Thomas Ritz
Professor of Psychology
Ph.D. University of Hamburg 1996

TEL 214.768.3724
EMAIL tritz (add @smu.edu to all email addresses)
OFFICE Expressway Tower, Suite 920
LAB WEBSITE click to view
CURRICULUM VITAE click to view

How does our experience impact our physiology? Can this impact lead to, or perpetuate, chronic disease, and if yes, under which conditions? These are some of the general questions that I am addressing with a biologically focused research program in psychology. Some of the major areas I have been working on in recent years are the psychophysiology and psychoimmunology of the airways in asthma, the autonomic and respiratory regulation in anxiety disorders, the psychophysiology of vagal regulation, and behavioral interventions to improve pathophysiology and management of chronic respiratory disease.

More specific details on current research projects are provided on our Stress, Anxiety, and Chronic Disease Program website.

Ritz, T., Ayala, E.S., Trueba, A.F., Vance, C.D. & Auchus, R.J. (2011). Acute stress-induced increases in exhaled nitric oxide in asthma and their association with endogenous cortisol. American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine, 183, 26-30.

Ritz, T., Wilhelm, F.H., Meuret, A.E., Gerlach, AL. & Roth, W.T. (2011). Airway response to emotion- and disease-specific films in asthma, blood phobia, and health. Psychophysiology, 48, 121-135.

Ayala, E.S., Meuret, A.E., & Ritz, T. (2010) Confrontation with blood and disgust stimuli precipitates respiratory dysregulation in blood-injury-injection phobia. Biological Psychology, 84, 87-97.

Ritz, T., Kullowatz, A., Goldman, G.D., Smith, H.-J., Kanniess, F., Dahme, B., & Magnussen, H. (2010). Airway response to emotional stimuli in asthma: The role of the cholinergic pathway. Journal of Applied Physiology, 108,1542-1549.

Ritz, T., Meuret, A.E., Ayala, E.S. (2010). The psychophysiology of blood-injection-injury phobia: Looking beyond the diphasic response paradigm. International Journal of Psychophysiology, 78, 50-67.

Ritz, T., Rosenfield, D., & Steptoe, A. (2010). Physical activity, lung function, and shortness of breath in daily life of asthma patients. Chest, 138, 913-918.

Ritz, T. (2009). Studying non-invasive indices of vagal control: the need for respiratory control and the problem of target specificity. Biological Psychology, 80, 158-168.