ESRS 2022 Two Weeks Training Grant Report by Ann Rosén

The purpose of the two-week training visit was to expand my knowledge on the role of sleep in psychiatric conditions, especially anxiety. I hoped to learn more about how to investigate the reciprocal relationship with both subjective (questionnaires) and objective (actigraphy, polysomnography) instruments. Since I am about to plan for a new study on the subject of anxiety and sleep, this was of great importance to me. The research group of Prof. Riemann is well-known for its knowledge and expertise in this area, and my beliefs were that the things I could learn from them could contribute significantly to mine and my research group’s advancement in the field.

I was very glad that my high expectations were met during my visit to the Freiburg lab. I was well received by Prof. Riemann and his group of researchers. They kindly shared information about their different research projects, and the methods that they are working with. I also got the possibility to visit the sleep laboratory and sit in during a visit from one participant in one of the studies.

Something that made a great impression on me was the technical solutions that the research group had to collect and inspect data from both physiological assessments and questionnaires, during ongoing data collection. I found it appealing that the data was presented in a systematic way that enabled both a quick overview and a more in depth scrutinization, whilst the project was running. This was inspiring to me and gives me a model both of how to integrate the collection physiological measures with questionnaires and how to improve the data collection process.

I am so thankful for the opportunity to visit Prof. Riemann’s research group! It gave me new knowledge, new ideas and a larger network in sleep research.

Best Regards,

Ann Rosén
PhD-student at Karolinska Institutet,
Stockholm, Sweden