News

Body Odor of Depressed Individuals

OMES – Olfactory Mechanisms of Empathic Stress

Touch and Neural Networks in the Context of Social Processes and Stress Reduction – Funded by the European Research Council (ERC) Consolidator Grant

Mental illnesses are among the most common and particularly debilitating widespread diseases.

This book takes us deep into the world of the sense of touch and explains how closely touch is linked to our brain, our behavior, and our health.

Antonie Bierling defended her doctoral thesis on the topic “From Molecule to Social Interaction - Development of a Chemical Perceptual Space of Olfactory Perception” with summa cum laude. We are all happy for her.

What does depression feel like—and what helps to combat it? Under the motto “New Perspectives,” Friedrich Schiller University Jena is hosting an open information day on depression on November 11, 2025, from 4 to 6 p.m.

Information on current events and publications.

Our recently published databases on odor perception have been received internationally, for example in an article in American Scientist.t.

We had a lot of fun and put our hearts and souls into organizing the international conference of the Association for the Study of Affective Touch in Jena, which was attended by over a hundred participants from four continents. Many thanks to all the helpers, speakers, and guests. It was a pleasure to welcome you all.

EU-funded Project

Inter-brain synchronization during social interactions - A BMBF-funded project of the German Center for Mental Health