At the moment, we have one vacancy:

Researcher in the area of Psychiatry

At the Faculty of Medicine, Collaborative Antwerp Psychiatric Research Institute (CAPRI)
Project: Learning impairments in schizophrenia and the elderly

Project description:

Schizophrenia (SZ) is characterized by severe psychotic symptoms (delusions and hallucinations) and strong cognitive deficits that are significantly related to daily functioning and quality of life. One of these cognitive deficits is an impairment in learning new skills and novel relations between stimuli, which will affect therapy outcome and rehabilitation success. However, at least two types of learning can be distinguished. One of them – implicit (unconscious) learning – might be intact, while explicit learning will be diminished in many tasks . In this project we explore the strengths and weaknesses in the learning capacities of both schizophrenic patients and elderly participants in implicit and explicit learning of a variety of cognitive and motor tasks. It is expected that the pattern of learning deficits over tasks in schizophrenia might be different from what can be observed in healthy elderly people. The nature of this difference will reveal new insights in the development of psychiatric symptoms.

The (ongoing) project involves a large scale study in 30 patients with schizophrenia, 30 control participants and 30 participants over 75 years of age. A large variety of verbal and motor learning tasks is administered in three sessions separated by one and seven days. The study was set up and carried out by the Collaborative Antwerp Psychiatric Research Institute (CAPRI) in close cooperation with and sponsored by Janssen Research and Development, Janssen Pharmaceutica N.V. The study is underway,  the first 6 patients have been measured already. Its data, in combination with results from an earlier study on motor and cognitive processes in schizophrenia and the elderly, will result in a number of scientific papers.

Work environment:

The Collaborative Antwerp Psychiatric Research Institute (CAPRI) is a scientific research centre of (neuro-)psychiatry and mental health.  Research takes place in the field of adult as well as child- and adolescent psychiatry at the University of Antwerp, Department of Medicine.
 Our aim is to perform scientific research in the field of medical psychology and psychiatry.
This refers to all activities of research concerning clinical psychiatry and clinical psychology focused on psychiatric disorders in children, adults and the elders. This research is executed from different angles, e.g. epidemiology, genetics, cognitive neuroscience, experimental psychopathology and neuropsychopharmacology. The purpose of this scientific research is to understand the basics that underlie specific psychiatric disorders, in order to improve diagnostics and treatment.
 We conduct scientific research in the distinct fields of (neuro-) psychiatry at
the University of Antwerp and in several hospitals in or around Antwerp. Your project will run at
the Academic Psychiatric Hospital St-Norbertus (Duffel).

What we expect from you:

- you have a relevant Master’s degree in medicine, biomedical sciences, psychology or a related discipline;
- you are highly motivated to perform neuropsychological and motor research in a psychiatric setting;
- you want to obtain a doctorate with a dissertation on this subject;
- prior experience in neuroscience, movement science, scientific writing and data analysis is highly recommended;

What we have to offer:

- full-time employment;
-  for a period of two years, with a possible extension of two more years

Applications:

Are you interested?
Please submit an application letter
- defining your research interests and including
- a curriculum vitae plus
- the names of two persons who can provide references

For further information you can contact:

Dr. G. Dumont: glenn.dumont@ua.ac.be
Prof. dr. W. Hulstijn: +31.24.3880228  w.hulstijn@donders.ru.nl