Attention & Cognition

Program Committee

Dorret Boomsma (program leader)
Matthijs Verhage (program leader) 

Meike Bartels
Niels Cornelisse
Peter Heutink
Jelle Jolles
Huibert Mansvelder
Hanne Meijers
Rhiannon Meredith
Tonny Mulder
Pim van Nierop
Tommy Pattij
Brenda Penninx
Danielle Posthuma
Guus Smit 

Rationale

Attention and cognition research is probably one of the most intensively studied topics in neuroscience research on the VU campus. A total of eight departments of three faculties have joined in the Attention & Cognition program. Researchers with different backgrounds, ranging from molecular genetics and biology to genetic epidemiology, psychology and clinical applications, contribute to this multidisciplinary program. This intense collaboration and the availability of unique resources, such as a large collection of twin families, well phenotyped longitudinal cohorts recruited from clinics throughout the Netherlands, novel animal models for attention and mental retardation and state of the art research facilities concentrated at one city campus, generates unique potential.

Executive Summary

The Attention & Cognition program focuses on three major aspects:

• Fundamental aspects of cognitive ability and mental retardation in humans and rodent models;
• Clinical aspects of cognition problems, with a primary focus on ADHD;
• Co-morbidity with other disorders, such as major depression and migraine

Topics include:

• Genetic epidemiology of cognitive ability and ADHD
• Identification of genes and genetic networks in attention traits and ADHD
• Endophenotypes of ADHD
• Brain mechanisms of executive control and working memory
• The role of synaptic plasticity in attention and cognitive ability
• The cellular mechanisms of Fragile-X mental retardation

This program will provide novel insights into the co-morbidity of cognitive problems with other neurological and psychiatric disorders and identify novel common genetic pathways and networks that contribute to the genetic risk. 

Ongoing projects

 
Department Functional Genomics, FALW
Principal Investigators: Matthijs Verhage, Niels Cornelisse

• the presynaptic gene network in attention and ADHD
• 5HT modulation of cognition in mice

Department of Integrative Neurophysiology, FALW
Principal Investigators: Huibert Mansvelder, Rhiannon Meredith

• Improvement of neuronal maturation and synaptic connectivity in Fragile X mice: targeting the role of Group 1 metabotropic glutamate receptors
• Novel biomarkers of memory: from model to cognition
• Origin of synaptic democracy: the role of neuronal morphology in synaptic scaling
• Attention-gated reinforcement learning

Department Clinical Genetics, VUmc
Principal Investigators: Peter Heutink, Hanne Meijers, Danielle Posthuma

• presynaptic network in cognitive dysfunction and mental retardation
• imaging genetics of cognitive traits, including intelligence, ADHD and working memory
• The role of evolutionary selection processes in cognitive traits
• The role of environmental factors in cognition and cognitive development

Department of Molecular and Cellular Neuroscience, FALW
Principal Investigators: Guus Smit, Pim van Nierop

• Molecular underpinning of cognitive impairments in Fragile-X Syndrome
• Glutamate receptor signaling in learning and memory
• Genetic screening of memory and attention in mice

Department of Anatomy and Neurosciences, VUmc
Principal Investigators: Henk Groenewegen, Tommy Patty

• The role of the prefrontal-striatal system in cognition and the modulation by monoamine systems and understanding the neural correlates of higher-order cognitive functions using a systems approach in rodents

Department of Biological Psychology, VU-FPP
Principal Investigators: Dorret Boomsma, Meike Bartels

• Integrated genomic approach to finding functional variants for cognition
• Developmental studies of cognition and brain structure (sMRI)
• Cognition, ADHD and school performance
• Complex interactions between genotype and environment in cognition
• Migraine and Attention
• Brain structure/function and ADHD

Department of psychiatry, VUmc
Principal Investigator: Brenda Penninx

• The role of stress and trauma on cognition
• Genetics of ADHD and relation to prevalence & course of mental health

Department of Clinical Neuropsychology, VU-FPP
Principal Investigator: Jaap Oosterlaan

• Neurorehabilitation in neurodegenerative disorders: focus on cognition, sensomotor activity, and pain
• Endophenotypes of ADHD and related disorders

Department of Educational Neuropsychology, VU-FPP
Principal Investigator: Jelle Jolles