance between males and females. The Journal of Neuroscience 32: 16074 - 16079 [IF 7.115] PDF Research Highlight: Nature (2012) 492: 157 PDF News Focus: Science (2013) 339: 267 - 269 PDF Society for Neuroscience (SfN) press release PDF Research in Germany - Land of Ideas PDF
Mihov Y, Kendrick KM, Becker B, Zschernack J, Reich H, Maier W, Keysers C, Hurlemann R (2013) Mirroring fear in the absence of a functional amygdala. Biological Psychiatry 73: e9 - e11 [IF 8.283] PDF
Becker B, Scheele D, Moessner R, Maier W, Hurlemann R (2013) Deciphering the neural signature of conversion blindness. The American Journal of Psychiatry 170: 121 - 122 [IF 12.539] PDF
*Feinstein JS, *Buzza C, *Hurlemann R, Dahdaleh NS, Follmer RL, Coryell WH, Welsh MJ, Tranel D, Wemmie JA (2013) Fear and panic in humans with bilateral amygdala damage. Nature Neuroscience 16: 270 - 272 [IF 15.531] (*co-lead authors) PDF

Representative publications as co-author

Strange BA, Hurlemann R, Dolan RJ (2003) An emotion-induced retrograde amnesia in humans is amygdala- and β-adrenergic-dependent. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences USA (PNAS) 100: 13626 - 13631 [IF 10.272] PDF Supporting Information Link Comment in PNAS PDF Evaluated as 'must read' (article factor 8) by Faculty of 1000 Neuroscience Link
Bewernick B, Hurlemann R, Matusch A, Kayser S, Hadrysiewics B, Axmacher N, Grubert C, Lemke M, Cooper-Mahkorn D, Cohen MX, Brockmann H, Lenartz D, Sturm V, Schlaepfer TE (2010) Nucleus accumbens deep brain stimulation decreases ratings of depression and anxiety in treatment-resistent depression. Biological Psychiatry 67: 110 - 116 [IF 8.674] PDF Supporting Information Link
Yamasue H, Yee JR, Hurlemann R, Rilling JK, Chen FS, Meyer-Lindenberg A, Tost H (2012) Integrative approaches utilizing oxytocin to enhance prosocial behavior: from animal and human social behavior to autistic social dysfunction. The Journal of Neuroscience 32: 14109 - 14117 [IF 7.115] PDF