Centre for Integrative Neuroscience (CIN)
The Centre for Integrative Neuroscience at Maastricht University is a collaboration between the Faculty of Psychology and Neuroscience (FPN), the Mental Health and Neuroscience Research Institute (MHeNs) at the Faculty of Health, Medicine and Life Science (FHML), the School of Business and Economics (SBE), and the Maastricht University Center of Neuroeconomics (MU-CEN) at SBE. Here all expertise, infrastructure, and research lines are bundled under one overarching umbrella, in order to strengthen the inter-faculty research cooperation.
Contact us via: cin@maastrichtuniversity.nl
Maastricht University is at the cutting-edge of neuroscience research, hosting an wide-ranging spectrum of excellent laboratories and a state-of-the-art neuroscience infrastructure used and developed by various complementary research groups comprised of world-renowned experts.
The inter-faculty Centre for Integrative Neuroscience (CIN), consisting of the Mental Health and Neuroscience Research Institute (MHeNS) of FHML, the Faculty of Psychology and Neuroscience (FPN), the School of Business and Economics (SBE), and the Maastricht University Center of Neuroeconomics at SBE, further enhances the visibility, recognition, and appreciation of Neuroscience Research at Maastricht University. CIN acts as a bridging platform between expertise, infrastructure, and research lines. Via CIN, Maastricht University integrates and efficiently highlights its strong neuroscience profile to the world and at the same time structurally strengthens the much needed inter-faculty research cooperation in this field.
CIN projects
Molecular, cellular and electrophysiological effects of TMS in living human neurons
PhD: Alix Thomson
Completed: 2020
Project team:
• Bart Rutten (FHML)
• Gunther Kenis (FHML)
• Alexander Sack (FPN)
• Tom de Graaf (FPN)
• Teresa Schuhmann (FPN)
Brain miRNA as markers of drug induced changes in neural integrity
PhD: Manon van de Berg
Completed: 2022
Project team:
• Jos Prickaerts (FHML)
• Jos Kleinjans (FHML)
• Jan Ramaekers (FPN)
Mapping cortico-hippocampal synchronization and cognition using ECoG in epilepsy patients
PhD: Hannah Bernhard
Completed: 2023
Project team:
• Vivianne van Kranen-Mastenbroek (FHML)
• Rob Rouhl (MUMC+)
• Mark Roberts (FPN)
• Peter de Weerd (FPN)
• Bernadette Jansma (FPN)
Hungry for reward: using evaluative conditioning to repair food and taste reward processing in the anorectic brain
PhD: Kamilah St. Paul
Started: 2018
Project team:
• Rudolf Ponds (FHML)
• Anne Roefs (FPN)
• Anita Jansen (FPN)
The locus coeruleus hits the bull’s eye: stress-vulnerability as a predictor for cognitive decline
PhD: Linda Pagen
Completed: 2021
Project team:
• Frans Verhey (FHML)
• Heidi Jacobs (FHML)
• Benedikt Poser (FPN)
• Rainer Goebel (FPN)
Memory Bias In Decision-making (MEMOBID): Multi-modal assessment of hippocampal function during economic decision-making
PhD: Sophocles Goulis
Started: 2021
Project team:
• Vincent van de Ven (FPN)
• Matthias Wibral (SBE)
• Alexander Vostroknutov (SBE)
• Christian Herff (FHML)
• Dennis Hernaus (FHML)
Levelling the playing field: Empowering fatigued brains in economic decision making
PhD: James Wilkinson
Started: 2022
Project team:
• Tobias Otto (FPN)
• Fred Zijlstra (FPN)
• Jona Linde (SBE)
Unraveling pathology in neuroinflammatory diseases through advanced microscopy and high field MRI
PhD: Milo Imbeni
Started: 2023
Project team:
• Alard Roebroeck (FPN)
• Anna Schueth (FPN)
• Pilar Martinez (FHML)
• Mario Losen (FHML)
Mechanisms of action of Deep Brain Stimulation in Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder
PhD: Tatyana Branco
Started: 2023
Project team:
• Sonja Kotz (FPN)
• Yasin Temel (FHML)
• Lies Goossens (FHML)
• Koen Schruers (FHML)
Dissecting the pro-social effects of oxytocin (Oxy-Pro)
PhD: Charlotte Kroll
Started: 2022
Project team:
• Dennis Hernaus (FHML)
• Arno Riedl (SBE)
• Federico De Martino (FPN)
Understanding sensory processing sensitivity from an integrated psychological, economic and health science perspective
PhD: Marilien Marzolla
Completed: 2025
Project team:
• Caroline van Heugten (FPN/FHML)
• Petra Hurks (FPN)
• Lex Borghans (SBE)
Ultra-high field MR neuroimaging in genetic high-risk groups for psychotic and cognitive symptoms
PhD: Amy Sylvester
Started: 2023
Project team:
• Therese van Amelsvoort (MHeNs/FPN)
• Claudia Vingerhoets (MHeNs/FPN)
• Benedikt Poser, Dimo Ivanov (FPN)
Novel behavioral and molecular biosignatures for future patient stratification in psychedelic medicine
PhD: Aeden O’Shea
Started: 2023
Project team:
• Jacco Briedé (MHeNs)
• Rudy Schreiber, Jan Ramaekers (FPN)
Neuroimaging as early predictor for neurodevelopmental outcome in neonatal encephalopathy after birth asphyxia and cell therapy
PhD: Vignesh Shaju
Start: 1 September 2024
Project team:
• Reint Jellema, Tim Wolfs (MHeNs)
• Alard Roebroeck (FPN)
Reconstructing brain-muscle networks of motor impairments across the lifespan
PhD: João Barretto Bittar, (DAD)
Start: 1 January 2025
Project team:
• Leto Peel (SBE)
• Jeroen Vermeulen (MHeNs)
• Tjeerd Boonstra (FPN)
• Kenneth Meijer (NUTRIM)
Advancing Alzheimer's treatment through closed-loop neuromodulation: invasive and non-invasive methods (ALZ-LOOP)
PhD: Rick Voncken
Started: 1 September 2024
Project team:
• Sarah Hescham, Yasin Temel (MHeNs)
• Inge Leunissen, Alexander Sack (FPN)
From Blind Spots to Brain Plasticity: Combined Computational and Experimental Investigations of Retinal Degeneration and Recovery
PhD: Matthijs Kusters
Started: 2025
Project team:
• Birke Benedikter, Caroll Webers (MHeNs)
• Mario Senden (FPN)
Tailoring inhibitory transcranial magnetic stimulation protocols for epilepsy: personalized insights on optimal pulse numbers
PhD:
Project team:
• Ilse van Straaten (MHeNs)
• Teresa Schuhmann (FPN)
• Debby Klooster (TuE)
The Directors
Dr. Pim Heckman
Professor of Brain Stimulation and Applied Cognitive Neuroscience, Cognition, Cognitive Neuroscience,
Faculty of Psychology and Neuroscience
Dr. Kim Rijkers
Neurosurgeon Maastricht UMC+ and Academic Center for Epileptology; Assistant professor department of Neurosurgery, Mental Health & Neuroscience Research School, Faculty of Health, Medicine and Life Sciences
Dr. Matthias Wibral
Associate Professor of Behavioral Economics, Economics of Digitalization, Neuroeconomics & Organizational Economics, School of Business and Economics.
