Heleen Slagter is Professor of Cognitive Neuroscience at the Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, co-Head of the Department of Cognitive Psychology and former President of the NVP Dutch Society for Brain and Cognition (2018-2022). She received her PhD in cognitive neuroscience in 2005 from the University of Amsterdam. After a 4-year postdoc at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, USA, she returned to Amsterdam to set up her own lab. Prof. Slagter's research focuses on (the neural basis of) core cognitive functions, such as attention, and the plasticity of these functions. What are the mechanisms that allow us to select, suppress, and become aware of information in the environment? How do past experiences or mental training as cultivated by meditation influence these mechanisms that adaptively control information processing? Dr. Slagter’s work has garnered awards and funding, including a prestigious VIDI grant by the Netherlands Organization for Scientific research (2010), an ERC starting grant (2015), an ERC consolidator grant (2020), and an early career award by the Society for Psychophysiological Research (2014).
Cognition and Plasticity Laboratory: www.heleenslagter.com