Team

Kim Beneyton

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Kim is a French thesis student working in the field of cortical architecture, coding and perception in the Stem-cell and Brain Research Institute (Inserm, Lyon, France).

She joined the Predictive Brain Lab (Donders Center for Cognition and Neuroimaging, Nijmegen, Netherlands) in 2020. This collaboration aims to study the function and architecture of feedback connectivity with 3T and 7T laminar resolution fMRI.

According to the Predictive Coding Theory, feedback function has been underestimated and is crucial in how we perceive, learn and memorise our environment. Based on previous experiences, our brain is constantly predicting what is likely to happen. These predictions can be more or less accurate and feedback connections help us to adjust them.

In parallel to her studies, Kim also has a passion for dance, music and writing.

Check out all of Kim’s blogs

Floortje Bouwkamp

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Floortje is a neurocognitive scientist with a background in visual communication. She investigates how expectations can guide selective attention.

During her time as a professional graphic designer she developed a profound interest in the neural mechanisms underlying visual perception and decided to pursue a career in science. She got her Bachelor’s degree at the University of Amsterdam and her research master’s degree in cognitive neuroscience at the Donders Institute (Radboud University).

She is currently doing her PhD funded by a research talent grant in the Predicitive Brain Lab. Here, she investigates how we automatically and implicitly learn the predictable structure in our environment and how this predictability is used by our brains to facilitate subsequent perceptual processing, completely outside of our awareness. Fascinated by the brain, she hopes to share its many wonders on this blog.

She lives together with her husband and son in Nijmegen with son #2 on the way.

Check out all of Floortje’s blogs

Rebecca Calcott

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Rebecca studies cognitive control, the ability to direct our thoughts and actions towards our goals and avoid distractions. She is particularly interested in how and why our cognitive control varies across different people and situations: Why can we easily stay focused on a task at some times, whereas at other times we are easily distracted?

She is currently researching this question as a postdoc in the Motivational and Cognitive Control Lab at the Donders Institute. Previously, Rebecca studied Psychology at the University of Toronto and the University of Oregon and worked at the University of Regensburg.

Outside of science, Rebecca enjoys traveling whenever possible, cooking (and eating!), and knitting all the things.

Check out all of Rebecca’s blogs

Christienne Damatac

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Christienne received bachelor’s degrees in both Biology and in Public Health from the Macaulay Honors College at the City University of New York (Brooklyn, NY). She then went on to graduate with a master’s degree in Biomedical Science with a focus in Neuroscience from the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai (New York, NY).

She is currently a PhD candidate in the Statistical Imaging Neuroscience group at the Donders Centre for Cognitive Neuroimaging (Nijmegen, Netherlands). Her project focuses on longitudinally characterizing the course of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) through predictive genetic and neuroimaging markers that may determine the remission versus persistence of ADHD symptoms in patients.

When she’s not checking out brains, Christienne enjoys traveling near and far, doodling in her sketchbook, and dancing (in a bar and à la barre).

Check out all of Christienne’s blogs

João Guimarães

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João is a researcher born and raised in Lisbon, Portugal, and since 2017 he works as a PhD student in the Donders Institute.

As a researcher, he is interested in investigating the biological causes of ADHD. We know genes partially explain why someone may develop the altered behavior that characterizes ADHD and other psychiatric disorders. If these genetic factors influence behavior, they are expected to affect brain activity to certain level as well. His goal is to find evidence pointing to this relationship between human genes, brain, and behavior.

In his free time, he likes to give his brain some rest by doing sports or cooking. Still, his curiosity about the world we live in makes him wonder, especially outside office. A deeper topic you discuss with friends in a cafe, a hypothetical scenario you are confronted with by watching a movie or a TV show, the emotions you feel while listening to your favorite artists, a different reality that you were not aware before… By joining Donders Wonders, he hopes to use his curiosity as a tool that provides interesting topics of discussion, and contributes to your interest in science!

Check out all of João’s blogs

Wessel Hieselaar

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Wessel decided to go in a different direction after obtaining a Bachelor’s degree in Artificial Intelligence. He is now enrolled in the Master’s programme for Cognitive Neuroscience at the Radboud University, focussing on language and communication. At the moment he is an intern at the Donders Centre for Cognition, where he’s researching word recognition and translation, using a computational model. His research interests are in the field of semantics: how people give meaning to the words they encounter.

In his spare time, Wessel likes to play board games and bossaball, and he likes to write from time to time.

Christina Isakoglou

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Christina is a PhD student at the Donders Institute. Her research focuses on creating methodologies that can help us understand developmental changes of the brain at the individual level.

She finished her Master’s thesis working with the Statistical Imaging and Predictive Clinical Neuroscience groups, after which her fascination for developmental disorders, such as autism, grew stronger. The notion in psychiatry that there is no average patient, biologically speaking, is what intrigues and motivates her research. Outside of science, she spends most of her time devouring fiction books and exercising.

Check out all of Christina’s blogs

Felix Klaassen

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Felix has a Bachelor’s degree in Psychology and a Master’s degree in Cognitive Neuroscience, both acquired at the Radboud University of Nijmegen. After completing his Master’s, he joined the Decision Neuroscience lab as a research assistant where he developed an interest into how people make decisions. Specifically, Felix wanted to know more about what people do in situations of possible reward and/or threat. Recently, he joined the Affective Neuroscience lab to investigate this by looking at how the bodily response of freezing affects approach and avoid decisions under threat.

In his free time Felix enjoys playing the guitar, going to the gym, playing videogames, and drinking special beers and whisky.

Check out all of Felix’s blogs

Eva Klimars

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After finishing her master’s in Cognitive Neuroscience at the Radboud University in Nijmegen, Eva was not yet fed up with the city at the Waal river. Therefore, she stayed in Nijmegen for her PhD, researching the neurological basis of Parkinson’s tremor. That is an involuntary shaking movement of the arms and legs, which often is an early sign of Parkinson’s disease.

Among other things, Eva is interested in the effect of stress on Parkinson’s tremor and tries to obtain a comprehensive overview of different types of tremor. Her research aims at providing a better understanding of individual causes of tremor, to enable a more efficient and targeted treatment of Parkinson’s patients.

In her spare time, she likes to cook and bake and she can be found in a boulder hall from time to time.

Check out all of Eva’s blogs

Ellen Lommerse

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One of Ellen Lommerse’s not-so-guilty pleasures in life, both professionally and as a hobby, is the English language and culture. Even though she finished her studies of English at Utrecht University in 1995, English has always remained a firm favorite, and so much so that she has recently decided to return to studying part-time (English Teacher Training at the HAN).

Ellen lived in London for about 12 years where she worked a.o. as a Blue Badge Guide and a translator. After settling down in the Netherlands, she has been teaching English since 2005 and she has worked at the Donders Institute in a supporting role since 2013.

Besides editing and translating Donders Wonders blogs, she loves travelling and is looking forward to doing a second trip around the world (this time by bike).

Marisha Manahova

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Mariya Manahova has a Bachelor’s degree in Cognitive Psychology from Bates College in the USA and a Master’s degree in Cognitive Neuroscience from Radboud University in Nijmegen, the Netherlands. For her current PhD work, she researches how we perceive the world visually and how our brains predict what we are going to see around us. For instance, how does brain activity differ when we see an image we expect compared to an image we don’t expect? Mariya also studies how different objects appear to us: how bright they seem to be or how long they seem to last for. For example, do we perceive expected or unexpected images as brighter? Do expected or unexpected images appear to last longer? Mariya tries to answer these questions in her work here at the Donders Centre.

Check out all of Marisha’s blogs 

Francie Manhardt

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Francie moved from Germany to the Netherlands to follow a Master’s in Linguistics. After graduating, she worked as a research assistant at the Max Planck Institute for Psycholinguistics in Nijmegen. In January 2016, she started her PhD at Radboud University in the Multimodal Language and Cognition group and explores whether knowing a sign language changes the way you perceive the world.

Every day, someone is looking for his/her car keys or sunglasses. Are they behind the book, under the table, or in front of the window? How do we convert this to language? To answer this question, Francie looks at sign languages—natural languages used by deaf communities. Sign languages allow talking about space by moving the hands and body in space. So does someone who speaks a spatial, visual sign language perceive spatial events differently?

Outside of work, she loves anything culinary, enjoys listening to music, and is often spotted at the sports center: spinning, lifting weights, and doing handstands (as best as she can…) in her newly discovered gymnastics course.

Check out all of Francie’s blogs 

Jill Naaijen

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Jill studies cognitive and biological psychology at Erasmus University in Rotterdam, after which she moved to Nijmegen for a PhD project in cognitive neuroscience. Her research focused on compulsive and impulsive behavior in children with neurodevelopmental disorders and how they differ and overlap with a main focus on brain and genetics. Jill currently works as a post-doctoral researcher at the Donders Institute and is involved in NeuroIMAGE, TACTICS, MATRICS and Aggressotype; all international projects with a focus on neurodevelopmental disorders.

Besides science, in her free time Jill likes to travel, learn the Italian language, pilates and writing (but also reading) fiction.

Jeroen Uleman

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Jeroen has a background in human movement and brain sciences, and holds a MSc degree in Computational Science from the University of Amsterdam. He’s currently performing graduate research at the Radboud UMC department of Geriatrics and the Institute for Advanced Study (IAS) in Amsterdam.

He’s interested in the application of computational methods for understanding complex systems like the human brain. Specifically, he’s fascinated by holistic approaches such as multi-scale and systems dynamics models due to their explanatory scope. It’s his ambition to employ such approaches to make contributions to our understanding of neurodegenerative and psychiatric disorders. The focus of his current research is on Alzheimer’s Disease.

Check out all of Jeroen’s blogs 

Julija Vaitonyte

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Julija is currently doing her PhD at Tilburg University on a project that seeks to build virtual humans that are life-like. She has a background in psycholinguistics and a great interest in a variety of aspects of non-verbal communication. Originally from Lithuania, Julija came to the Netherlands in 2016 to follow a research master’s in Language and Communication at Radboud University. During her studies, she completed internships at the Max Planck Institute for Psycholinguistics in Nijmegen and the University of Cambridge.

Julija could never survive without… of course oxygen but as much as oxygen is essential so are travelling, theatre, baking and chocolate.

Check out all of Julija’s blogs 

Mónica Wagner

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Having been raised with two languages herself, Mónica is interested in how people use and learn multiple languages, especially when it comes to the sounds of languages. During her licence in psychology (National University of Córdoba, Argentina) she looked into whether people who speak two (or more) languages, when wanting to say the word for ‘dog,’ consider the name in both of their languages. Then, during her Master’s in cognitive neuroscience (Radboud University, The Netherlands), she looked at the other side of the coin: whether bilinguals can selectively listen in one of their languages (sometimes even the wrong one!) and the role of the context they’re in at the moment or whether or not the speaker has a foreign accent. Currently Mónica is working on her PhD at the Donders Centre for Cognition (The Netherlands), where she’s studying individual differences in foreign accent, that is, why some people struggle so much to get rid of their foreign accent in a second language, while others seem to be able to acquire a native like accent almost effortlessly. She is new to the Donders Wonders team but will likely blog a lot about her favorite topics: languages, bilinguals, and accents!

Check out all of Mónica’s blogs 

Marlijn ter Bekke

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During her bachelor’s at University College Utrecht, Marlijn discovered that next to mathematics, she is also very interested in cognitive neuroscience, psychology and linguistics. That’s why she decided to pursue the Cognitive Neuroscience master’s at the Donders Institute (Radboud University), where she learned more about the neuroscience of language. In September 2019 she started her PhD in the Communication in Social Interaction research group.

Marlijn is passionate about studying how people use language in their daily lives to communicate with others. This mostly happens in face-to-face conversations, in which people communicate with words, but also with bodily signals such as hand gestures, head gestures and facial expressions. How do these visual signals help us to understand each other better during conversation? In her PhD, Marlijn aims to learn more about this.

In her free time, Marlijn enjoys gardening, reading books, and wandering around thrift stores, searching for CO2-neutral treasures. 

Check out all of Marlijn’s blogs

Martina Arenella

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Martina is a PhD student, in between the Donders Institute and the King’s College in London. Nevertheless, she keeps strong her Italian roots. 

She has been always fascinated in people: what do people think? Why do they behave so? This motivated her through her studies in clinical psychology. Yet, she realised she wanted to know more about the neurobiology behind people’s behaviour. That is why she studied Cognitive Neuroscience at the Radboud University. 

In particular, she is interested in the genetics of brain development: a way to understand the different contributions of biology and environment to mental health from early life. In her PhD, she investigates the role of immune-related genetics in symptoms and brain variability in autism spectrum disorders. 

Her free-time is filled with long yoga sessions, walks in the nature and stack of books. She enjoys people’s company and engage in endless conversations.  

Read all blogs of Martina