Why do some children confront social challenges with confidence, whereas others experience difficulties? What is the role of child temperament and child emotional dispositions? What is the role of parenting? This project aims to shed light on the mechanisms explaining shyness and confidence in response…

Cognitive processes of learning with a focus on reading comprehension and the development of mathematical skills.

Over a period of seven years, researchers from the International Brain Laboratory mapped 279 brain regions at the cellular level. Their findings are now published in Nature, with both data and software openly shared. Cognitive neuroscientist Anne Urai: 'Any researcher with a good question can make use…

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

Conference, Spring workshop

Serge Rombouts is a physicist whose PhD thesis was about functional MRI (fMRI). This visualises activity in regions of the brain. The appealing images of glowing brain regions that emerge from the computer are the result of calculations. According to Rombouts, this isn’t proper artificial intelligence.…

In this episode we talk with Mara van der Meulen about prosocial behaviour and social exclusion in children. Van der Meulen also explores the role of genetics and environment in the development of social behaviour. To find out more about her research on why some children are beter able to develop their…

Laura van der Aar talks about the role of self-image in making decisions for future education. In her research, Laura investigated the importance of paying attention to the development of self-image, and how this can better support teenagers in their study choice.

The section Developmental and Educational Psychology consists of more than 45 people, who are mainly involved in education and research.

Together with researchers from over the world, the ENIGMA-Anxiety Working Group endeavors to unravel the neurobiology of anxiety disorders and related constructs.

In this episode, we talk with Leonie Vreeke and Nina Komrij about the Cool Little Kids research project. CLK explores the effectiveness of training parents of anxiety prone toddlers to prevent their children from developing anxiety on a later age. Want to learn more about their research and discover…

There seem to be genes that influence how our brains develop over time. A large international consortium has discovered this with an extensive study. The results of the study were recently published in Nature Neuroscience.

The Dutch Research Council (NWO) has rewarded four projects in which Leiden researchers are bringing science and society closer together. What are these projects?

Yearly, the LIBC organizes a public event to share scientific research in the field of brain & cognition

From historical understandings to new treatments: during the Public Day of the Leiden Institute for Brain & Cognition, curious visitors learned how rapidly research into brain disorders is evolving. ‘I found the neurosurgery and the research on organoids on chips particularly fascinating.’

Neuroscientist Anne Urai has been awarded a Veni subsidy to further develop her ideas over the coming four years on how the brain makes choices. Why did she receive the award? Urai answers five questions about her Veni grant for young researchers.

What is the effect of training children to exercise self-control? Niko Steinbeis has been awarded a major European subsidy to find the answer to this question. The innovative aspects of this research are the target group, an individual approach to the training and examining the child brain the scann…

Are the types of school non-attendance which have been evidenced in typically developing youth also found among children and adolescents with an intellectual disability (ID)? If so, which types are most prevalent and thus in greatest need of attention, and what factors (child, family, school/environmental)…

Although exposure therapy is the gold-standard treatment of posttraumatic stress-disorder (PTSD), only half of the patients adequately benefit from it. Based on recent insights into the mechanisms of extinction, this project examines strategies and techniques to improve exposure treatment outcome in…

Bonobos – just like humans – pay more attention to pictures that show other members of their species displaying emotional behaviour than to neutral scenes. Leiden researcher Dr Mariska Kret made this discovery while conducting research at Apenheul Primate Park.

How unique is the human capacity for learning and adapting to an environment? In field research – in the rainforest and Artis Zoo – primatologist Karline Janmaat is studying how humans and other primates adapt to their environment in their search for food. She will give her inaugural lecture as Professor…

Being rejected always hurts, but so does having to reject someone. Social psychologists have discovered that at interviews to select suitable housemates students dehumanise candidates to make it easier to reject them. That may sound harsh but, according to the researchers, it is also logical.

Unethical conduct by traders at banks is likely to be a continual problem as long as fraud cases are treated as the fault of a single rotten apple. Improving the team atmosphere reduces the likelihood of improper behaviour. This is the finding of psychologist Wieke Scholten from Leiden University in…

How do young people react when an unknown person gets under their skin in an online game? A sense of control over their social environment can prevent young people from quickly resorting to anger in such a situation, development psychologists Sheida Novin, Carolien Rieffe and colleagues discovered.…

Many primary school children suffer from anxiety and their numbers are increasing. Psychologists from the Knowledge Center Anxiety & Stress (KAS) are developing and researching preventive training.

Young Dutch people’s reading skills have been declining for years. The main reason for this is that many have difficulty with reading at greater depth. Teach pupils to read actively in order to construct meaning is what Leiden researchers Paul van den Broek, Christine Espin and Anne Helder write in…

On the 26th of January, Alex Reuneker successfully defended a doctoral thesis. The Leiden University Centre for Linguistics congratulates Alex on this achievement!

Een orang-oetan lacht niet gauw hard om een video waarin een soortgenoot dat ook doet. Een peuter doet het meer dan een volwassene, een Japanner weer iets minder. Chris Riddell leerde uit zijn vele experimenten ook dat geduld loont. Hij promoveert 16 september.

Monday 26 September, 2016 saw the first confrontation between Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump. Expectations were high – not only about the content of the debate, but also about how the two presidential candidates would behave, and how this might influence their campaigns. We asked three researchers…

What are the most important perpetuating factors of chronic fatigue and chronic fatigue syndrome, and which interventions are effective in influencing these factors?

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Three types of PLCs are studied, varying on the dimension of autonomy of and interdependency between teachers: Joint work, Aid and assistance and Shared practices.

The Game Research Lab uses digital games as a medium for academic research. It considers entertainment games and 'serious’ games as objects of study, develops novel approaches for creating, playing, and analysing games, and studies the interactions between games and AI.

Research grant awarded to Armin Cuyvers for innovative research combining EU law and social psychology. In an age where identity often trumps economic rationality, the EU struggles for legitimacy. Brexit of course provides a rather spectacular example of the EU failing to counter a deeply emotional…

Some examples of AI-research done at Leiden.

Nine talented Leiden researchers have been awarded a Vidi subsidy by the Netherlands Organisation for Scientific Research (NWO). Vidis are intended for researchers with several years of research experience who want to set up or expand their own line of research.