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
Polzer et al. (2026). Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry
Polzer, L., Bast, N., Boxhoorn, S., Mühlherr, A., Mössinger, H., Schütz, M., Freitag, C.M. and Luckhardt, C. (2026), Attenuated selective attention during visual perspective taking in autism: A combined behavior, ERP, and pupillometry study. J Child Psychol Psychiatr. https://doi.org/10.1111/jcpp.70156
Müller et al. (2026). Translational Psychiatry
Müller, A.K., Luckhardt, C., Freitag, C.M. & Bast, N. (2026). Locus coeruleus modulation of neurophysiological sensory selectivity differs in autism and other mental health conditions. Transl Psychiatry. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41398-026-03948-0
Bast et al. (2025). Molecular Autism
Bast, N., Ahmad, J., Mason, L. et al. Locus coeruleus tonic upregulation increases selectivity to inconspicuous auditory information in autistic compared to non-autistic individuals: a combined pupillometry and electroencephalography study. Molecular Autism 16, 41 (2025). https://doi.org/10.1186/s13229-025-00678-w
Raji et al. (2025). Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry
Raji, N., Kitzerow-Cleven, J., Kim, Z., Kleber, S.K., Polzer, L., Lemler, C., Ring, M., Taurines, R., Geißler, J., Fröhlich, U., Noterdaeme, M., Bast, N. and Freitag, C.M. (2025), Capturing change in restricted and repetitive behaviour in preschoolers with ASD: A comparison of direct behavioural observation and parent report. J Child Psychol Psychiatr, 66: 1736-1747. https://doi.org/10.1111/jcpp.70009
Bast et al. (2025). European Child and Adolescent Psychiatry
Bast, N., Polzer, L., Raji, N. et al. Early intervention increases reactive joint attention in autistic preschoolers with arousal regulation as mediator. Eur Child Adolesc Psychiatry (2025). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00787-025-02738-1
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
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