Research 

The ability  to focus on relevant information in your environment, and simultaneously prevent distraction by irrelevant information, comes into play in many different situations in everyday life. One of the goals of my PhD-project is to get more insight into this ability, which is also called attentional filtering. We study individual differences in attentional filtering, and the way attentional filtering relates to other cognitive processes such as working memory. We also investigate the neural mechanisms involved in attentional filtering, using techniques such as EEG and MRI. To investigate whether the mechanisms subserving attentional filtering are still plastic in adults, we use extensive computerized training that targets filtering ability to train this ability in healthy adults. Using these different approaches, we aim to contribute to a better understanding of people's ability to selectively process relevant information in their environment.

 Bio

Marlies obtained her bachelors degree in cognitive psychology at the Radboud University in Nijmegen. In Nijmegen she worked as a student assistant at the Max Planck Institute for Psycholinguistics and at the Donders Institute for Brain, Cognition and Behaviour. After her bachelors degree, Marlies completed the master program Brain and Cognitive Sciences at the University of Amsterdam. During her master, she studied aging in elderly with autism under supervision of Prof. Dr. Hilde M. Geurts, and networks involved in conflict-related modulation of visual processing together with Dr. Michael X Cohen. In January 2012, she started as a PhD-student in the Cognition and Plasticity laboratory, under supervision of Dr. Heleen A. Slagter and Prof. Dr. K. Richard Ridderinkhof.

• Link to Dr. Heleen A. Slagter's Cognition and Plasticity Laboratory

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