Lisa Weckesser
© Lisa Weckesser
Post-Doc
NameDr. Lisa Weckesser
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Visiting address:
Falkenbrunnen, 3. Etage, Raum 338 Chemnitzer Str. 46a
01187 Dresden
Office hours:
upon request
Currently on parental leave until December 2021
Research interests
Stress, cognition, psychopharmacology, addictive behaviours & disorders
Research Statement
So far I was primarily interested in how acute stress impacts on cognitive processing in humans. Based on animal research, one promising neurophysiological mechanism of stress-induced alterations of cognitive processing relies on the stress hormone cortisol and its modulation of glutamatergic neurotransmission across the N-Methyl-D-Aspartate receptor (NMDAR). In my PhD thesis, I started to validate this putative route of stress and cortisol action on NMDAR-related cognitive processes in humans (e.g., on perceptual decision-making) by combining pharmacological and psychosocial interventions to experimentally manipulate both, acute stress and the presumed neurophysiological mediators of its effects on cognitive processing (i.e., cortisol or NMDAR). In perspective, I would like to use this basic knowledge on stress and stress mechanisms to examine the (modulatory) role of stress in the development and maintenance of addictive behaviour and disorders.
Short Biography
Since October 2019, Lisa holds a postdoc position at the Chair of Addiction Research. Before that, she completed her clinical training as psychological psychotherapist at the University Hospital Dresden and made her PhD at the Chair of Biopsychology, Technische Universität Dresden (separated by a parental leave). Lisa studied psychology at the University of Erlangen-Nürnberg, the imperial College London and the Technische Universität Dresden.
Professional Experience
Since 10/2019 Postdoc, Chair of Addiction Research,
Technische Universität Dresden
12/2020 – 03/2022 Parental leave
07/2018 – 06/2019 Psychological psychotherapist (in training),
Addiction & Memory outpatient clinic,
University Hospital Dresden
11/2017 – 06/2018 Parental leave
04/2017 – 09/2019 Postdoc, Chair of Biopsychology, Technische Universität Dresden
10/2013 – 03/2017 PhD student, Chair of Biopsychology,
Technische Universität Dresden
10/2008 – 09/2013 Studies of Psychology, University of Erlangen-Nürnberg
(bachelor) and Technische Universität Dresden (degree: diploma)
06/2010 – 09/2013 Research assistant, Chair of Biopsychology,
Technische Universität Dresden
03/2012 – 04/2012 Internship, Chair of Pharmacology and Toxicology,
Univeristy Hospital Carl-Gustav Carus, Dresden
03/2010 – 08/2010 Internship, Chair of Perinatal Psychobiology,
Imperial College London
12/2007 – 07/2008 Voluntary Year of Social Service, Krankenhaus-Waldfriede,
Berlin
11/2007 Internship, Clinic of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy,
Krankenhaus Berlin-Spandau, Berlin
Research funds and awards
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Research Grant, German Research Foundation (WE-6465/4-1, ~260.000,00 €)
- Research Grant, German Research Foundation (WE-6465/2-1; ~265.000 €)
- Maria-Reiche scholarship for Postdocs, Technische Universität Dresden (~87.000 €)
- Centralized research and equal opportunity fund, Technische Universität Dresden (~10.000€)
- Scholarship for PhD completion; Graduate Academy Dresden
- Travel Award for attending the 46th ISPNE conference in Miami, USA; DAAD
- Travel Award for attending the 44th ISPNE conference in Montreal, CA; Association of Friends and Sponsors of the Technische Universität Dresden
- Karl-und-Charlotte-Bühler Awards for outstanding diploma and PhD theses
- Certification for the administration and scoring of the “Bayle Scale of Infant and Toddler Development TM (III)”, Addenbrooke’s hospital, Cambridge
Publications
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Möschl, M., Schmidt, K., Enge, S., Weckesser, L. J., & Miller, R. (2022). Chronic stress and executive functioning: A specification-curve analysis. Physiology & behavior, 243, 113639.
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Weckesser, L. J. , Schmidt, K., Möschl, M., Kirschbaum, C., Enge, S., & Miller, R. (2021). Temporal stability and effect dynamics between executive functions, perceived chronic stress and hair cortisol concentrations. Developmental Psychology, 57(7),1149.
- Weckesser, L. J. , Miller, R. & Kirschbaum, C. (2020). Trier Social Stress Test. In: Gellman M.D., Turner J.R. (eds) Encyclopedia of Behavioral Medicine. Springer, New York, NY
- Muehlhan, M., Alexander, N., Trautmann, S., Weckesser, L. J., Vogel, S., Kirschbaum, C., & Miller, R. (2020). Cortisol secretion predicts functional macro-scale connectivity of the visual cortex: A data-driven Multivoxel Pattern Analysis (MVPA). Psychoneuroendocrinology, 104695.
- Weckesser, L. J., Dietz, F., Schmidt, K., Grass, J., Kirschbaum, C., & Miller, R. (2019). The psychometric properties and temporal dynamics of subjective stress, retrospectively assessed by different informants and questionnaires, and hair cortisol concentrations. Scientific Reports, 9(1), 1098.
- Miller, R., Wojtyniak, J. G., Weckesser, L. J., Alexander, N. C., Engert, V., & Lehr, T. (2018). How to disentangle psychobiological stress reactivity and recovery: A comparison of model-based and non-compartmental analyses of cortisol concentrations. Psychoneuroendocrinology, 90, 194-210.
- Weckesser, L. J., Enge, S., Riedel, P., Kirschbaum, C., & Miller, R. (2017). NMDA receptor modulation by dextromethorphan and acute stress selectively alters electroencephalographic indicators of partial report processing. European Neuropsychopharmacology, 27(10), 1042-1053.
- Weckesser, L. J., Alexander, N. C., Kirschbaum, C., Mennigen, E., & Miller, R. (2016). Hydrocortisone counteracts adverse stress effects on dual-task performance by improving visual sensory processes. Journal of Cognitive Neuroscience, 28(11), 1784-1803.
- Miller, R.*, Weckesser, L. J.*, Smolka, M. N., Kirschbaum, C., & Plessow, F. (2015). Hydrocortisone accelerates the decay of iconic memory traces: On the modulation of executive and stimulus-driven constituents of sensory information maintenance. Psychoneuroendocrinology, 53, 148-158. (*shared first authorship)
- Weckesser, L. J., Plessow, F., Pilhatsch, M., Muehlhan, M., Kirschbaum, C., & Miller, R. (2014). Do venepuncture procedures induce cortisol responses? A review, study, and synthesis for stress research. Psychoneuroendocrinology, 46, 88-99.