Predicting Mental Health Development in Children
Webpage of the Emmy-Noether Research Group (PI: Dr. Nico Bast) dedicated to improving children’s mental health
Current projects
An overview on the research projects of MIND-CHILD
Recent publications
Full publication list is found on Google Scholar
Lemler et al. (2025). Autism Research
Lemler, C., Kleber, S.K., Polzer, L., Raji, N., Kitzerow-Cleven, J., Kim, Z., Platte, S., Freitag, C.M. and Bast, N. (2025), Semi-Automated Multi-Label Classification of Autistic Mannerisms by Machine Learning on Post Hoc Skeletal Tracking. Autism Research. https://doi.org/10.1002/aur.70020
Polzer et al. (2024). Scientific Reports
Polzer, L., Schenk, M., Raji, N., Kleber, S., Lemler, C., . . . Bast, N. (2024). Temporal progression of pupil dilation and gaze behavior to emotion expressions in preschoolers with autism spectrum disorder. Sci. Rep., 14(1), 7843. https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-024-58480-2
Bast & Boxhoorn et al. (2023). Biological Psychiatry: CNNI
Bast, N., Boxhoorn, S., Supér, H., Helfer, B., Polzer, L., . . . Freitag, C. M. (2023). Atypical Arousal Regulation in Children With Autism but Not With Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder as Indicated by Pupillometric Measures of Locus Coeruleus Activity. Biol Psychiatry Cogn Neurosci Neuroimaging, 8(1), 11. https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.1016/j.bpsc.2021.04.010
Bast et al. (2023). Molecular Autism
Bast, N., Mason, L., Ecker, C., Baumeister, S., Banaschewski, T., . . . the, E. U. A. L. G. (2023). Sensory salience processing moderates attenuated gazes on faces in autism spectrum disorder: a case–control study. Molecular Autism, 14(1), 5. https://doi.org/10.1186/s13229-023-00537-6
Polzer et al. (2022). Autism Research
Polzer, L., Freitag, C. M., & Bast, N. (2022). Pupillometric measures of altered stimulus‐evoked locus coeruleus‐norepinephrine activity explain attenuated social attention in preschoolers with autism spectrum disorder. Autism Res., 15(11), 2167. https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.1002/aur.2818
Bast et al. (2021). Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry
Bast, N., Mason, L., Freitag, C. M., Smith, T., Portugal, A. M., . . . Group, E. A. L. (2021). Saccade dysmetria indicates attenuated visual exploration in autism spectrum disorder. J Child Psychol Psychiatry, 62(2), 149. https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.1111/jcpp.13267
Boxhoorn & Bast et al. (2020). Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry
Boxhoorn, S., Bast, N., Super, H., Polzer, L., Cholemkery, H., . . . Freitag, C. M. (2020). Pupil dilation during visuospatial orienting differentiates between autism spectrum disorder and attention‐deficit/hyperactivity disorder. J Child Psychol Psychiatry, 61(5), 614. https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.1111/jcpp.13179
Research funding
We thank all funding partners that support our research
Daimler and Benz Foundation:
- SEGA Addon – ref.: 32/01-22
Johanna Quandt Young Academy:
- member science funding
Polytechnic Foundation of Frankfurt am Main
- Main-Campus-Educator (post-doc funding)
“The biology of mind bridges the sciences – concerned with the natural world – and the humanities – concerned with the meaning of human experience.”
Eric Kandel
neuroscientist, psychiatrist