Projects
High-Functioning ASD. Really? Socio-Demographic, behavioral and neurocognitive predictors of adaptive functioning, quality of life and internalizing-externalizing problems. KU Leuven
Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD) are characterized by impairments in social interaction and social communication, combined with restricted, repetitive behavior patterns and interests. Underlying these behavioral problems, neurocognitive theories of ASD have focused on 1) local and global processing, 2) social cognition, and 3) executive functioning. The spectrum is characterized by a considerable amount of intra- and inter-individual ...
The neurocognitive development of preschoolers at risk for dyslexia and ADHD KU Leuven
Up until now, research on the cognitive precursors of dyslexia has merely focused on children with a family or cognitive risk for dyslexia. However, a substantially large group of these children also have a behavioral risk for ADHD. To date, far too little studies paid attention to this double risk group, as most dyslexia studies excluded children with an additional risk for ADHD. This doctoral project firstly aims to close the gap by ...
Role of corticostriatal system components in response flexibility, control of learned behavior and neurocognitive deficits. KU Leuven
The corticostriatal system has been suggested to play a role in cognitive functions, but its importance for spatial cognition has been scarcely studied. Different neurological and psychiatric diseases, such as Parkinson’s disease and schizophrenia, are related to (cortico)striatal dysfunctions. These disorders are characterized by motor impairments and psychotic episodes, but cognitive problems occur as well, specifically during early phases ...
Improving the prediction of language recovery in stroke patients by including risk and protective neurocognitive factors. KU Leuven
Aphasia is a language disorder most commonly caused by a cerebrovascular accident, or stroke, in the left hemisphere. Approximately 15-45% of patients in acute stroke settings have aphasia, which impairs their communication and dramatically affects their quality of life. In the first months after stroke, there is often spontaneous and intervention-induced recovery, but for 26-43% a chronic language deficit remains. To date, individual ...
Horizon 2020: Multidisciplinary Expert System for the Assessment & Management of Complex Brain Disorders Vrije Universiteit Brussel
Perturbed cortical hierarchies in Autism Spectrum Disorder: The case of high-level vision. KU Leuven
While people with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) show clear impairments in normal day-to-day behavior, they simultaneously outperform their Typically Developing (TD) counterparts on many perceptual tasks. This relative superiority in tasks requiring the processing of separate features rather than the stimulus configuration, evoked two competing theoretical frameworks: the Weak Central Coherence hypothesis (WCC) and the Enhanced Perceptional ...
On epigenetics and how 'environmental' factors contribute to the long-term legacy of pediatric critical illness KU Leuven
Critically ill patients are patients who, due to a variety of triggering medical conditions, require vital organ support to avoid imminent death. Despite major progress in intensive care the patients still face a high mortality risk. Moreover, critical illness is hallmarked by features of accelerated aging where many patients experience an adverse legacy of the illness long after hospital discharge. This is mostly described for adults and ...
Neurotoxicity of anesthetics in the developing brain of fetal rabbits and neuroprotective agents KU Leuven
There is increasing concern that exposure of the developing brain to anesthetics might be associated with impaired neurodevelopmental outcome in children undergoing surgery during their early life or even before birth.
Preclinical experiments in rodents and non-human primates have consistently shown that virtually all commonly used anesthetics cause apoptotic neurodegeneration that result in persisting neurocognitive impairment. In ...