Research interests

• Mechanisms of mental imagery
• Emotion and motivation
• Eye tracking and fMRI

Projects

My research primarily examines the mechanisms by which emotional imagery amplifies emotion and motivation. We use multiple methods for this, including eye tracking and fMRI (in collaboration with the Imaging Memory and Consolidation Lab at Freiburg University).

• Positive Imagery and Attention
• Emotionality of Mental Imagery and Verbal Thought

Publications

Articles

1. Bär, A., Bär, H. E., Schneider, M., & Renner, F. (2023). The pupil as a window to the mind's eye: Greater emotionality of episodic imagery than verbal visualisation of rewarding activities. Journal of Experimental Psychopathology, 14. https://doi.org/10.1177/20438087231161176
   
2. Bär, H. E., Werthmann, J., Paetsch, A., & Renner, F. (2022). The traces of imagination: early attention bias toward positively imagined stimuli. Psychological Research, . https://doi.org/10.1007/s00426-022-01737-0
   
3. Renner, F., Werthmann, J., Paetsch, A., Bär, H. E., Heise, M., & Bruijniks, S. J. E. (2021). Prospective mental imagery in depression: Impact on reward processing and reward-motivated behaviour. Clinical Psychology in Europe, 3(2). https://cpe.psychopen.eu/index.php/cpe/article/view/3013/3013.html