Langen M

Name
Marieke Langen
Department Child and Adolescent Psychiatry
Section Brain changes in developmental disorders

Function
Assistant professor
E-mail: m.langen@umcutrecht.nl
Telephone number: : +31 (0)88 755 3335

Supervisors
Sarah Durston, Wouter Staal PhD

Title Research
Diffusion Tensor Imaging In Autism

Summary Research
My projects combine several imaging techniques (including structural MRI and DTI) with behavioral assessments (clinical interviews and neurocognitive tasks) to investigate neurobiological correlates in the etiology of autism. My projects aim to assess the development of autism over time by including longitudinal assessments.

I am particularly interested in the involvement of fronto-striatal circuitry in the repetitive and stereotyped behavior seen in autistic individuals. In a recent study we demonstrate differential developmental trajectories for striatal structures in children with autism, using sMRI. In connection to these findings, current and future projects include investigating involvement of corticostriatal circuitry in children with autism using DTI, and longitudinal studies of both sMRI and DTI data in a large sample of children with autism.

In addition, I am interested in translational models for neuropsychiatric traits. Currently I am working on connecting findings from animal studies to human work (see also Langen et al, Neuroscience & Biobehavioral Reviews, in press a;b).


Publications
Langen M, Kas MJH, Staal WG, Van Engeland H, Durston S. The neurobiology of repetitive behaviour: of mice… Neuroscience & Biobehavioral Reviews, 2010 (in press).

Langen M, Durston S, Kas MJH, Van Engeland H, Staal WG. The neurobiology of repetitive behaviour: ...and men. Neuroscience & Biobehavioral Reviews, 2010 (in press).

Langen M, Schnack HG, Nederveen GH, Bos, D, Lahuis, BE, De Jonge, MV, Van Engeland, H, Durston S. Changes in the Developmental Trajectories of Striatum in Autism. Biological Psychiatry, 2009, 66(4):327-333.

Durston S, Nederveen GH, Van Dijk S, Van Belle J, De Zeeuw P, Langen M, Van Dijk A. MR­simulation is effective for reducing anxiety related to MR scanning in children. J Am Acad Child Adolesc Psychiatry, 2009, 48(2):206.

Langen M, Durston S, Staal W, Palmen S, Van Engeland, H. Caudate Nucleus Is Enlarged In High-Functioning Medication-Naive Subjects With Autism. Biological Psychiatry, 2007, 62(3):262-266.

Hulshoff Pol HE, Brans RGH, van Haren NEM, Schnack HG, Langen M, Baaré WFC, van Oel CJ, Kahn RS. Gray and white matter volume abnormalities in monozygotic and same-sex dizygotic twins discordant for schizophrenia. Biological Psychiatry, 2004,55(2):126-130.