Current newsHalf a year after the childbirth more than 6% of parents have shaken their baby violently in the hope that it would stop crying. Discovering how parents react to both laughing and crying babies is therefore necessary. Research carried out by Madelon Riem has demonstrated the role of the hormone oxytocin in child-parent interaction.
Certain meditation techniques can promote creative thinking. This is the outcome of a study by cognitive psychologist Lorenza Colzato and her fellow researchers at Leiden University, published 19 April in the open access journalist 'Frontiers in Cognition'.
The Leiden Institute for Brain and Cognition (LIBC) is concentrating increasingly on research into the role of the brain in language development. The institute has now set up the LIBC Language website that brings together all the information on this research.
The results of psychiatric treatment can be improved if both the therapist and the patient receive feedback on the progress of the therapy. This is the conclusion of psychologist Kim de Jong from her research on the mental healthcare sector. PhD defence 17 April.
Comparison between babies and song-birds when they are learning a non-existent language—a study of this kind has never been tried before. But this is what Claartje Levelt, Carel ten Cate (Leiden University) and Jelle Zuidema (University of Amsterdam) are attempting.
Curiosity makes people stressed. Satisfying the curiosity works as a reward and also stimulates the memory. Researchers at the Leiden Institute for Brain and Cognition have provided new evidence for a classical theory about human curiosity using functional MRI scans. The researchers have published an article on the subject in 'Frontiers in Behavioral Neuroscience'.
The training for surgeons could be more realistic and more efficient if 'evidence-based' methods were used, according to surgeon and instructor Jaap Hamming. He is therefore working closely with cognitive psychologists Guido Band and Bernhard Hommel on improvements to the training. A custom-made training programme would take more account of the individual surgeons being trained.
Is attention from women different from attention from men? Leiden researchers and their colleagues in Toronto investigated the effects of the hormone oestrogen on spontaneous attention. They were hoping in this way to explain differences between the sexes. Women turned out to only be different from men when they had a high level of oestrogen in their menstruation cycle.
Can robots bake pancakes? As far as cognitive psychologist Bernhard Hommel is concerned, yes. Once they are equipped with a cognitive control system, robots can become increasingly smarter through interaction with internet. And that’s where the future lies. Robotics projects in seven European countries are collaborating in this interdisciplinary project, with a European subsidy of € 7.2 million.
Eveline Crone, Professor of Neurocognitive Developmental Psychology, is sixth on the list of most powerful women in Teaching and Science, according to Dutch magazine Opzij. Crone is one of the youngest female professors in the Netherlands and already has many awards to her name.
Much neuroscientific research contains a serious statistical error, cognitive psychologist Sander Nieuwenhuis has discovered. This is even the case if the research has been published in top journals such as Nature and Science.
Eveline Crone and Beatrice de Graaf will receive the LNVH Anniversary Prize from the Dutch Network of Women Professors (LNVH) on the occasion of its ten-year anniversary. From 175 entries a jury of eminent academics selected the four most outstanding ones. The other two winners are attached to TU Delft and Maastricht University.
Adrenaline stimulates our body to take action. Noradrenaline does the same with our brain. It is the effect of noradrenaline on the brain that is the subject of research by cognitive psychologist Sander Nieuwenhuis. With his Starting Grant from the European Research Council (ERC) for talented, up-and-coming researchers, he now has 1.5 million euro to fund his own research team.
Some people are more sensitive to depression than others. But why is that the case? Clinical psychologist Niki Antypa studied how vulnerability to depression is influenced by cognition. She also found a first careful indication that a treatment with omega-3 fatty acids might provide a solution.
Anxiety and depression have to date primarily been studied as separate psychiatric disorders, whilst they often occur in combination. Marie-José van Tol has has discovered that there is an overlap in the activity and volume of parts of the brain in anxiety and depression, but that both disorders have unique characteristics. PhD defence with honours 26 May.
Some people are by nature more sensitive to stress than others. It’s genetic. Such people might have a tendency to drink more alcohol to reduce stress-induced anxiety. This 'self-medication' hypothesis is confirmed by researchers of the Leiden Institute for Brain and Cognition of Leiden University.
Leiden University is the proud owner of a 3-Tesla MRI scanner that is primarily intended for scientific research on the brain. The Mayor of Leiden, Henry Lenferink, switched on the equipment with a push of a red button.
Eveline Crone has been selected as 2011's recipient of the 'Early Career Award' from the Society for Psychophysiological Research.
Clinical psychologist Dr Bernet Elzinga has been appointed as Professor of a personal chair at the Faculty of Social and Behavioural Sciences. This professorship will contribute both nationally and internationally to the broader promotion of Leiden University in the field of stress and psychopathology.
The way in which written language is processed in the brain is a hot topic in cognitive research. Cognitive psychologist Rinus Verdonschot studied a Japanese script in which a single character can have up to three possible pronunciations. He discovered that all three are simultaneously activated in the brain. In the end, the right pronunciation is determined by the surrounding characters.
