Research Project

My dissertation is embedded in a DFG-funded project on mechanisms of deviance processing.

Experimentally, deviance processing can be investigated by using oddball paradigms. In these paradigms, a rare deviant stimulus is presented interspersed in a frequent stream of standard stimuli. When comparing neural activity elicited by the deviant to the standard stimulus, deviance-related increased brain responses are observed, namely the mismatch negativity (MMN) and the P3. On a mechanistic level, the framework of predictive processing explains this higher activity for deviant stimuli via a mismatch of expectations and sensory input. The deviant stimulus is unexpected compared to the standard and does thus elicit a higher prediction error. A competing approach is the adaptation hypothesis. This framework states that MMN can be explained by refractoriness of neural populations towards the standard stimulus. Previously non-adapted neurons respond once the deviant stimulus is presented, eliciting an N1. Therefore, the adaptation hypothesis states that the MMN is part of a modulated N1. It is widely accepted that MMN is generated partly by both, adaptation and prediction mechanisms and recent studies have shown that the extent of prediction and adaptation mechanisms vary with manipulating task-relevance and awareness as well as with the hierarchical processing level. However, it is unclear if the contribution of both mechanisms varies systematically. Further, the spatiotemporal generation process of MMN and which variables moderate this process is largely unknown. I aim to investigate the spatiotemporal generation process of MMN and to which extent prediction and adaptation contribute in generating MMN using EEG, fMRI and neurocomputational modeling.

PhD Committee

Prof. Dr. Thomas Straube
Dr. Insa Schloßmacher
Apl. Prof. Dr. Jens Bölte

Publications

Agus Khorisantono, P., Fondberg, R., Lundström, J. N., Seubert, J., Achs, L., Friedrich, N. N., Harenbrock, J., Hog, L., Persson, J., & Weber, M.-C. (2024). Dissociable effects of hunger, exposure and sensory overlap on flavour liking. Food Quality and Preference, 105211. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.foodqual.2024.105211

Harenbrock, J., Forthmann, B., & Holling, H. (2023). Retest Reliability of Situational Judgment Tests. Journal of Personnel Psychology, 22(4), 169–184. https://doi.org/10.1027/1866-5888/a000323

Harenbrock, J., Holling, H., Reid, G., & Koychev, I. (2023). A meta-analysis of the relationship between sleep and β-Amyloid biomarkers in Alzheimer’s disease. Biomarkers in Neuropsychiatry, 9, 100068. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.bionps.2023.100068

Schrammen, E., Roesmann, K., Rosenbaum, D., Redlich, R., Harenbrock, J., Dannlowski, U., & Leehr, E. J. (2022). Functional neural changes associated with psychotherapy in anxiety disorders – A meta-analysis of longitudinal fMRI studies. Neuroscience & Biobehavioral Reviews, 142, 104895. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.neubiorev.2022.104895

Conference Contributions

Harenbrock, J., Dellert, T., Straube, T., & Schloßmacher, I. (2024). Differential auditory mismatch responses depending on awareness and task relevance. Talk at the 49th Annual Meeting “Psychologie und Gehirn”, Hamburg, Germany.

Harenbrock, J., Kambestad, O., Holling, H., Nordhus, I. H., Visted, E., Sørensen, L., Osnes, B., Bjerrum, L., Jansen, K., Flo-Groeneboom, E. (2023). The acute effects of different light modalities on alertness and cognitive performance: A systematic review and meta-analysis. Talk at the eSleep Europe Virtual Congress 2023.

CV

*1999 Münster, Germany
2017-2020 Bachelor studies in Psychology at the University of Münster, Germany
2020-2023

Master studies in Psychology with specialization in Cognitive Neurosciences

at the University of Münster, Germany

2019-2022

Student Assistant at the Department of Statistics and Methods,

Institute of Psychology, University of Münster

since 2023

Beginning of PhD research project at the Institute of Medical Psychology and

Systems Neuroscience, University of Münster