Prof. Dr. med. Birgit Abler

Oberärztin

Leitung Ärztl. Psychotherapie | Leitung der Kotherapie

E-Mail: birgit.abler@uni-ulm.de

Telefon: 0731 500-61411
Telefax: 0731 500-61412

 

 

Klinische Schwerpunkte
  • Persönlichkeitsstörungen, insbesondere Borderline
  • Posttraumatische Belastungsstörung
  • Dialektisch behaviorale Therapie (DBT) nach M. Linehan
Wissenschaftliche Schwerpunkte
  • Borderline Persönlichkeitsstörung
  • Nichtsuizidale Selbstverletzung
  • funktionelle Bildgebung von Salienz-, Belohnungs- und Stressverarbeitung
  • Endocannabinoidsystem
Qualifikationen
  • Fachärztin für Psychiatrie und Psychotherapie
  • Master of Health Business Administration (MHBA)
  • Zusatzbezeichnung Suchtmedizin 
  • DBT Therapeutin
  • anerkannte Supervisorin für Verhaltenstherapie
  • IFA-Gruppenleiterin
  • Weiterbildungsberechtigung für die fachgebundene Psychotherapie im vollen Umfang, gemeinsam mit Prof. Connemann

Prof. Dr. med. Birgit Abler studierte in Ulm und Oulu (Finnland) Humanmedizin. Die Weiterbildung zur Fachärztin für Psychiatrie und Psychotherapie absolvierte sie an der hiesigen Klinik bei Prof. Dr. Dr. M. Spitzer und am Rehabilitationskrankenhaus Ulm sowie am McLean Hospital, Belmont, USA. Sie ist seit 01/2009 als Oberärztin tätig. 2010 Zusatzbezeichnung Suchtmedizin und DGPPN-Zertifikat „Psychiatrie, Psychotherapie und Psychosomatik im Konsiliar- und Liaisondienst“, 2011 Master of Health Business Administration, Univ. Erlangen Nürnberg, 2012 DBT Therapeutin, 2013 Supervisorenausbildung für Verhaltenstherapie. Seit 2015 Vertrauensdozentin der Studienstiftung des deutschen Volkes, weiterhin seit 2015 Leiterin der ärztlichen Weiterbildung am AWIP.

Originalarbeiten

Herwig U, Abler B, Schönfeldt-Lecuona C, Wunderlich A, Grothe J, Spitzer M, Walter H (2003) Verbal storage in a premotor–parietal network: evidence from fMRI-guided magnetic stimulation. NeuroImage 20:1032–1041.

Abler B, Walter H, Erk S (2005) Neural correlates of Frustration. Neuroreport 16:669-672.

Abler B, Walter H, Wunderlich A, Grothe J, Schönfeldt-Lecuona C, Spitzer M, Herwig U (2005) Side effects of transcranial magnetic stimulation biased task performance in a cognitive neuroscience study. Brain Topogr 17:193-196.

Abler B, Roebroeck A, Höse A, Schoenfeldt C, Walter H (2006) Investigating directed influences between activated brain areas in fMRI in a motor-response task. Magn Reson Imaging 24:181-5.

Abler B, Walter H, Erk S, Kammerer H, Spitzer M (2006) Prediction error coded as a linear function of reward probability in human nucleus accumbens. Neuroimage 31:790-5.

Erk S, Abler B, Walter H (2006) Cognitive modulation of emotion anticipation. Eur J Neurosci 24:1227-1236.

Herwig U, Abler B, Walter H, Erk S (2007) Expecting unpleasant stimuli – an fMRI study. Psychiat Res 154:1-12.

Abler B, Erk S, Herwig U, Walter H (2007) Anticipation of aversive stimuli activates extended amygdala in unipolar depression J Psychiatr Res 41:511-22.

Abler B, Erk S, Walter H (2007) Human reward system activation is modulated by a single dose of Olanzapine in healthy subjects. Psychopharmacology 191:823-33.

Herwig U, Baumgärtner T, Kaffenberger T, Brühl A, Kottlow M, Schreiter-Gasser U, Abler B, Jäncke L, Rufer M (2007) Modulation of anticipatory emotion and perception processing by cognitive control Neuroimage 37:652-662.

Herwig U, Fallgatter AJ, Höppner J, Eschweiler GW, Kron M, Hajak G, Padberg F, Naderi-Heiden A, Abler B, Eichhammer P, Grossheinrich N, Hay B, Kammer T, Langguth B, Laske C, Plewnia C, Richter MM, Schulz M, Unterecker S, Zinke A, Spitzer M, Schönfeldt-Lecuona C (2007)  Antidepressant transcranial magnetic stimulation – A randomized double-blind multicenter trial Brit J Psychiat 191:441-448.

Abler B, Greenhouse I, Ongur D, Walter H, Heckers S (2008) Abnormal reward system activation in mania Neuropsychopharmacol 33: 2217-2227.

Abler B, Hofer C, Viviani R (2008) Habitual emotion regulation strategies correlate with baseline perfusion in medial prefrontal cortex Neuroreport 19:21-24.

Erk S, Walter H, Abler B (2008) Age-related physiological responses to emotion anticipation and exposure Neuroreport 19:447-52.

Staudinger M, Erk S, Abler B, Walter H (2009) Cognitive reappraisal modulates expected value and prediction error encoding in the ventral striatum Neuroimage 47: 713-21.

Walter H, Kammerer G, Frasch K, Spitzer M, Abler B (2009) Altered reward functions in patients on atypical antipsychotic medication in line with the revised dopamine hypothesis of schizophrenia Psychopharmacology, 206:121-32.

Abler B, Hahlbrock R, Unrath A, Grön G, Kassubek J (2009) At risk for pathological gambling: Imaging neural reward processing under chronic dopamine agonists Brain, 132:2396-402.

Abler B, Kessler H (2009) Emotion Regulation Questionnaire – Eine deutsche Fassung des ERQ von Gross & John Diagnostica, 55,144-152.

Abler B, Herrnberger B, Grön G, Spitzer M (2009) From uncertainty to reward: BOLD characteristics differentiate signaling pathways. BMC Neurosci, 10:154.

Abler B, Hofer C, Walter H, Erk S, Hoffmann H, Traue HC, Kessler H (2010) Habitual emotion regulation strategies and depressive symptoms in healthy subjects predict fMRI brain activation patterns related to major depression. Psychiatry Res, 183(2):105-13.

Walter H, Heckers S, Kassubek J, Erk S, Frasch K, Abler B (2010) Further evidence for aberrant prefrontal salience coding in schizophrenia. Front Behav Neurosci, 3:62.

Metzger CD, Eckert U, Steiner J, Sartorius A, Buchmann JE, Stadler J, Tempelmann C, Speck O, Bogerts B, Abler B, Walter M (2010) High field FMRI reveals thalamocortical integration of segregated cognitive and emotional processing in mediodorsal and intralaminar thalamic nuclei Front Neuroanat, 4:138.

Graf H, Abler B, Freudenmann R, Beschoner P, Schaeffeler E, Spitzer M, Schwab M, Grön G (2011) Neural Correlates of Error Monitoring Modulated by Atomoxetine in Healthy Volunteers.Biol Psychiatry, 69(9):890-7.

Abler B*, Seeringer A*, Hartmann A, Grön G, Metzger C, Walter M, Stingl JC (2011) Neural correlates of antidepressant-related sexual dysfunction: a placebo-controlled fMRI study on healthy males under subchronic paroxetine and bupropion Neuropsychopharmacol,36(9):1837-47. *equally contributed

Kessler H, Doyen-Waldecker C, Hofer C, Hoffmann H, Traue HC, Abler B (2011) Neural correlates of the perception of dynamic versus static facial expressions of emotion Psychosoc Med, 8:Doc03.

Abler B, Grön G, Hartmann A, Metzger C, Walter M (2012) Modulation of Frontostriatal Interaction Aligns with Reduced Primary Reward Processing under Serotonergic Drugs J Neurosci, 32(4):1329-35.

Sala MN, Molina P, Abler B, Kessler H, Vanbrabant L, Schoot van de, R (2012) Measurement invariance of the Emotion Regulation Questionnaire (ERQ). A cross national validity study Eur J Develop Psychol, 1-7.

Viviani R, Abler B, Seeringer A, Stingl JC (2012) Effect of paroxetine and bupropion on human resting brain perfusion: An arterial spin labelling study Neuroimage, 61:773-9

Lernbass B, Grön G, Wolf ND, Abler B (2013) Cigarette smoking modulates medication-associated deficits in a monetary reward task in patients with schizophrenia Eur Arch Psych Clin Neurosc 263:509-17.

Metzger CD, Walter M, Graf H, Abler B (2013) SSRI-related modulation of sexual functioning is predicted by pre-treatment resting state functional connectivity in healthy men Arch Sex Behav. 42(6):935-47.

Viviani R, Graf H, Wiegers M, Abler B (2013) Effects of amisulpride on human resting cerebral perfusion Psychopharmacology (Berl). 229(1):95-103.

Abler B, Kumpfmüller D, Grön G, Walter M, Stingl J, Seeringer A (2013) Neural correlates of erotic stimulation under different levels of female sexual hormones PLoS One. 8(2):e54447.

Graf H, Abler B, Hartmann A, Metzger CD, Walter M (2013) Modulation of attention network activation under antidepressant agents in healthy subjects Int J Neuropsychopharmacol. 16(6):1219-30.

Bonenberger M, Groschwitz RC, Kumpfmueller D, Groen G, Plener PL, Abler B (2013) It's all about money: oral contraception alters neural reward processing. Neuroreport. 24(17):951-5.

Graf H, Abler B, Weydt P, Kammer T, Plener PL (2014) Development, implementation, and evaluation of a movie-based curriculum to teach psychopathology Teach Learn Med. 26(1):86-9.

Malejko K, Weydt P, Süßmuth SD, Grön G, Landwehrmeyer BG, Abler B (2014) Prodromal huntington disease as a model for functional compensation of early neurodegeneration. PLoS One. 26;9(12):e114569.

Herkt D, Tumani V, Grön G, Kammer T, Hofmann A, Abler B (2014) Facilitating access to emotions: neural signature of EMDR stimulation. PLoS One. 2014 Aug 28;9(8):e106350.

Bonenberger M, Plener PL, Groschwitz RC, Gron G, Abler B (2015) Polymorphism in the micro-opioid receptor gene (OPRM1) modulates neural processing of physical pain, social rejection and error processing. Exp Brain Res. 233:2517-2526.

Bonenberger M, Plener PL, Groschwitz RC, Gron G, Abler B (2015) Differential neural processing of unpleasant haptic sensations in somatic and affective partitions of the insula in non-suicidal self-injury (NSSI). Psychiatry Res. 234:298-304.

Graf H, Wiegers M, Metzger CD, Walter M, Gron G, Abler B (2015) Erotic stimulus processing under amisulpride and reboxetine: a placebo-controlled fMRI study in healthy subjects. Int J Neuropsychopharmacol. 18.

Ludwig VU, Seitz J, Schonfeldt-Lecuona C, Hose A, Abler B, Hole G, et al. (2015) The neural correlates of movement intentions: A pilot study comparing hypnotic and simulated paralysis. Conscious Cogn. 35:158-170.

Metzger CD, Wiegers M, Walter M, Abler B, Graf H (2015) Local and Global Resting State Activity in the Noradrenergic and Dopaminergic Pathway Modulated by Reboxetine and Amisulpride in Healthy Subjects. Int J Neuropsychopharmacol. 19.

Straub J, Plener PL, Sproeber N, Sprenger L, Koelch MG, Groen G, Abler, B (2015) Neural correlates of successful psychotherapy of depression in adolescents. J Affect Disord. 183:239-246.

Graf H, Metzger CD, Walter M, Abler B (2016) Serotonergic antidepressants decrease hedonic signals but leave learning signals in the nucleus accumbens unaffected. Neuroreport. 27:18-22.

Groschwitz RC, Plener PL, Groen G, Bonenberger M, Abler B (2016) Differential neural processing of social exclusion in adolescents with non-suicidal self-injury: An fMRI study. Psychiatry Res. 255:43-49.

Graf H, Wiegers M, Metzger CD, Walter M, Gron G, Abler B (2017) Noradrenergic modulation of neural erotic stimulus perception. Eur Neuropsychopharmacol. 27:845-853.

Sosic-Vasic Z, Abler B, Gron G, Plener P, Straub J (2017) Effects of a brief cognitive behavioural therapy group intervention on baseline brain perfusion in adolescents with major depressive disorder. Neuroreport. 28:348-353.

Straub J, Metzger CD, Plener PL, Koelch MG, Groen G, Abler B (2017) Successful group psychotherapy of depression in adolescents alters fronto-limbic resting-state connectivity. J Affect Disord. 209:135-139.

Brown RC, Plener PL, Groen G, Neff D, Bonenberger M, Abler B (2017) Differential Neural Processing of Social Exclusion and Inclusion in Adolescents with Non-Suicidal Self-Injury and Young Adults with Borderline Personality Disorder. Front Psychiatry. 8:267.

Sosic-Vasic Z, Abler B (2017): Psychiatrienahe Ausbildung von Psychotherapeuten? Vorteile und zu berücksichtigende Problemfelder am Beispiel des Aus- und Weiterbildungsinstituts für Verhaltenstherapie und angewandte Psychologie (AWIP). Nervenheilkunde. 10: 812-817.

Malejko K, Neff D, Brown R, Plener PL, Bonenberger M, Abler B, Graf H (2018) Neural Correlates of Social Inclusion in Borderline Personality Disorder. Front Psychiatry. 3;9:653.

Malejko K, Neff D, Brown RC, Plener PL, Bonenberger M, Abler B, Grön G, Graf H (2018) Somatosensory Stimulus Intensity Encoding in Borderline Personality Disorder. Front Psychol. 1;9:1853.

Graf H, Wiegers M, Metzger CD, Walter M, Abler B (2018) Differential Noradrenergic Modulation of Monetary Reward and Visual Erotic Stimulus Processing. Front Psychiatry. 31;9:346.

Malejko K, Neff D, Brown RC, Plener PL, Bonenberger M, Abler B, Graf H (2019). Neural Signatures of Social Inclusion in Borderline Personality Disorder Versus Non-suicidal Self-injury. Brain Topogr. 32(5):753-761.

Graf H, Malejko K, Metzger CD, Walter M, Grön G, Abler B (2019) Serotonergic, Dopaminergic, and Noradrenergic Modulation of Erotic Stimulus Processing in the Male Human Brain. J Clin Med. 14;8(3).

Straub J, Brown R, Malejko K, Bonenberger M, Grön G, Plener PL, Abler B (2019) Adolescent depression and brain development: evidence from voxel-based morphometry. J Psychiatry Neurosci. 44(4):237-245.

Malejko K, Tumani V, Rau V, Neumann F, Plener PL, Fegert JM, Abler B, Straub J (2020) Neural correlates of script-driven imagery in adolescents with interpersonal traumatic experiences: A pilot study. Psychiatry Res Neuroimaging. 303, 111131.

Koenig J, Abler B, Agartz I, Akerstedt T, Andreassen OA, Anthony M, et al. (...) Quintana DS (2021). Cortical thickness and resting-state cardiac function across the lifespan: A cross-sectional pooled mega-analysis. Psychophysiology 58(7) e136888.

Malejko K, Brown RC, Plener PL, Bonenberger M, Graf H, Abler B (2021) Differential neural processing of unpleasant sensory stimulation in patients with major depression. Eur Arch Psychiatry Clin Neurosci. 271(3) 557-565.

Malejko K, Hafner S, Plener PL, Bonenberger M, Groen G, Abler B, Graf H (2021) Neural signature of error processing in major depression. Eur Arch Psychiatry Clin Neurosci. 271(7) 1359-1368.

Spohrs J, Ulrich M, Groen G, Prost M, Plener PL, Fegert JM, Bindila L, Abler B (2021) Fear extinction learning an anandamide: an fMRI study in healthy humans. Transl Psychiatry. 11(1): 161.

 

Fallberichte

Abler B, Gdynja HJ, von Arnim C (2009) Polyneuropathy and monoclonal IgG/IgA gammopathy-differential neurography on the basis of two patient cases Fortschr Neurol Psychiatr 77:105-9

Schmeisser MJ, Unrath A, Otto M, Tumani H, Abler B (2009) Moyamoya disease precipitating Sydenham's chorea in a 19-year-old Caucasian woman Mo Disord, 24: 1401-3.

Gahr M, Orth M, Abler B (2010) Neuroleptic malignant syndrome with aripiprazole in Huntington's disease. Mov Disord,25:2475-6

Graf H, Franke B, Abler B (2013) Cerebellar cognitive affective syndrome in dandy-walker variant disorder. J Neuropsychiatry Clin Neurosci 25(3):E45-6.

Graf H, Brummer D, Abler B (2014) Noonan-syndrome: a considerably prevalent but neglected psychiatric differential diagnosis. J Neuropsychiatry Clin Neurosci. 26(3):E30.

 

Übersichtsartikel

Abler B, Erk S, Walter H (2005) Das menschliche Belohnungssystem - Erkenntnisse der funktionellen Bildgebung und klinische Implikationen. Nervenheilkunde 24(3):167-176.

Walter H, Abler B, Ciaramidaro A, Erk S (2005) Motivating forces of human actions: Neuroimaging reward and social interaction. Brain Res Bull 67(5):368-81.

Abler B, Vasic N (2007) Neue Erkenntnisse über die Rolle des zentralen dopaminergen Systems bei psychiatrischen Erkrankungen – Schizophrenie, Depression, Manie und ADHS Nervenheilkunde 3:141-149.

Seeringer A, Walter M, Kirchheiner J, Abler B (2010) Sex im Kopf - Bildgebung neuronaler Korrelate sexueller Stimulation Nervenheilkunde 7:468-474.

Kubesch S, Beck F, Abler, B (2011) Dopaminerge Genepolymorphismen und sportliche Höchstleistungen Nervenheilkunde, 8:585-593.

Graf H, Brummer D, Spiegel A, Abler B (2011) Das Noonan-Syndrom – ein psychiatrischer Kolibri? Nervenheilkunde, 8:563-568.

Kassubek J, Abler B (2011) Das Dopamin-Dysregulationssyndrom – Ein relevantes Problem in der Behandlung des Morbus Parkinson neuroaktuell 196:9-13

Kassubek J, Abler B, Pinkhardt EH (2011) Neural reward processing under dopamine agonists: Imaging J Neurol Sci 310(1-2):36-39.

Graf H, Walter M, Metzger CD, Abler B ( 2014) Antidepressant-related sexual dysfunction - Perspectives from neuroimaging Pharmacol Biochem Behav. 21C:138-145. doi: 10.1016/j.pbb.2013.12.003. Epub

Malejko K, Abler B, Plener PL, Straub J (2017) Neural Correlates of Psychotherapeutic Treatment of Post-traumatic Stress Disorder: A Systematic Literature Review. Front Psychiatry. 8:85.

Spohrs J, Rau V, Abler B (2017) Rolle des Endocannabinoidsystems für die Therapie von Angsterkrankungen. Nervenheilkunde. 9:739-744.

Malejko K, Abler B, Plener PL, Graf H, Straub J (2017): Neuronale Korrelate psychotherapeutischer Behandlung bei Patienten mit posttraumatischer Belastungsstörung. Nervenheilkunde. 9:726-734.

El-Kady AM, Allemailem KS, Almatroudi A, Abler B, Elsayed M (2021) Psychiatric Disorders of Neurocysticercosis: Narrative Review. Neuropsych Disease Treat. 2021:17 1599–1610.

Malejko K, Abler B, Graf H (2021) Neuronale Korrelate unangenehmer somatosensorischer Stimulation bei Patienten mit Borderline-Persönlichkeitsstörung und Depression. Nervenheilkunde. 40:53-39.

Mikusky D, Abler B (2021) Wann machen digitale Spiele krank? Nervenheilkunde. 40: 27-34

Spohrs J, Ulrich M, Abler B (2021) Endocannabinoidsystem und Stress. Nervenheilkunde. 40:35-42.