Dr. Mauro Larra

Larra Scientific Staff

Phone: +49 / 231 1084 375
Email: larra@ifado.de

Curriculum Vitae:

  • 08/2018 - today Research assistant in the department of Ergonomics, Leibniz Research Centre for Working Environment and Human Factors (IfaDo)
  • 2015 - 2018 research assistant (Post-Doc) at the University of Trier, research institute of psychobiology, Department of clinical psychophysiology
  • 2015 doctorate (Dr. rer. nat.; summa cum laude)
  • 2012 - 2015 research assistant at the University of Trier, research institute of psychobiology, Department of clinical psychophysiology
  • 2010 - 2012 DFG promotion scholarship in the international graduatet college "Psychoneuroendocrinology of Stress"
  • 2009 diploma degree in psychology
  • 2005 - 2009 study of psychology (diploma) at the University of Trier
  • 2003 - 2005 study of psychology at the Univerversity of Luxembourg

Research topics:

  • Cognitive and emotional effects of acute stress
  • Stress induction and quantification
  • Emergence and consequences of chronic stress
  • Peripheral Psychophysiology
DFG Third-party funds: Stress effects on conflict processing: The role of cardioafferent traffic (LA 4830-1)

Key publications:

  • Bachmann, P., Finke, J.B., Rebeck, D., Zhang, X., Larra, M.F., Koch, K.P., Turner, J.D., Schächinger, H., 2019. Test-retest reproducibility of a combined physical and cognitive stressor. Biol Psychol 148, 107729.
  • Finke, J.B., Zhang, X., Plein, D., Schilling, T.M., Schächinger, H., Larra, M.F., 2021. Combining mental and physical stress: Synergy or interference? Physiol Behav 233, 113365.
  • Larra, M.F., Finke, J.B., Wascher, E., Schächinger, H., 2020. Disentangling sensorimotor and cognitive cardioafferent effects: A cardiac-cycle-time study on spatial stimulus-response compatibility. Scientific reports 10, 4059.
  • Li-Tempel, T., Suer, T., Tempel, T., Larra, M.F., Winnikes, U., Schächinger, H., Meyer, J., Schote, A.B., 2019. Promoter haplotypes of the corticotropin-releasing hormone encoding gene modulate the physiological stress response in vitro and in vivo. Stress 22, 44-52.
  • Peifer, C., Hagemann, V., Claus, M., Larra, M.F., Aust, F., Kühn, M., Owczarek, M., Bröde, P., Pacharra, M., Steffens, H., Watzl, C., Wascher, E., Capellino, S., 2021. Low self-reported stress despite immune-physiological changes in paramedics during rescue operations. EXCLI journal 20, 792-811.
  • Zhang, X., Bachmann, P., Schilling, T. M., Naumann, E., Schachinger, H., & Larra, M. F. (2018). Emotional stress regulation: The role of relative frontal alpha asymmetry in shaping the stress response. Biol Psychol. doi:10.1016/j.biopsycho.2018.08.007
  • Hengesch, X., Elwenspoek, M. M. C., Schaan, V. K., Larra, M. F., Finke, J. B., Zhang, X., & Schachinger, H. (2018). Blunted endocrine response to a combined physical-cognitive stressor in adults with early life adversity. Child Abuse Negl. doi:10.1016/j.chiabu.2018.04.002
  • Finke, J. B., Kalinowski, G. I., Larra, M. F., & Schachinger, H. (2018). The socially evaluated handgrip test: Introduction of a novel, time-efficient stress protocol. Psychoneuroendocrinology, 87, 141-146. doi:10.1016/j.psyneuen.2017.10.013
  • Bachmann, P., Zhang, X., Larra, M. F., Rebeck, D., Schonbein, K., Koch, K. P., & Schachinger, H. (2018). Validation of an automated bilateral feet cold pressor test. Int J Psychophysiol, 124, 62-70. doi:10.1016/j.ijpsycho.2017.10.013
  • Larra, M. F., Behrje, A., Finke, J. B., Blumenthal, T. D., & Schachinger, H. (2017). Filling the gap: Evidence for a spatial differentiation in trace eyeblink conditioning. Neurosci Lett, 654, 33-37. doi:10.1016/j.neulet.2017.06.011
  • Hengesch, X., Larra, M. F., Finke, J. B., Blumenthal, T. D., & Schachinger, H. (2017). Enhanced startle reflexivity during presentation of visual nurture cues in young adults who experienced parental divorce in early childhood. Int J Psychophysiol, 120, 78-85. doi:10.1016/j.ijpsycho.2017.07.004
  • Finke, J. B., Larra, M. F., Merz, M. U., & Schachinger, H. (2017). Startling similarity: Effects of facial self-resemblance and familiarity on the processing of emotional faces. PLoS One, 12(12), e0189028. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0189028
  • Schulz, A., Schilling, T. M., Vogele, C., Larra, M. F., & Schachinger, H. (2016). Respiratory modulation of startle eye blink: a new approach to assess afferent signals from the respiratory system. Philos Trans R Soc Lond B Biol Sci, 371(1708). doi:10.1098/rstb.2016.0019
  • Pramme, L., Larra, M. F., Schachinger, H., & Frings, C. (2016). Cardiac cycle time effects on selection efficiency in vision. Psychophysiology, 53(11), 1702-1711. doi:10.1111/psyp.12728
  • Li-Tempel, T., Larra, M. F., Winnikes, U., Tempel, T., DeRijk, R. H., Schulz, A., & Schote, A. B. (2016). Polymorphisms of genes related to the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis influence the cortisol awakening response as well as self-perceived stress. Biol Psychol, 119, 112-121. doi:10.1016/j.biopsycho.2016.07.010
  • Li-Tempel, T., Larra, M. F., Sandt, E., Meriaux, S. B., Schote, A. B., Schachinger, H., & Turner, J. D. (2016). The cardiovascular and hypothalamus-pituitary-adrenal axis response to stress is controlled by glucocorticoid receptor sequence variants and promoter methylation. Clin Epigenetics, 8, 12. doi:10.1186/s13148-016-0180-y
  • Larra, M. F., Pramme, L., Schachinger, H., & Frings, C. (2016). Stress and selective attention: Immediate and delayed stress effects on inhibition of return. Brain Cogn, 108, 66-72. doi:10.1016/j.bandc.2016.07.008
  • Larra, M. F., Schilling, T. M., Rohrig, P., & Schachinger, H. (2015). Enhanced stress response by a bilateral feet compared to a unilateral hand Cold Pressor Test. Stress, 18(5), 589-596. doi:10.3109/10253890.2015.1053452
  • Finke, J. B., Larra, M. F., Schilling, T. M., Lass-Hennemann, J., Blumenthal, T. D., & Schachinger, H. (2015). Startle eye-blink modulation by facial self-resemblance and current mood. Int J Psychophysiol, 96(3), 162-168. doi:10.1016/j.ijpsycho.2015.04.009
  • Schilling, T. M., Larra, M. F., Deuter, C. E., Blumenthal, T. D., & Schachinger, H. (2014). Rapid cortisol enhancement of psychomotor and startle reactions to side-congruent stimuli in a focused cross-modal choice reaction time paradigm. Eur Neuropsychopharmacol, 24(11), 1828-1835. doi:10.1016/j.euroneuro.2014.09.002
  • Schilling, T. M., Ferreira de Sa, D. S., Westerhausen, R., Strelzyk, F., Larra, M. F., Hallschmid, M., & Schachinger, H. (2014). Intranasal insulin increases regional cerebral blood flow in the insular cortex in men independently of cortisol manipulation. Hum Brain Mapp, 35(5), 1944-1956. doi:10.1002/hbm.22304
  • Pramme, L., Larra, M. F., Schachinger, H., & Frings, C. (2014). Cardiac cycle time effects on mask inhibition. Biol Psychol, 100, 115-121. doi:10.1016/j.biopsycho.2014.05.008
  • Larra, M. F., Schulz, A., Schilling, T. M., Ferreira de Sa, D. S., Best, D., Kozik, B., & Schachinger, H. (2014). Heart rate response to post-learning stress predicts memory consolidation. Neurobiol Learn Mem, 109, 74-81. doi:10.1016/j.nlm.2013.12.004
  • Schilling, T. M., Kolsch, M., Larra, M. F., Zech, C. M., Blumenthal, T. D., Frings, C., & Schachinger, H. (2013). For whom the bell (curve) tolls: cortisol rapidly affects memory retrieval by an inverted U-shaped dose-response relationship. Psychoneuroendocrinology, 38(9), 1565-1572. doi:10.1016/j.psyneuen.2013.01.001
  • Frings, C., Larra, M. F., Grabener, A., Moeller, B., & Schachinger, H. (2013). Stress disrupts distractor-based retrieval of SR episodes. Biol Psychol, 93(1), 58-64. doi:10.1016/j.biopsycho.2013.01.013