Publications

159 peer-reviewed publications (157 journal articles and 2 Registered Reports), including 23 as first author and 76 as last author. In addition: 1 preprint, 1 book, 9 book chapters, 2 popular science articles, 1 software package and 18 conference contributions.

Registered Reports (Stage 1)

Stegmann, Y., Battaglia, S., Carsten, H. P., Folta-Schoofs, K., Kroczek, L. O. H., Lam, C. L. M., Mühlberger, A., Reicherts, P., Richter, J., Riesel, A., Starita, F., Szeska, C., Weymar, M., Wieser, M. J., Wong, A. H. K., Yang, Y., Mushtaq, F., Pavlov, Y. G., & Gamer, M. (2025). Coherence of gamma-band EEG activity as a basis for associative threat learning. Stage 1 preregistration, in principle acceptance at Nature Human Behavior.

Busch, L., Wiech, K., Gamer, M., Knicses, B., Spisak, T., Schmidt, K., & Bingel, U. (2023). Modulatory effects of instructions on extinction efficacy in appetitive and aversive learning. Stage 1 preregistration, in principle acceptance of version 3 by Peer Community in Registered Reports. Link

Peer-reviewed journal articles

2026

Chen, M., Teigeler, J., Pauli, P., Pittig, A., & Gamer, M. (2026). Neural Substrates of Approach–Avoidance Control in Motivational Conflict. Journal of Neuroscience, 46(27). DOI

Merscher, A.-S., Hildebrandt, L. K., Sahraoui, J., & Gamer, M. (2026). Unraveling the behavioral and autonomic dynamics of defensive states in humans in an unconstrained, immersive virtual world. Computers in Human Behavior, 184, 109057. DOI

Shim, E. J., Schmidt, L., Rauh, J., Leicht, G., Gamer, M., Bingel, U., Büchel, C., Rief, W., & Brassen, S. (2026). Acute placebo responsiveness predicts longitudinal expectation effects in antidepressant treatment. Translational Psychiatry, 16(1), 241. DOI

Teigeler, J., Stegmann, Y., & Gamer, M. (2026). Acting upon threat: Electrocortical, autonomic, and oculomotor responses in anticipation of avoidable and inevitable threats. Imaging Neuroscience, 4, IMAG.a.1318. DOI

2025

Andreatta, M., & Gamer, M. (2025). Virtual reality in cognitive and affective neuroscience. Behavioural Brain Research, 496, 115809. DOI

Chen, M., Reutter, M., Pauli, P., Gamer, M., & Pittig, A. (2025). Overcoming Automatic Behavioral Tendencies in Approach-Avoidance Conflict Decisions. Psychophysiology, 62(7), e70101. DOI

Eder, A. B., Mitschke, V., Leibold, F., Dignath, D., & Gamer, M. (2025). Motivational control of habits: A preregistered fMRI study. Imaging Neuroscience, 3, IMAG.a.100. DOI

Ehl, L., Scheiner, C., Wasserscheid, A., Hein, G., Gamer, M., & Bürger, A. (2025). German college students' mental health state and their willingness to use mental health prevention: An online survey during the COVID-19 pandemic. Heliyon, 11(3), e42290. DOI

Gado, S., & Gamer, M. (2025). Studying the influence of single social interactions on approach and avoidance behavior: A multimodal investigation in immersive virtual reality. Behavior Research Methods, 57(6), 157. DOI

Gado, S., Teigeler, J., Kümpel, K., Schindler, M., & Gamer, M. (2025). The effect of social anxiety on social attention in naturalistic situations. Anxiety, Stress, and Coping, 38(3), 326–342. DOI

Gado, S., Stegmann, Y., & Gamer, M. (2025). Voluntary and reflexive mechanisms of visual attention: An investigation of the robustness of the social attention bias. Journal of Experimental Psychology. Human Perception and Performance, 51(9), 1265–1278. DOI

Garlichs, A., Lustig, M., Gamer, M., & Blank, H. (2025). Protocol to study how expectations guide predictive eye movements and information sampling in humans. STAR Protocols, 6(2), 103737. DOI

Gromer, D., Stegmann, Y., Lorenz, B., Kraus, Y., Franz, P., & Gamer, M. (2025). A novel virtual reality fear conditioning paradigm to investigate the influence of expectancy violation on fear extinction. Behavioural Brain Research, 479, 115356. DOI

Haberler, J., Suchotzki, K., Meinhardt, M., & Gamer, M. (2025). Applicability and validity of the reaction time-based concealed information test in a prison sample. Legal and Criminological Psychology, 30(1), 112–126. DOI

Klingelhöfer-Jens, M., Hutterer, K., Schiele, M. A., Leehr, E. J., Schümann, D., Rosenkranz, K., Böhnlein, J., Repple, J., Deckert, J., Domschke, K., Dannlowski, U., Lueken, U., Reif, A., Romanos, M., Zwanzger, P., Pauli, P., Gamer, M., & Lonsdorf, T. B. (2025). Reduced discrimination between signals of danger and safety but not overgeneralization is linked to exposure to childhood adversity in healthy adults. eLife, 12, RP91425. DOI

Klingelhöfer-Jens, M., Reiser, F., Brandt, N. D., Schümann, D., Gamer, M., Kalisch, R., Sommer, T., & Lonsdorf, T. B. (2025). Assessing the long-term stability of the Spielberger State-Trait Inventory Trait scale over 3.5 years. Journal of Personality Assessment, 1–12. DOI

Mirifar, A., Stegmann, Y., Engle, H., Teigeler, J., Gamer, M., & Keil, A. (2025). Active avoidance of potential threat is reflected in oscillatory brain activity. Scientific Reports, 15(1), 43303. DOI

Mortazavi, M., Amon, J., Jäger, I., Hasanaj, G., Aminifarsani, Z., Fischer, K., Gamer, M., CDP Working Group, Hasan, A., Keefe, R. S. E., Sachs, G., Falkai, P., Keeser, D., Raabe, F., & Wagner, E. (2025). Assessment of the German Version of Brief Assessment of Cognition in Schizophrenia (BACS). Schizophrenia Research: Cognition, 41, 100364. DOI

Mostauli, A., Rauh, J., Gamer, M., Büchel, C., Rief, W., & Brassen, S. (2025). Placebo treatment entails resource-dependent downregulation of negative inputs. Scientific Reports, 15(1), 9088. DOI

Reutter, M.*, Teigeler, J.*, & Gamer, M. (2025). The influence of (social) anxiety and visual exploration on threat responding and generalization. Behaviour Research and Therapy, 189, 104746. (*equal contribution) DOI

Stegmann, Y., & Gamer, M. (2025). The impact of inherently aversive contexts on visuocortical processing of generalized threat. Imaging Neuroscience, 3, IMAG.a.74. DOI

Stegmann, Y., Reutter, M., Hutterer, K., Hildebrandt, L., Deckert, J., Deserno, L., Domschke, K., Lonsdorf, T. B., Pauli, P., Reif, A., Rosenkranz, K., Schiele, M. A., Schümann, D., Zwanzger, P., Andreatta, M., & Gamer, M. (2025). Psychometric considerations in assessing fear generalization as a predictor of anxiety. Biological Psychiatry: Global Open Science, 5(6), 100570. DOI

Tonn, S., Teigeler, J., Pfister, R., & Gamer, M. (2025). A gaze into the void: Anticipatory saccades toward prevented events. Attention, Perception & Psychophysics, 87(3), 848–861. DOI

Yang, Y. F., & Gamer, M. (2025). Facial features associated with fear and happiness attract gaze during brief exposure without enhancing emotion recognition. Scientific Reports, 15(1), 30442. DOI

2024

Aster, H. C., Waltmann, M., Busch, A., Romanos, M., Gamer, M., Maria van Noort, B., Beck, A., Kappel, V., & Deserno, L. (2024). Impaired flexible reward learning in ADHD patients is associated with blunted reinforcement sensitivity and neural signals in ventral striatum and parietal cortex. NeuroImage Clinical, 42, 103588. DOI

Blickle, M., Klüpfel, C., Homola, G. A., Gamer, M., Herrmann, M. J., Störk, S., Gelbrich, G., Heuschmann, P. U., Deckert, J., Pham, M., & Menke, A. (2024). Heart rate variability, interoceptive accuracy and functional connectivity in middle-aged and older patients with depression. Journal of Psychiatric Research, 170, 122–129. DOI

Garlichs, A., Lustig, M., Gamer, M., & Blank, H. (2024). Expectations guide predictive eye movements and information sampling during face recognition. iScience, 27(10), 110920. DOI

Hein, G., Huestegge, L., Böckler-Raettig, A., Deserno, L., Eder, A. B., Hewig, J., Hotho, A., Kittel-Schneider, S., Leutritz, A. L., Reiter, A. M. F., Rodrigues, J., & Gamer, M. (2024). A social information processing perspective on social connectedness. Neuroscience and Biobehavioral Reviews, 167, 105945. DOI

Meerson, R., Buchholz, H., Kammerer, K., Göster, M., Schobel, J., Ratz, C., Pryss, R., Taurines, R., Romanos, M., Gamer, M., & Geissler, J. (2024). ProVIA-Kids - outcomes of an uncontrolled study on smartphone-based behaviour analysis for challenging behaviour in children with intellectual and developmental disabilities or autism spectrum disorder. Frontiers in Digital Health, 6, 1462682. DOI

Merscher, A. S., & Gamer, M. (2024). Fear lies in the eyes of the beholder – Robust evidence for reduced gaze dispersion upon avoidable threat. Psychophysiology, 61(1), e14421. DOI

Merscher, A. S., & Gamer, M. (2024). Can I see it in the eyes? An investigation of freezing-like motion patterns in response to avoidable threat. Psychophysiology, 61(7), e14567. DOI

Mushtaq, F., Welke, D., Gallagher, A., Pavlov, Y. G., Kouara, L., Bosch-Bayard, J., van den Bosch, J. J. F., Arvaneh, M., Bland, A. R., Chaumon, M., Borck, C., He, X., Luck, S. J., Machizawa, M. G., Pernet, C., Puce, A., Segalowitz, S. J., Rogers, C., Awais, M., Babiloni, C., … Valdes-Sosa, P. (2024). One hundred years of EEG for brain and behaviour research. Nature Human Behaviour, 8(8), 1437–1443. DOI

Reinhard, J., Mittermeier, A., Brandstetter, L., Mowat, K., Slyschak, A., Reiter, A. M. F., Gamer, M., & Romanos, M. (2024). Fear conditioning and fear generalization in children and adolescents with anxiety disorders. European Child & Adolescent Psychiatry, 33(7), 2163–2172. DOI

Reutter, M., Hutterer, K., Gründahl, M., Gall, D., Dannlowski, U., Domschke, K., Leehr, E. J., Lonsdorf, T. B., Lueken, U., Reif, A., Schiele, M. A., Zwanzger, P., Pauli, P., Hein*, G., & Gamer*, M. (2024). Mental health improvement after the COVID-19 pandemic in individuals with psychological distress. Scientific Reports, 14(1), 5685. (*equal contribution) DOI

Stegmann, Y., Paulus, J., Wieser, M. J., & Gamer, M. (2024). Aversive contexts enhance defensive responses to conditioned threat. Psychophysiology, 61(10), e14626. DOI

Stegmann, Y., Teigeler, J., Mirifar, A., Keil, A., & Gamer, M. (2024). Electrocortical responses in anticipation of avoidable and inevitable threats: A multisite study. Journal of Neuroscience, 44(42), e0575242024. DOI

Suchotzki, K., & Gamer, M. (2024). Detecting deception with artificial intelligence: promises and perils. Trends in Cognitive Sciences, 28(6), 481–483. DOI

Wiemer, J., Leimeister, F., Gamer, M., & Pauli, P. (2024). The ventromedial prefrontal cortex in response to threat omission is associated with subsequent explicit safety memory. Scientific Reports, 14(1), 7378. DOI

2023

Andreatta, M., Winkler, M. H., Collins, P., Gromer, D., Gall, D., Pauli, P., & Gamer, M. (2023). VR for studying the neuroscience of emotional responses. Current Topics in Behavioral Neurosciences, 65, 161-188. DOI

Bach, D. R., Sporrer, J., Abend, R., Beckers, T., Dunsmoor, J. E., Fullana, M. A., Gamer, M., Gee, D. G., Hamm, A., Hartley, C. A., Herringa, R. J., Jovanovic, T., Kalisch, R., Knight, D. C., Lissek, S., Lonsdorf, T. B., Merz, C. J., Milad, M., Morriss, J., … Schiller, D. (2023). Consensus design of a calibration experiment for human fear conditioning. Neuroscience and Biobehavioral Reviews, 148, 105146. DOI

Imholze, C., Hutterer, K., Gall, D., Dannlowski, D., Domschke, D., Leehr, E. J., Lueken, U. Lonsdorf, T. B., Reif, A., Rosenkranz, K., Schiele, M. A., Zwanzger, P., Pauli, P., & Gamer, M. (2023). Prediction of changes in negative affect during the COVID-19 pandemic by experimental fear conditioning and generalization measures - a longitudinal study. Zeitschrift für Psychologie, 231, 137-148. DOI

klein Selle, N., Suchotzki, K., Pertzov, Y., & Gamer, M. (2023). Orienting versus inhibition: The theory behind the ocular-based Concealed Information Test. Psychophysiology, 60, e14186. DOI

Nebe, S., Reutter, M., Baker, D. H., Bölte, J., Domes, G., Gamer, M., Gärtner, A., Gießing, C., Gurr, C., Hilger, K., Jawinski, P., Kulke, L., Lischke, A., Markett, S., Meier, M., Merz, C. J., Popov, T., Puhlmann, L. M. C., Quintana, D. S., … Feld, G. B. (2023). Enhancing precision in human neuroscience. eLife, 12, e85980. DOI

Pfundmair, M., Gamer, M. (2023). Neurobiologie und Traumaforschung als Alternativen zur Aussagepsychologie? Forensische Psychiatrie, Psychologie, Kriminologie, 17, 108-113, DOI

Reutter, M., & Gamer, M. (2023). Individual patterns of visual exploration predict the extent of fear generalization in humans. Emotion, 23, 1267-1280. DOI

2022

Baker, J., Gamer, M., Rauh, J., & Brassen, S. (2022). Placebo induced expectations of mood enhancement generate a positivity effect in emotional processing. Scientific Reports, 12(1), 5345. DOI

Berlijn, A. M., Hildebrandt, L. K., & Gamer, M. (2022). Idiosyncratic viewing patterns of social scenes reflect individual preferences. Journal of Vision, 22(13), 10, 1-18. DOI

Gram, M., Albertova, P., Schirmer, V., Blaimer, M., Gamer, M., Herrmann, M. J., Nordbeck, P., & Jakob, P. M. (2022). Towards robust in vivo quantification of oscillating biomagnetic fields using Rotary Excitation based MRI. Scientific Reports, 12(1), 15375. DOI

Großekathöfer, J. D., Seis, C., & Gamer, M. (2022). Reality in a sphere: A direct comparison of social attention in the laboratory and the real world. Behavior Research Methods, 54(5), 2286-2301. DOI

Horn, A., Mergenthaler, L., & Gamer, M. (2022). Situational and personality determinants of social attention in a waiting room scenario. Visual Cognition, 30, 86-99. DOI

Merscher, A. S., Tovote, P., Pauli, P., & Gamer, M. (2022). Centralized gaze as an adaptive component of defensive states in humans. Proceedings. Biological Sciences, 289(1975), 20220405. DOI

Reinhard, J., Slyschak, A., Schiele, M. A., Andreatta, M., Kneer, K., Reif, A., Domschke, K., Gamer, M., Pauli, P., Deckert, J., & Romanos, M. (2022). Fear conditioning and stimulus generalization in association with age in children and adolescents. European Child & Adolescent Psychiatry, 31(10), 1581–1590. DOI

van der Schaaf, M. E., Schmidt, K., Kaur, J., Gamer, M., Wiech, K., Forkmann, K., & Bingel, U. (2022). Acquisition learning is stronger for aversive than appetitive events. Communications Biology, 5(1), 302. DOI

2021

Hein, G.*, Gamer, M.*, Gall, D., Gründahl, M., Domschke, K., Andreatta, M., Wieser, M. J., & Pauli, P. (2021). Social cognitive factors outweigh negative emotionality in predicting COVID-19 related safety behaviors. Preventive Medicine Reports, 24, 101559. (*equal contribution) DOI

klein Selle, N., Gamer, M., & Pertzov, Y. (2021). Gaze-pattern similarity at encoding may interfere with future memory. Scientific Reports, 11, 7697. DOI

Lancry-Dayan, O. C., Gamer, M., & Pertzov, Y. (2021). Search for the unknown: Guidance of visual search in the absence of an active template. Psychological Science, 32, 1404-1415. DOI

Muñoz Centifanti, L. C., Stickle, T. R., Thomas, J., Falcón, A., Thomson, N. D., & Gamer, M. (2021). Reflexive gaze shifts and fear recognition deficits in children with callous-unemotional traits and impulsivity/conduct problems. Brain Sciences, 11(10), 1342. DOI

Riechelmann, E., Gamer, M., Böckler, A., & Huestegge, L. (2021). How ubiquitous is the direct gaze advantage? Evidence for an averted gaze advantage in a gaze discrimination task. Attention, Perception, & Psychophysics, 83, 215-237. DOI

Rubo, M., & Gamer, M. (2021). Stronger reactivity to social gaze in virtual reality compared to a classical laboratory environment. British Journal of Psychology, 112, 301-314. DOI

Suchotzki, K., Verschuere, B., & Gamer, M. (2021). How vulnerable is the reaction time Concealed Information Test to faking? Journal of Applied Research in Memory and Cognition, 10, 268-277. DOI

2020

Großekathöfer, J. D., Suchotzki, K., & Gamer, M. (2020). Gaze cueing in naturalistic scenes under top-down modulation – Effects on gaze behaviour and memory performance. Visual Cognition, 28, 135-147. DOI

Rösler, L., Göhring, S., Strunz, M., & Gamer, M. (2020). Social anxiety is associated with heart rate but not gaze behavior in a real social interaction. Journal of Behavior Therapy and Experimental Psychiatry, 70, 101600. DOI

Rubo, M., Huestegge, L., & Gamer, M. (2020). Social anxiety modulates visual exploration in real life – but not in the laboratory. British Journal of Psychology, 111, 233-245. DOI

Suchotzki, K., May, H., & Gamer, M. (2020). No effect of moderate alcohol intake on the detection of concealed identity information in the laboratory. Scientific Reports, 10(1), 20161. DOI

2019

End, A., & Gamer, M. (2019). Task instructions can accelerate the early preference for social features in naturalistic scenes. Royal Society Open Science, 6, 180596. DOI

Rösler, L., & Gamer, M. (2019). Freezing of gaze during action preparation under threat imminence. Scientific Reports, 9(1), 17215. DOI

Rösler, L., Rubo, M., & Gamer, M. (2019). Artificial faces predict gaze allocation in complex dynamic scenes. Frontiers in Psychology, 10, 2877 DOI

Rubo, M., & Gamer, M. (2019). Visuo-tactile congruency influences the body schema during full body ownership illusion. Consciousness and Cognition, 73, 102758. DOI

Stegmann, Y., Schiele, M. A., Schümann, D., Lonsdorf, T. B., Zwanzger, P., Romanos, M., Reif, A., Domschke, K., Deckert, J., Gamer*, M., Pauli*, P. (2019). Individual differences in human fear generalization-pattern identification and implications for anxiety disorders. Translational Psychiatry, 9(1), 307. (*equal contribution) DOI

Suchotzki, K., & Gamer, M. (2019). Effect of negative motivation on the behavioral and autonomic correlates of deception. Psychophysiology, 56, e13284. DOI

Suchotzki, K., Kakavand, A., & Gamer, M. (2019). Validity of the reaction time Concealed Information Test in a prison sample. Frontiers in Psychiatry, 9, 745. DOI

2018

Flechsenhar, A. F., Larson, O., End, A., & Gamer, M. (2018). Investigating overt and covert shifts of attention within social naturalistic scenes. Journal of Vision, 18(12), 11. DOI

Flechsenhar, A. F., Rösler, L., & Gamer, M. (2018). Attentional selection of social features persists despite restricted bottom-up information and affects temporal viewing dynamics. Scientific Reports, 8(1):12555. DOI

Madan, C. R., Bayer, J., Gamer, M., Lonsdorf, T. B., & Sommer, T. (2018). Visual complexity and affect: ratings reflect more than meets the eye. Frontiers in Psychology, 8, 2368. DOI

McCarthy, R. J., Skowronski, J. J., Verschuere, B., Meijer, E. H., Jim, A., Hoogesteyn, K., Orthey, R., et al. (2018). Registered replication report on Srull and Wyer (1979). Advances in Methods and Practices in Psychological Science, 1, 321–336. DOI

Rubo, M., & Gamer, M. (2018). Social content and emotional valence modulate gaze fixations in dynamic scenes. Scientific Reports, 8(1):3804. DOI

Schmidt*, K., & Gamer*, M., Forkmann, K., & Bingel, U. (2018). Pain affects visual orientation: an eye-tracking study. Journal of Pain, 19, 135–145. (*equal contribution) DOI

Sommer, T., & Gamer, M. (2018). Einfluss traumatischer Ereignisse auf das Gedächtnis – neurowissenschaftliche Befunde. Praxis der Rechtspsychologie, 28, 97–121.

Stoeckel, M. C., Esser, R. W., Gamer, M., Büchel, C., & von Leupoldt, A. (2018). Dyspnea catastrophizing and neural activations during the anticipation and perception of dyspnea. Psychophysiology, 55, e13004. DOI

Stoeckel, C. M., Esser, R. W., Gamer, M., Büchel, C., & von Leupoldt, A. (2018). Breathlessness amplifies amygdala responses during affective processing. Psychophysiology, 55, e13092. DOI

Suchotzki, K., Berlijn, A., Donath, M., & Gamer, M. (2018). Testing the applied potential of the Sheffield Lie Test. Acta Psychologica, 191, 281–288. DOI

Suchotzki, K., & Gamer, M. (2018). The language of lies: Behavioral and autonomic costs of lying in a native compared to a foreign language. Journal of Experimental Psychology: General, 147, 734–746. DOI

Suchotzki, K., Gamer, M. (2018). Alcohol facilitates detection of concealed identity information. Scientific Reports, 8(1):7825. DOI

Verschuere, B., Meijer, E. H., Jim, A., Hoogesteyn, K., Orthey, R., McCarthy, R. J., Skowronski, J. J., et al. (2018). Registered replication report on Mazar, Amir, and Ariely (2008). Advances in Methods and Practices in Psychological Science, 1, 299–317. Link

2017

Berti, S., Vossel, G., & Gamer, M. (2017). The orienting response in healthy aging: novelty P3 indicates no general decline but reduced efficacy for fast stimulation rates. Frontiers in Psychology, 8, 1780. DOI

Bertsch, K., Krauch, M., Stopfer, K., Haeussler, K., Herpertz, S. C., & Gamer, M. (2017). Interpersonal threat sensitivity in borderline personality disorder – an eye-tracking study. Journal of Personality Disorders, 31, 647–670. DOI

End, A., & Gamer, M. (2017). Preferential processing of social features and their interplay with physical saliency in complex naturalistic scenes. Frontiers in Psychology, 8, 418. DOI

Flechsenhar, A. F., & Gamer, M. (2017). Top-down influence on gaze patterns in the presence of social features. PloS one, 12(8), e0183799. DOI

Kästner, N., Richter, S. H., Gamer, M., Kaiser, S., & Sachser, N. (2017). What a difference a day makes – female behaviour is less predictable near ovulation. Royal Society Open Science, 4(4), 160998. DOI

Lischke, A., Herpertz, S. C., Berger, C., Domes, G., & Gamer, M. (2017). Divergent effects of oxytocin on (para-)limbic reactivity to emotional and neutral scenes in females with and without borderline personality disorder. Social, Cognitive and Affective Neuroscience. 12(11), 1783–1792. DOI

Rösler, L., End, A., & Gamer, M. (2017). Orienting towards social features in naturalistic scenes is reflexive. PloS one, 12(7), e0182037. DOI

2016

Boll, S., Bartholomaeus, M., Peter, U., Lupke, U., & Gamer, M. (2016). Attentional mechanisms of social perception are biased in social phobia. Journal of Anxiety Disorders, 40, 83–93. DOI

Boll, S., & Gamer, M. (2016). Psychopathic traits affect the visual exploration of facial expressions. Biological Psychology, 117, 194–201. DOI

Meijer, E. H., Verschuere, B., Gamer, M., Merckelbach, H. and Ben-Shakhar, G. (2016), Deception detection with behavioral, autonomic, and neural measures: Conceptual and methodological considerations that warrant modesty. Psychophysiology, 53, 593–604. DOI

Peth, J., Suchotzki, K., & Gamer, M. (2016). Influence of countermeasures on the validity of the Concealed Information Test. Psychophysiology, 53, 1429–1440. DOI

Shackman, A. J., Stockbridge, M. D., Tillman, R. M., Kaplan, C. M., Tromp, D. P., Fox, A. S., & Gamer, M. (2016). The neurobiology of dispositional negativity and attentional biases to threat: Implications for understanding anxiety disorders in adults and youth. Journal of Experimental Psychopathology, 7, 311–342. DOI

Stoeckel, M. C., Esser, R. W., Gamer, M., Büchel, C., & von Leupoldt, A. (2016). Brain responses during the anticipation of dyspnea. Neural Plasticity, vol. 2016, 6434987. DOI

2015

Ben-Shakhar, G., Gamer, M., Iacono, W., Meijer, E.H., & Verschuere, B. (2015). Preliminary process theory does not validate the Comparison Question Test: A comment on Palmatier and Rovner (2014). International Journal of Psychophysiology, 95, 16–19. DOI

Haaker, J., Lonsdorf, T. B., Schümann, D., Menz, M., Brassen, S., Bunzeck, N., Gamer, M., & Kalisch, R. (2015). Deficient inhibitory processing in trait anxiety: Evidence from context-dependent fear learning, extinction recall and renewal. Biological Psychology, 111, 65–72. DOI

Lonsdorf, T. B., Haaker, J., Schümann, D., Sommer, T., Bayer, J., Brassen, S., Bunzeck, N., Gamer, M., & Kalisch, R. (2015). Sex differences in CS-discrimination during context-dependent fear learning and its retrieval - the role of biological sex, contraceptives and menstrual cycle phases. Journal of Psychiatry & Neuroscience, 40, 368–375. DOI

Peth, J., Sommer, T. Hebart, M. N., Vossel, G., Büchel, C., & Gamer, M. (2015). Memory detection using fMRI - Does the encoding context matter? NeuroImage, 25, 164–174. DOI

Suchotzki, K., Verschuere, B., Peth, J., Crombez, G., & Gamer, M. (2015). Manipulating item proportion and deception reveals crucial dissociation between behavioral, autonomic and neural indices of concealed information. Human Brain Mapping, 36, 427–439. DOI

Stoeckel, M. C., Esser, R. W., Gamer, M., Büchel, C., & von Leupoldt, A. (2015). Brain mechanisms of short-term habituation and sensitization toward dyspnea. Frontiers in Psychology, 6, 748. DOI

Stoeckel, M. C., Esser, R. W., Gamer, M., Kalisch, R., Büchel, C., & von Leupoldt, A. (2015). Amygdala response to anticipation of dyspnea is modulated by 5-HTTLPR genotype. Psychophysiology, 52, 973–976. DOI

2014

Bayer, J., Schultz, H., Gamer, M., & Sommer, T. (2014). Menstrual-cycle dependent fluctuations in ovarian hormones affect emotional memory. Neurobiology of Learning and Memory, 110, 55–63. DOI

Boll, S., & Gamer, M. (2014). 5-HTTLPR modulates the recognition accuracy and exploration of emotional facial expressions. Frontiers in Behavioral Neuroscience, 8, 255. DOI

Brendel, E., Hecht, H., DeLucia, P. R., & Gamer, M. (2014). Emotional effects on time-to-contact judgments: Arousal, threat, and fear of spiders modulate the effect of pictorial content. Experimental Brain Research, 232, 2337–2347. DOI

Gamer, M. (2014). Mind-reading using neuroimaging: Is this the future of deception detection? European Psychologist, 19, 172–183. DOI

Gamer, M., & Ambach, W. (2014). Deception research today. Frontiers in Psychology, 5, 256. DOI

Geuter, S., Gamer, M., Onat, S., & Büchel, C. (2014). Parametric trial-by-trial prediction of pain by easily available physiological measures. Pain, 155, 994–1001. DOI

Juravle, G., Stoeckel, M. C., Rose, M., Gamer, M., Büchel, C., Wieser, M. J., & von Leupoldt, A. (2014). Investigating the effect of respiratory bodily threat on the processing of emotional pictures. Respiratory Physiology & Neurobiology, 204, 41–49. DOI

Sasse, L. K., Gamer, M., Büchel, C., & Brassen, S. (2014). Selective control of attention supports the positivity effect in aging. PLoS ONE, 9, e104180. DOI

2013

Bertsch, K., Gamer, M., Schmidt, B., Schmidinger, I., Walther, S., Kästel, T., Schnell, K., Büchel, C., Domes, G., & Herpertz, S. C. (2013). Oxytocin and reduction of social threat hypersensitivity in women with borderline personality disorder. American Journal of Psychiatry, 170, 1169–1177. DOI

Boll, S., Gamer, M., Gluth, S., Finsterbusch, J., & Büchel, C. (2013). Separate amygdala subregions signal surprise and predictiveness during associative fear learning in humans. European Journal of Neuroscience, 37, 758–767. DOI

Gamer, M., Schmitz, A. K., Tittgemeyer, M., & Schilbach, L. (2013). The human amygdala drives reflexive orienting towards facial features. Current Biology, 23, R917–918. DOI

Kim, J. S. C., Vossel, G., & Gamer, M. (2013). Effects of emotional context on memory for details: The role of attention. PLoS ONE, 8, e77405. DOI

Michal, M., Köchel, A., Canterino, M., Adler, J., Reiner, I., Vossel, G., Beutel, M. E., & Gamer, M. (2013). Depersonalization disorder: disconnection of cognitive evaluation from autonomic responses to emotional stimuli. PLoS ONE, 8, e74331. DOI

Peth, J., & Gamer, M. (2013). Aktuelle Forschung zur Validität des Tatwissentest: Der Einfluss von Emotionen [Current research on the validity of the Concealed Information Test: the influence of emotional arousal]. Praxis der Rechtspsychologie. 23, 151–165.

Peth, J., Kim, J. S. C., & Gamer, M. (2013). Fixations and eye-blinks allow for detecting concealed crime related memories. International Journal of Psychophysiology, 88, 96–103. DOI

2012

Brassen, S., Gamer, M., Peters, J., Gluth, S., & Büchel, C. (2012). Don’t look back in anger! Responsiveness to missed chances in successful and non-successful aging. Science, 336, 612-614. DOI

Eippert, F., Gamer, M., & Büchel, C. (2012). Neurobiological mechanisms underlying the blocking effect in aversive learning. Journal of Neuroscience, 32, 13164–13176. DOI

Gamer, M. (2012). Validity of the Concealed Information Test in realistic mock crime scenarios: comment on Bradley, Malik, and Cullen. Perceptual and Motor Skills, 115, 427–431. DOI

Gamer, M., & Berti, S. (2012). P300 amplitudes in the Concealed Information Test are less affected by depth of processing than electrodermal responses. Frontiers in Human Neuroscience, 6, 308. DOI

Gamer, M., & Büchel, C. (2012). Oxytocin specifically enhances valence-dependent parasympathetic responses. Psychoneuroendocrinology, 37, 87–93. DOI

Gamer, M., Klimecki, O., Bauermann, T., Stoeter, P. & Vossel, G. (2012). fMRI-activation patterns in the detection of concealed information rely on memory-related effects. Social Cognitive and Affective Neuroscience, 7, 506–515. DOI

Lischke*, A., Gamer*, M., Berger, C., Grossmann, A., Hauenstein, K., Heinrichs, M., Herpertz, S. C., & Domes, G. (2012). Oxytocin increases amygdala reactivity to threatening scenes in females. Psychoneuroendocrinology, 37, 1431–1438. (*equal contribution) DOI

Oertel, B., Preibisch, C., Martin, T., Walter, C., Gamer, M., Deichmann, R., & Lotsch, J. (2012). Separating brain processing of pain from that of stimulus intensity. Human Brain Mapping, 33, 883–894. DOI

Peth, J., Vossel, G., & Gamer, M. (2012). Emotional arousal modulates the encoding of crime related details and corresponding physiological responses in the Concealed Information Test. Psychophysiology, 49, 381–390. DOI

Scheller, E., Büchel, C., & Gamer, M. (2012). Diagnostic features of emotional expressions are processed preferentially. PLoS ONE, 7, e41792. DOI

2011

Boll, S., Gamer, M., Kalisch, R., & Büchel, C. (2011). Processing of facial expressions and their significance for the observer in subregions of the human amygdala. NeuroImage, 56, 299–306. DOI

Brassen, S., Gamer, M., & Büchel, C. (2011). Anterior cingulate activation is related to a positivity bias and emotional stability in successful aging. Biological Psychiatry, 70, 131–137. DOI

Gamer, M., Hecht, H., Seipp, N., & Hiller, W. (2011). Who is looking at me? The cone of gaze widens in social phobia. Cognition & Emotion, 25, 756–764. DOI

2010

Brassen, S., Gamer, M., Rose, M., & Büchel, C. (2010). The influence of directed covert attention on emotional face processing. NeuroImage, 50, 545–551. DOI

Civai, C., Corradi-Dell’Acqua, C., Gamer, M., & Rumiati, R. I. (2010). Are irrational reactions to unfairness truly emotionally-driven? Dissociated behavioral and emotional responses in the Ultimatum Game task. Cognition, 114, 89–95. DOI

Fechir, M., Gamer, M., Blasius, I., Bauermann, T., Breimhorst, M., Schlindwein, P., Schlereth, T., & Birklein, F. (2010). Functional imaging of sympathetic activation during mental stress. NeuroImage, 50, 847–854. DOI

Feld, G. B., Specht, M., & Gamer, M. (2010). Differential electrodermal and phasic heart rate responses to personally relevant information: Comparing sleep and wakefulness. Sleep and Biological Rhythms, 8, 72–78. DOI

Gamer, M. (2010). Does the Guilty Actions Test allow for differentiating guilty subjects from informed innocents? A re-examination. International Journal of Psychophysiology, 76, 19–24. DOI

Gamer, M. (2010). Does the amygdala mediate oxytocin effects on socially reinforced learning? Journal of Neuroscience, 30, 9347–9348. DOI

Gamer, M., & Berti, S. (2010). Task relevance and recognition of concealed information have different influences on electrodermal activity and event-related brain potentials. Psychophysiology, 47, 355–364. DOI

Gamer, M., Kosiol, D., & Vossel, G. (2010). Strength of memory encoding affects physiological responses in the Guilty Actions Test. Biological Psychology, 83, 101–107. DOI

Gamer, M., Zurowski, B., & Büchel, C. (2010). Different amygdala subregions mediate valence related and attentional effects of oxytocin in humans. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, 107, 9400–9405. DOI

Ehlers, A., Suendermann, O., Boellinghaus, I., Vossbeck-Elsebusch, A., Gamer, M., Briddon, E., Martin, M. W., & Glucksman, E. (2010). Heart rate responses to standardized trauma-related pictures in acute posttraumatic stress disorder. International Journal of Psychophysiology, 78, 27–34. DOI

Muelenz, C., Hecht, H., & Gamer, M. (2010). Testing the egocentric mirror-rotation hypothesis. Seeing and Perceiving, 23, 373–383. DOI

Oberfeld, D., Hecht, H., & Gamer, M. (2010). Surface lightness influences perceived room height. Quarterly Journal of Experimental Psychology, 63, 1999–2011. DOI

Suendermann, O., Ehlers, A., Boellinghaus, I., Gamer, M., & Glucksman, E. (2010). Early heart rate responses to standardized trauma-related pictures predict posttraumatic stress disorder: A prospective study. Psychosomatic Medicine, 72, 301–308. DOI

2009

Fechir, M., Schlereth, T., Kritzmann, S., Balon, S., Pfeifer, N., Geber, C., Breimhorst, M., Eberle, T., Gamer, M., & Birklein, F. (2009). Stress and thermoregulation: Different sympathetic responses and different effects on experimental pain. European Journal of Pain, 13, 935–941. DOI

Gamer, M., & Büchel, C. (2009). Amygdala activation predicts gaze toward fearful eyes. Journal of Neuroscience, 29, 9123–9126. DOI

Gamer, M., & Vossel, G. (2009). Psychophysiologische Aussagebeurteilung: Aktueller Stand und neuere Entwicklungen [Psychophysiological detection of deception: Current status and future prospects]. Zeitschrift für Neuropsychologie, 20, 207–218. DOI

Meijer, E., Verschuere, B., Vrij, A., Merckelbach, H., Smulders, F., Leal, S., Ben-Shakhar, G., Granhag, P. A., Gamer, M., Gronau, N., Vossel, G., Crombez, G., Spence, S. (2009). A call for evidence-based security tools. Open Access Journal of Forensic Psychology, 1, 1–4.

2008

Fechir, M., Schlereth, T., Purat, T., Kritzmann, S., Geber, C., Eberle, T., Gamer, M., & Birklein, F. (2008). Patterns of sympathetic responses induced by different stress tasks. The Open Neurology Journal, 2, 25–31. DOI

Gamer, M., Gödert, H. W., Keth, A., Rill, H.-G., & Vossel, G. (2008). Electrodermal and phasic heart rate responses in the Guilty Actions Test: Comparing guilty examinees to informed and uninformed innocents. International Journal of Psychophysiology, 69, 61–68. DOI

Gamer, M., Verschuere, B., Crombez, G., & Vossel, G. (2008). Combining physiological measures in the detection of concealed information. Physiology & Behavior, 95, 333–340. DOI

2007

Gamer, M., Bauermann, T., Stoeter, P., & Vossel, G. (2007). Covariations among fMRI, skin conductance and behavioral data during processing of concealed information. Human Brain Mapping, 28, 1287–1301. DOI

Gamer, M., & Hecht, H. (2007). Are you looking at me? Measuring the cone of gaze. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Human Perception and Performance, 33, 705–715. DOI

2006

Gamer, M., Rill, H.-G., Vossel, G., & Gödert, H. W. (2006). Psychophysiological and vocal measures in the detection of guilty knowledge. International Journal of Psychophysiology, 60, 76–87. DOI

2005

Gödert, H. W., Gamer, M., Rill, H.-G., & Vossel, G. (2005). Statement validity assessment: Inter-rater reliability of criteria-based content analysis in the mock-crime paradigm. Legal and Criminological Psychology, 10, 225–245. DOI

Hecht, H., Bertamini, M., & Gamer, M. (2005). Naive optics: Acting on mirror reflections. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Human Perception and Performance, 31, 1023–1038. DOI

Preprints

Stegmann, Y., & Gamer, M. (2025, November 21). Electrocortical and physiological correlates of memory and attention during the anticipation of avoidable and inevitable threats. PsyArXiv, DOI

Books

Pinel, J. P. J., Barnes, S. J., Pauli, P., & Gamer, M. (2024). Biopsychologie (11th ed.). München: Pearson.

Book chapters

Gamer, M., & Pfundmair, M. (2024). Neurobiologie und Traumaforschung als Alternativen zur Aussagepsychologie? Eine kritische Überprüfung. In R. Deckers, G. Köhnken, & J. Lederer (Hg.), Die Erhebung und Bewertung von Zeugenaussagen im Strafprozess. Juristische, aussagepsychologische und psychiatrische Aspekte (pp. 55-68). Berlin: Berliner Wissenschafts-Verlag

Gamer, M. (2019). Aufmerksamkeit. In J. P. J. Pinel, S. J. Barnes, & P. Pauli (Eds.), Biopsychologie (10th ed., pp. 255–281). München: Pearson, Higher Education.

Ambach, W., & Gamer, M. (2018). Physiological measures in the detection of deception and concealed information. In J. P. Rosenfeld (Ed.), Detecting concealed information and deception – Recent developments (pp. 3-34). London: Academic Press.

Gamer, M., & Pertzov, Y. (2018). Detecting concealed knowledge from ocular responses. In J. P. Rosenfeld (Ed.), Detecting concealed information and deception – Recent developments (pp. 169-186). London: Academic Press.

Suchotzki, K., & Gamer, M. (2018). Lying and psychology. In J. Meibauer (Ed.), The Oxford handbook of lying (pp. 446–455). Oxford: University Press.

Flechsenhar, A., Rubo, M., & Gamer, M. (2016). Soziale Aufmerksamkeit. In J. Müller, A. Nießeler, & A. Rauh (Hrsg.), Aufmerksamkeit – Neue humanwissenschaftliche Perspektiven (S. 149–176). Bielefeld: transcript.

Gamer, M. (2013). Lügen erkennen. In C. Gelitz (Hrsg.), Profiler & Co – Kriminalpsychologen auf den Spuren des Verbrechens (S. 16–22). Stuttgart: Schattauer.

Gamer, M. (2011). Detecting concealed information using autonomic measures. In B. Verschuere, G. Ben-Shakhar & E. Meijer (Eds.), Memory detection: Theory and application of the Concealed Information Test (pp. 27-45). Cambridge: University Press.

Gamer, M. (2011). Detecting of deception and concealed information using neuroimaging techniques. In B. Verschuere, G. Ben-Shakhar & E. Meijer (Eds.), Memory detection: Theory and application of the Concealed Information Test (pp. 90-113). Cambridge: University Press.

Software

Gamer, M. (2007). irr, library for R: Various coefficients of interrater reliability and agreement. Published under the GNU General Public License. Available via r-project.org. Link

Published conference contributions

Kremer, D., Lehnen, L., Karges, N., Zeile, P., Lemoine-Rodríguez, R., Rauh, J., Gamer, M., Schmidt, M., Gust, G., Wallmann-Sperlich, B., Droin, A., Schulz, N., Biewer, C., & Taubenböck, H. (2026). From spatial to platial decision support in planning – collecting platial experiences of well-being. In F. B. Mocnik & R. Westerholt (Eds.), Proceedings of the 5th International Symposium on Platial Information Science (pp. 137–146). DOI

Wittenberg, T., Hildenbrand, M., Eixelberger, T., Lang-Richter, N., Breuer, F., Haddad, D., Gamer, M., & Blaimer, F. (2026). Simultaneous contact-less acquisition of facial emotions, vital signs and functional MRI. In Proceedings of the International Conference on Integrated Systems in Medical Technologies (ISMT) 2025 (pp. 38-43).

Merscher, A. S.., & Gamer, M. (2020). Freezing of gaze in anticipation of avoidable threat: a threat-specific proxy for freezing-like behavior in humans. In Proceedings of the 2020 ACM Symposium on Eye Tracking Research & Applications - ETRA ’20 (Article 33, pp. 1–3). New York, New York, USA: ACM Press. DOI

Rubo, M., & Gamer, M. (2018). Using vertex displacements to distort virtual bodies and objects while preserving visuo-tactile congruency during touch. In 25th IEEE Conference on Virtual Reality and 3D User Interfaces, VR 2018 – Proceedings, (pp. 673–674). DOI

Rubo, M., & Gamer, M. (2018). Virtual reality as a proxy for real-life social attention? In Proceedings of the 2018 ACM Symposium on Eye Tracking Research & Applications - ETRA ’18 (pp. 1–2). New York, New York, USA: ACM Press. DOI

Rubo, M., & Gamer, M. (2018). Tracing gaze-following behavior in virtual reality using Wiener-Granger causality. In Proceedings of the 2018 ACM Symposium on Eye Tracking Research & Applications. New York, NY, USA: Association for Computing Machinery. DOI

Adam, M. T. P., Gamer, M., Krämer, J., & Weinhardt, C. (2011). Measuring emotions in electronic markets. ICIS 2011 Proceedings. Paper 1. Link

Gamer, M., Rill, H.-G., Gödert, H. W., & Vossel, G. (2007). Die Validität psychophysiologischer und inhaltsanalytischer Verfahren zur Glaubhaftigkeitsbeurteilung von Aussagen. In C. Lorei (Hrsg.), Polizei & Psychologie 2006 (S. 485–500). Frankfurt: Verlag für Polizeiwissenschaft.

Gödert, H. W., Gamer, M., Rill, H.-G., & Vossel, G. (2007). Aussagepsychologische Glaubhaftigkeitsbeurteilung: Validität der Kriterienorientierten Inhaltsanalyse, wenn Zeugen und Täter sich gegenseitig beschuldigen. In C. Lorei (Hrsg.), Polizei & Psychologie 2006 (S. 519–532). Frankfurt: Verlag für Polizeiwissenschaft.

Gödert, H. W., Gamer, M., Rill, H.-G., & Vossel, G. (2007). Täterschaftsbeurteilung mit dem Guilty Actions Test: Differenzierung von Schuldigen, Unschuldigen mit Tatwissen und Unschuldigen ohne Tatwissen anhand der Herzschlagfrequenz. In C. Lorei (Hrsg.), Polizei & Psychologie 2006 (S. 533–545). Frankfurt: Verlag für Polizeiwissenschaft.

Kosiol, D., Gamer, M., & Vossel, G. (2007). Die Validität des Guilty Actions Tests bei verzögerter Testung und der Verwendung unterschiedlicher Fragetypen. In C. Lorei (Hrsg.), Polizei & Psychologie 2006 (S. 501–517). Frankfurt: Verlag für Polizeiwissenschaft.

Rill, H.-G., Gamer, M., Gödert, H. W., & Vossel, G. (2007). Psychologische und physiologische Grundlagen des Guilty Actions Tests. In C. Lorei (Hrsg.), Polizei & Psychologie 2006 (S. 465–483). Frankfurt: Verlag für Polizeiwissenschaft.

Gamer, M., Rill, H.-G., Gödert, H. W., & Vossel, G. (2003). Forensische Psychophysiologie („Lügendetektion“): Polygraphie versus Stimmstressanalyse. In C. Lorei (Hrsg.), Polizei & Psychologie 2003 (S. 247–264). Frankfurt: Verlag für Polizeiwissenschaft.

Gamer, M., Rill, H.-G., Gödert, H. W., & Vossel, G. (2003). Forensische Psychophysiologie („Lügendetektion“): Die Aufdeckung der durch Spionage erworbenen Tatkenntnisse mittels des Tatwissentests. In C. Lorei (Hrsg.), Polizei & Psychologie 2003 (S. 265–278). Frankfurt: Verlag für Polizeiwissenschaft.

Gödert, H. W., Rill, H.-G., Vossel, G., & Gamer, M. (2003). Forensische Psychophysiologie („Lügendetektion“): Gegenüberstellung der wichtigsten Verfahren – Kontrollfragentest und Tatwissentest. In C. Lorei (Hrsg.), Polizei & Psychologie 2003 (S. 279–294). Frankfurt: Verlag für Polizeiwissenschaft.

Gödert, H. W., Rill, H.-G., Vossel, G., & Gamer, M. (2003). Forensische Glaubhaftigkeitsbeurteilung: Vergleich psychophysiologischer, inhaltsorientierter und naiv-intuitiver Vorgehensweisen. In C. Lorei (Hrsg.), Polizei & Psychologie 2003 (S. 295–311). Frankfurt: Verlag für Polizeiwissenschaft.

Rill, H.-G., Gödert, H. W., Gamer, M., & Vossel, G. (2003). Forensische Psychophysiologie („Lügendetektion“): Der Tatwissentest – Methodik, Anwendung und rechtliche Situation. In C. Lorei (Hrsg.), Polizei & Psychologie 2003 (S. 561–571). Frankfurt: Verlag für Polizeiwissenschaft.

Rill, H.-G., Gödert, H. W., Vossel, G., Willrich, A., Adler, I., & Gamer, M. (2003). Forensische Psychophysiologie („Lügendetektion“): Die Effekte einer schriftlichen versus bildhaften Reizdarbietung beim Tatwissentest. In C. Lorei (Hrsg.), Polizei & Psychologie 2003 (S. 573–580). Frankfurt: Verlag für Polizeiwissenschaft.