At the 54th DGPs Congress in Luxembourg, a symposium led by Prof. Dr. Christian Merz (project lead A09) and Prof. Dr. Adriane Icenhour (project lead A10) will explore how findings on extinction learning can be translated into clinical practice. The focus will be on the role of stress, cognition, and interoception in the development and maintenance of anxiety and pain disorders, as well as potential approaches to improving exposure therapies.

In five presentations, researchers will examine, among other topics, the influence of stress hormones on extinction memories, the significance of cognitive factors in anxiety disorders, and mechanisms of pain-related and visceral anxiety learning. In addition, the symposium will examine how acute and chronic inflammatory processes influence learning and memory processes and can thereby contribute to the maintenance of pain.

The symposium thus highlights the close connection between basic research and clinical application: A better understanding of extinction learning is intended to help develop new therapeutic strategies for patients with anxiety disorders as well as somatic and visceral pain conditions. The long-standing connection to the DGPs is also evident: Prof. Dr. Onur Güntürkün (project lead A01, F01, Z, Ö) served as congress coordinator of the DGPs’ 2014 conference, which was held in Bochum that year.

The DGP Congress will take place in Luxembourg from September 7 to 10, 2026; the symposium is scheduled for September 7 at 4:30 p.m