PhD, Instructor in Medicine, Franziska Plessow
Past: PI B5
Contact information
Harvard Clinical and Translational Science Center
Massachusetts General Hospital
Neuroendocrine Unit, BUL, 457B
55 Fruit St
Boston MA 02114, USA
Research Statement
My research addresses the capabilities and limitations of cognitive control with focus on the recruitment and regulation of cognitive control processes in day-to-day load situations (e.g., acute or chronic stress, chronic sleep curtailment, and non-optimal time of day). Using biopsychological approaches, I investigate psychoneuroendocrine and psychoneuroimmunological influences on prefrontal cortex-(PFC-)dependent cognitive functions as well as the role of the PFC in stress and emotion regulation.
Scientific Education
| 12/2011 | Dr. rer. nat. (Ph.D.) in Psychology, Dresden University of Technology, Dresden, Germany (thesis supervisor: Clemens Kirschbaum, Ph.D.) |
| 08/2007 | Diploma in Psychology, Humboldt University of Berlin, Berlin, Germany (thesis supervisor: Torsten Schubert, Ph.D.) |
Professional Experience
| 07/2012-09/2012 | Visiting postdoctoral research fellow, Center for Cognitive Neuroscience, Duke University, Durham, NC, USA (Tobias Egner, Ph.D.) and Cognitive Neuroscience Laboratory, Queens College, City University of New York, Flushing, NY, USA (Jin Fan, Ph.D.) |
| Since 01/2012 | Postdoctoral research fellow, Institute of General Psychology, Biopsychology, and Psychological Research Methods, Dresden University of Technology, Dresden, Germany |
| 08/2007 – 12/2011 | Research associate, Chair of Biopsychology, Dresden University of Technology, Dresden, Germany |
Other Scientific Activities, Honors, Awards
| 2012 | Postdoctoral fellowship for a research visit at the Center for Cognitive Neuroscience, Duke University, Durham, NC, USA (Tobias Egner, Ph.D.) and the Cognitive Neuroscience Laboratory, Queens College, City University of New York, Flushing, NY, USA (Jin Fan, Ph.D.), G. A. Lienert Foundation |
| 2012 | Werner Straub Dissertation Award for an outstanding doctoral thesis, Department of Psychology, Dresden University of Technology, Dresden, Germany |
| 2009 | Conference travel fellowship: 50th Annual Meeting of the Psychonomic Society, Boston, MA, USA, Association of Friends and Sponsors of the Dresden University of Technology |
| 2008 | Award for an outstanding diploma degree, Department of Psychology, Humboldt University of Berlin, Berlin, Germany |
| 2003 | Graduate fellowship for a study and research stay at the University of Glasgow, Glasgow, United Kingdom, German National Academic Foundation |
| 2001 – 2006 | Graduate scholarship, German National Academic Foundation |
Selected Publications
Plessow, F., Kiesel, A., & Kirschbaum, C. (2012). The stressed prefrontal cortex and goal-directed behaviour: Acute psychosocial stress impairs the flexible implementation of task goals. Experimental Brain Research, 216, 397-408. doi: 10.1007/s00221-011-2943-1
Plessow, F., Schade, S., Kirschbaum, C., & Fischer, R. (2012). Better not to deal with two tasks at the same time when stressed? Acute psychosocial stress reduces task shielding in dual-task performance. Cognitive, Affective, & Behavioral Neuroscience, 12, 557-570. doi: 10.3758/s13415-012-0098-6
Plessow, F., Fischer, R., Kirschbaum, C., & Goschke, T. (2011). Inflexibly focused under stress: Acute psychosocial stress increases shielding of action goals at the expense of reduced cognitive flexibility with increasing time lag to the stressor. Journal of Cognitive Neuroscience, 23, 3218-3227. doi: 10.1162/jocn_a_00024
Plessow, F., Kiesel, A., Petzold, A., & Kirschbaum, C. (2011). Chronic sleep curtailment impairs the flexible implementation of task goals in new parents. Journal of Sleep Research, 20, 279-287. doi: 10.1111/j.1365-2869.2010.00878.x
Fischer, R., Plessow, F., Kunde, W., & Kiesel, A. (2010). Trial-to-trial modulations of the Simon effect in conditions of attentional limitations: Evidence from dual tasks. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Human Perception and Performance, 36, 1576-1594. doi: 10.1037/a0019326