Name Tamar van Raalten
Department of Psychiatry
Section Brian changes in developmental disorders
Function Post-doc
E-mail
t.vanraalten@umcutrecht.nl Tel: +31 88 75 59641
Supervisor Sarah Durston
Title research
fMRI of cognitive control in autism
Summary research The aim of the project is to investigate the role of fronto-striatal circuits and cognitive control in the perseverative and inflexible behavior that is a defining feature of autism. We will use functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging (fMRI) to investigate brain activation patterns associated with cognitive control in a group of typically developing children and a group of children with autism in three developmentally appropriate paradigms assessing different aspects of fronto-striatal functioning. We will investigate whether rigid and inflexible behavior in autism is related to (1) decreased ability of fronto-striatal systems to learn patterns present in the environment (2) decreased ability of the basal ganglia to detect violations of expectancy, (3) decreased ability of the prefrontal cortical systems to respond to detected violations, or (4) decreased connectivity of the circuits.
Publications Ramsey, N. F., Jansma, J. M., Jager, G., Van Raalten, T., & Kahn, R. S. (2004). Neurophysiological factors in human information processing capacity. Brain, 127(0006-8950 (Print)), 517-525.
van Raalten, T. R., Ramsey, N. F., Jansma, J. M., Jager, G., & Kahn, R. S. (2008). Automatization and working memory capacity in schizophrenia. Schizophr Res, 100(1-3), 161-171.