Nadza Dzinalija is a post-doctoral researcher in the Brain and Cognition group at the Department of Psychology, University of Amsterdam. Her research has examined cognitive processes from multiple perspectives, including how emotional memories are updated, how mental strategies can facilitate habit formation, and the neural mechanisms underlying emotional-cognitive dysfunction in obsessive-compulsive disorder. 

During her PhD at the Neuropsychiatry Group of the Amsterdam University Medical Center, she investigated brain circuit function during cognitive tasks in individuals with OCD, and applied machine learning to predict treatment response from patterns of brain activation. As part of this work, she contributed to the international ENIGMA consortium, conducting large-scale mega-analyses by pooling MRI data from thousands of participants worldwide. 

In her current post-doctoral research, she investigates the neural profiles of individuals with autism using longitudinal precision imaging to better understand the heterogeneity of autism and what makes each autistic brain unique.  She is also strongly committed to open science and advancing transparent, collaborative, and reproducible research practices.

Research expertise 

• Neuroimaging
• Neuropsychiatry
• Mental health
• Neurodiversity
• Open science

Research methods

• Functional MRI
• Precision imaging 
• Connectomics
• Brain network analysis
• Machine learning
   

BA

• Human Stress Research (AUC)
• Bachelor Thesis Supervision

MA

• BOLD fMRI (UvA)
• Master Thesis Supervision