The more opportunities a child has to learn and develop, the stronger his or her future position in society. Leiden University investigates how the brain picks up information, and how learning processes can be influenced positively.

Our childhood years largely determine how we will fare later in life. In the first two decades of our life, our brain is still developing, which is clearly reflected in our behaviour. By studying how the young brain develops and how children behave, researchers can learn important information about…

What is the relation between brain development and social and cognitive development across childhood, adolescence and adulthood?

The Brain and Education lab is a research group in the Institute of Education and Child Studies at Leiden University in the Netherlands. We use a Developmental Cognitive Neuroscience approach to study the development of complex cognitive processes involved in learning and academic skills such as reading…

This interdisciplinary minor emphasizes the diversity and complementarity of various cognitive neuroscience approaches to understanding the human brain.

The Leiden Institute for Brain and Cognition (LIBC) is a network that stimulates interdisciplinary exchange of knowledge and expertise on topics related to brain and cognition and focuses on science valorisation and outreach.

On June 10, Michelle Achterberg received the prize for best dissertation from the Dutch Neurofederation, the network of Dutch neuroscientists, for her thesis 'Like me, ore else...'. Achterberg obtained her doctorate cum laude from the Gravitation Program 'Samen Uniek' of the Leiden Consortium on Individual…

Eveline Crone, professor of neurocognitive developmental psychology at Leiden University, has been awarded the Dr Hendrik Muller Prize for Behavioural and Social Sciences by KNAW.

Eveline Crone, Professor of Neurocognitive Development Psychology at Leiden University, has been elected as the new Vice President of the European Research Council (ERC). She will be in charge of ERC activities in the domain of Social Sciences and Humanities.

How you think about yourself is important for the choices you make. Adolescents are faced with choosing a study programme that will determine their future, while their self-image is still under development. Tough choice? Research by psychologist Laura van der Aar has shown that taking a training course…

There is certainly some variation in terms of pupils’ performance and motivation. This is evident from the GUTS teaching innovation project conducted by education specialist Lindy Wijsman in the first three classes at a secondary school in Rotterdam. In the first three years, the level of pupils’ performance…

It was already known that social anxiety disorder often affects more than one person in the same family. But research by PhD student Janna Marie Bas-Hoogendam has now shown that there are genetic brain characteristics that are associated with social anxiety. The PhD ceremony will take place on 14 Ja…

Children’s brains react in the same way to social feedback as adults’ brains. But handling frustration or aggression after being rejected is a different matter, developmental psychologist Michelle Achterberg has discovered. Using fMRI techniques, the development of the child brain has now been studied…

The Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences (KNAW) has awarded the Heineken Young Scientist Award 2020 in the Social Sciences to developmental psychologist Anna van Duijvenvoorde for her research on the development of the brain and behaviour in adolescents.

The brains of adolescents react more responsively to receiving rewards. This can lead to risky behaviour, but, according to Leiden University research, it also has a positive function: it makes learning easier. Publication in Nature Communications.

At Leiden University’s Faculty of Social and Behavioural Sciences we keep in touch with our alumni in various ways.

There are five institutes at the Faculty of Social and Behavioural Sciences:

On 25 October 2017, the current class of students of the advanced LL.M. programme International Children’s Rights visited juvenile detention center ‘De Hunnerberg’ in Nijmegen (the Netherlands).

The Faculty of Social and Behavioural Sciences brings together high-quality research and outstanding teaching in the disciplines of cultural anthropology, education and child studies, political science, psychology, science and technology studies, as well as in multidisciplinary approaches.

Novel language learning activates different neural processes than was previously thought. A Leiden research team has discovered parallel but separate contributions from the hippocampus and Broca's area, the learning centre in the left hemisphere. The right hemisphere of the brain also seems to play…

Fundamental insights into the working of the adolescent brain help lecturers and parents to teach adolescents to function better. Professor Eveline Crone studies executive functions – such as planning and behaviour – in the adolescent brain.

Exclusion elicits the same response in children as in adolescents and adults. That is what psychologist Mara van der Meulen found when she studied brain activity in primary schoolchildren. ‘What is new for us is that it is the same in childhood as later in life.’ Doctoral defence on 10 December.

How is structural and functional brain development related to behavioral change in cognitive-control, impulse regulation, and socio-emotional functioning?

She considers herself lucky. She talks about the research projects she has ended up in and a network like the Young Academy Leiden (YAL). Van Duijvenvoorde talks about her recent incentive prize for young scientific talent, the Heineken Young Scientist Award. 'A lot of people I work with deserve the…

A warm welcome to the Graduate School of Social and Behavioural Sciences at Leiden University.

In the Dutch media lots of articles have recently appeared based on interviews with Eveline Crone about the adolescent brain.

This minor focuses on the cognitive processes that influence the interaction between the brain and the mind.

Young people influence one another to take greater risks, although it's not quite that cut and dried. This is what development psychologist Jorien van Hoorn discovered. Peers also have a positive influence on one another, an aspect that has so far been under-researched. PhD defence 12 January.

The work presented in this thesis addresses the role of the locus coeruleus (LC) - norepinephrine (NE) system in various aspects of human cognition, and the modulation of brain state.

On 24-25 October 2017, the Council of Europe organized an international conference to celebrate the 20th anniversary of the Convention on Human Rights and Biomedicine (Oviedo Convention).

How can young people grow up successfully and contribute to the present and future society? The consortium that is researching this will receive 22 million euros within the scope of the Gravitation programme.

An Integrative Approach to the Hominin Record

Psychology Lab on Wheels makes research accessible to all: with our mobile lab we literally reach people on the street. From bustling city centres to remote areas, our lab travels all over, making it easy for you to participate in our research. And with your help, we gain new insights and deepen our…

Dementia is a progressive disease, diagnosed at a relatively late stage when intervention may not be effective. Aim of the research is to study scans of brain networks to help discover the early network changes related to dementia. Early diagnosis may benefit effectiveness of future treatment.

Our mission: a positive impact. Our vision: community. By involving the world around us in our education and research we make a positive impact. We do this by applying Open Science.

Young people spend a lot of their time online. Even so, we still know very little about how this intensive use of social media influences their development. Brain researcher and Spinoza Prize winner Eveline Crone from Leiden University and media psychologist Elly Konijn (VU) describes what the research…

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Parents often see that when their sweet, socially-minded children become adolescents they change into selfish 'hotel guests' who think only of themselves. But adolescents become increasingly better at weighing up one another's interests. This discovery has been made by development psychologist Rosa…

What effect does bullying have on the brain? This is just one of the key research questions included in the NeuroLabNL science agenda. Scientists presented the agenda to Minister Van Engelshoven (Education, Culture and Science) and Minister Dekker (Justice and Security) on 3 July at Campus The Hagu…

Neuroimaging research has greatly advanced our insights on how the brain is organized. Now is the time for the next step: Imagine what would be possible when we cannot only map brain-functioning, but use neuroimaging to voluntarily regulate brain-activity!

A neurobiological perspective on individual differences in social competence

The Faculty of Social and Behavioural Sciences provides its ca. 5000 students with a thorough education in the social and behavioural sciences. The student population is very diverse and international in nature.

What influence do children’s upbringing and education have on their world view? This is the question Professor Judi Mesman is trying to answer. For her research and public outreach activities, she has just been awarded the prestigious Stevin Prize, the highest award in the Netherlands for a researcher…

Nowadays children grow up with social media. This may influence the development of brain regions involved in social interaction. In their review article in Nature Communications, Crone and Konijn illustrate how neuroscience can contribute to a better understanding of how media and peers influence adolescents'…

The Institute of Psychology is responsible for innovative and interdisciplinary research and education within psychology and related disciplines. It focuses primarily on four broad areas: Health and Wellbeing; Development and Learning; Socio-Cognitive-Affective Decision-making and Advanced Behavioural…

Most degree programmes at the Faculty of Social and Behavioural Sciences are based in the Pieter de la Court building on the Wassenaarseweg in Leiden. Besides this location, some degree programmes are based in The Hague, at Campus The Hague’s Wijnhaven building.

During adolescence, some young people have stable best-friend relationships, while others change best friends frequently. Developmental psychologist Lisa Schreuders has studied the brains of young adolescents: ‘It seems that friendships in your early years can have consequences for your friendships…

Conference

A P300-based Brain Computer Interface character speller, also known as P300 speller, has been an important communication pathway, under extensive research, for people who lose motor ability, such as patients with Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis or spinal-cord injury because a P300 speller allows human-beings…