Henk van Steenbergen
Associate professor
- Name
- Dr. H. van Steenbergen
- Telephone
- 071 5273655
- hvansteenbergen@fsw.leidenuniv.nl
- ORCID iD
- 0000-0003-1917-6412
Henk van Steenbergen is an associate professor at the Cognitive Psychology unit at Leiden University. He heads the Affect, Motivation & Action (AMA) Lab, where he and his colleagues study the interplay between affect, motivation, stress and cognitive control.
More information about Henk van Steenbergen
News
PhD's
Henk van Steenbergen is an associate professor at the Cognitive Psychology unit at Leiden University. He heads the Affect, Motivation & Action (AMA) Lab, where he and his colleagues study the interplay between affect, motivation, stress and cognitive control.
Research on motivation and stress
How do people stay motivated to finish a tedious task on a Blue Monday? And why do individuals experience the world as a safer place when they’re in a happy mood? These are the kind of questions Van Steenbergen and his colleagues try to answer at the Affect, Motivation & Action Lab.
To achieve this, they combine behavioral measures with a wide variety of methods including neuroimaging (EEG, functional and structural MRI), physiology (pupil dilation and cardiovascular measures), and facial EMG. Recently, the lab has started studying how chemicals in the brain and hormones in the body affect feelings, stress, and cognitive control
Highlights of current research themes:
Affective stress-buffering
As part of the interdisciplinary program Social Resilience and Security, the AMA lab examines how positive feelings can help people handle stress. Physiological, neuroimaging, and pharmacological methods are used to measure how the body and brain respond to stress, and how positive feelings can help in this process. They also look at how the body's natural chemicals, such as endorphins, can help people think more positively and feel better.
Affect and cognitive control
Building on the work started in Van Steenbergen's PhD, this line of research focuses on how feelings affect how well people can focus and pay attention. Using psycho-physiological and neuroimaging techniques, they investigate how people respond to cognitive challenges, like when they make mistakes in a demanding task, and what role positive feelings play in this process. The researchers also look at how chemicals in the brain can affect attention and disturbances in psychiatric disorders, such as depression.
Methodological innovation
In addition to investigating psychological phenomena, Van Steenbergen and his colleagues contribute to the advancement of psychological science by developing and sharing new tools. Van Steenbergen was one of the lead authors of The E-Primer, the first introductory book to E-Prime. He and his colleagues also built the QRTEngine, which made it possible to run online reaction time experiments using Qualtrics. Currently, they are developing an open course on programming psychological experiments using OpenSesame and Python.
Short CV
Since 2022, Henk van Steenbergen has been an associate professor at the Cognitive Psychology Unit at Leiden University. He received his BA degree in Philosophy of Psychology at Leiden University, and a BSc and MPhil degree in Cognitive Neuroscience cum laude in 2007.
He obtained his PhD cum laude from the same university in 2012, with his thesis The drive to control: How affect and motivation regulate cognitive control. He started as an assistant professor and founded the Affect, Motivation & Action Lab in 2012. Van Steenbergen also worked as a visiting researcher at the Department of Psychiatry and Mental Health at the University of Cape Town, South Africa, and at the Motivation Brain Behavior lab, Brain & Spine Institute in Paris, France.
PhD candidates
- Mikael Kowal, MSc (2012-2016): The role of cannabis and related neurotransmitters in the regulation of cognitive control
- Janna Marie Bas-Hoogendam, MSc (2013-2020): Profiling endophenotypes of Social Anxiety Disorder using structural and functional MRI
- Selin Topel, Resilience to Stress and Uncertainty
- Jin Yan, affective buffering of stress responses at multiple timescales and underlying neurophysiological mechanisms.
Relevant links
Associate professor
- Faculteit der Sociale Wetenschappen
- Instituut Psychologie
- Cognitieve Psychologie
- Topel S., Ma I., Duijvenvoorde A.C.K. van, van Steenbergen H. & Bruijn E.R.A. de (2024), Adapting to uncertainty: the role of anxiety and fear of negative evaluation in learning in social and non-social contexts, Journal of Affective Disorders 363: 310-319.
- Steenbergen H. van, Wilderjans T.F., Band G.P.H. & Nieuwenhuis S.T. (2024), Boosting arousal and cognitive performance through alternating posture: insights from a multi-method laboratory study, Psychophysiology 61(10): e14634.
- Topel S., Ma I., Sleutels J.J.M., Steenbergen H. van, Bruijn E.R. A. de & Duijvenvoorde A.C.K. van (2023), Expecting the unexpected: a review of learning under uncertainty across development, Cognitive, Affective, & Behavioral Neuroscience 23: 718–738.
- Meer A.F. van, Murphy S., Hofmann W., Steenbergen H. van & Dillen L.F. van (2023), Driven to snack: simulated driving increases subsequent consumption , Journal of Trial & Error : .
- Folz J., Akdag R., Nikolić M., Steenbergen H. van & Kret M.E. (2023), Facial mimicry and metacognitive judgments in emotion recognition are distinctly modulated by social anxiety and autistic traits, Scientific Reports 13: 9730.
- Meer A.F. van, Steenbergen H. van & Dillen L.F. van (2023), The effect of cognitive load on preference and intensity processing of sweet taste in the brain, Appetite 188: 106630.
- Bognar M., Gyurkovics M., Steenbergen H. van & Aczel B. (2023), Phasic affective signals by themselves do no regulate cognitive control, Cognition and Emotion 37(4): 650-665.
- Topel S., Ma I., Sleutels J., Steenbergen H. van, Bruijn E.R.A. de & Duijvenvoorde A.C.K. van (2023), Expecting the unexpected: a review of learning under uncertainty across development, Cognitive, Affective, & Behavioral Neuroscience 23: 718-738.
- Folz J., Fiacchino D., Nikolić M., Steenbergen H. van & Kret M.E. (2022), Reading your emotions in my physiology? Reliable emotion interpretations in absence of a robust physiological resonance, Affective Science : .
- Hoekzema E., Steenbergen H. van, Straathof M., Beekmans A., Freund I.M., Pouwels P.J.W. & Crone E.A. (2022), Mapping the effects of pregnancy on resting state brain activity, white matter microstructure, neural metabolite concentrations and grey matter architecture, Nature Communications 13: 6931.
- Kolnes M., Gentsch K., Steenbergen H. van & Uusberg A. (2022), The mystery remains: breadth of attention in flanker and Navon tasks unaffected by affective states induced by an appraisal manipulation, Cognition and Emotion 36(5): 836-854.
- Kolnes M., Gentsch K., Steenbergen H. van & Uusberg A. (2022), The mystery remains: breadth of attention in Flanker and Navon tasks unaffected by affective states induced by an appraised manipulation, Cognition and Emotion 36(5): 836-854.
- Bas J.M., Steenbergen H. van, Kadosh K.C., Westenberg P.M. & Wee N.J.A. van der (2021), Intrinsic functional connectivity in families genetically enriched for social anxiety disorder: an endophenotype study , EBioMedicine 69: 103445.
- Steenbergen H. van, Bruijn E.R.A de, Duijvenvoorde A.C.K. van & Harmelen A. van (2021), How positive affect buffers stress responses, Current Opinion in Behavioral Sciences 39: 153-160.
- Paul K., Pourtois G., Steenbergen H. van, Gable P. & Dreisbach G. (2021), Finding a balance: modulatory effects of positive affect on attentional and cognitive control, Current Opinion in Behavioral Sciences 39: 136-141.
- Steenbergen H. van, Sauter D., Saunders B. & Pourtois G. (2021), Editorial overview: positive affect: taxonomies, mechanisms and applications, Current Opinion in Behavioral Sciences 39: 3-8.
- Bas-Hoogendam J.M., Steenbergen H. van, Wee N.J.A. van der & Westenberg P.M. (2020), Amygdala hyperreactivity to faces conditioned with a social-evaluative meaning: a multiplex, multigenerational fMRI study on social anxiety endophenotypes, NeuroImage: Clinical 26: 102247.
- Landman L.L. & Steenbergen H. van (2020), Emotion and conflict adaptation: the role of phasic arousal and self-relevance, Cognition and Emotion 34(6): 1083-1096.
- Zekveld A.A., Scheepen J.A.M. van, Versfeld N.E. Kramer S.E. & Steenbergen H. van (2020), The influence of hearing loss on cognitive control in an auditory conflict task: Behavioral and pupillometry findings, Journal of Speech, Languge, and Hearing Research 63(7): 2483-2492.
- Langeslag S.J.E. & Steenbergen H. van (2020), Cognitive control in romantic love: The roles of infatuation and attachment in interference and adaptive cognitive control, Cognition and Emotion 34(3): 596-603.
- Berger A., Mitscke V., Dignath G., Eder A. & Steenbergen H. van (2020), The face of control: Corrugator supercilii tracks aversive conflict signals in the service of adaptive cognitive control, Psychophysiology 57(4): e13524.
- Pourtois G., Braem S. & Notebaert W.: Steenbergen H. van (2020), What is cognitive control without affect? (Editorial), International Journal of Psychophysiology 153: 91-94.
- Bas-Hoogendam J.M., Steenbergen H. van, Tissier R.L.M., Wee N.J.A. van der & Westenberg P.M. (2020), Altered neurobiological processing of unintentional social norm violations: a multiplex, multigenerational functional magnetic resonance imaging study on social anxiety endophenotypes, Biological Psychiatry Cognitive Neuroscience and Neuroimaging 5(10): 981-990.
- Bas-Hoogendam Janna M.a.r.i.e., Steenbergen Henk v.a.n., Cohen Kadosh K.a.t.h.r.i.n., Wee nic J.A. van der & Westenberg P. Michiel (2020), Increased Intrinsic Functional Connectivity in Families Genetically Enriched for Social Anxiety. Elsevier BV. [other].
- Warren C.M., Tona K.D., Ouwerkerk L., Paridon J. van, Poletiek F., Steenbergen H. van, Bosch J.A. & Nieuwenhuis S. (2019), The neuromodulatory and hormonal effects of transcutaneous vagus nerve stimulation as evidenced by salivary alpha amylase, salivary cortisol, pupil diameter, and the P3 event-related potential, Brain Stimulation 12(3): 635-642.
- Bas-Hoogendam J.M., Steenbergen H. van, Blackford J.U., Tissier R.L.M., Wee N.J.A. van der & Westenberg P.M. (2019), Impaired neural habituation to neutral faces in families genetically enriched for social anxiety disorder, Depression and Anxiety 36(12): 1143-1153.
- Dignath D., Berger A., Spruit I.M. & Steenbergen H. van (2019), Temporal dynamics of error-related corrugator supercilii and zygomaticus major activity: Evidence for implicit emotion regulation following errors, International Journal of Psychophysiology 146: 208-216.
- Spapé M.M., Verdonschot R.G. & Van Steenbergen H. (2019), The E-Primer: An introduction to creating psychological experiments in E-Prime. Second edition updated for E-Prime 3: Leiden Univerisity Press.
- Warren C.M. Tona K.D. Ouwerkerk L. Paridon J. van Poletiek F. Steenbergen H. van Bosch J.A. Nieuwenhuis S. (2019), The neuromodulatory and hormonal effects of transcutaneous vagus nerve stimulation as evidenced by salivary alpha amylase, salivary cortisol, pupil diameter, and the P3 event-related potential, Brain Stimulation 12(3): 635-642.
- Bas-Hoogendam J.M., Steenbergen H. van, Wee N.J.A. van der & Westenberg P.M. (2019), Social conditioning of neutral faces in families genetically enriched for social anxiety disorder. ELSEVIER. [other].
- Van Steenbergen H., Eikemo M. & Leknes S. (2019), The role of the opioid system in decision making and cognitive control: A review, Cognitive, Affective, & Behavioral Neuroscience 19(3): 435-458.
- Spruit I.M., Wilderjans T.F. & Van Steenbergen H. (2018), Heart work after errors: Behavioral adjustment following error commission involves cardiac effort, Cognitive, Affective, & Behavioral Neuroscience 18(2): 375-388.
- Bas J.M., Harrewijn A., Tissier R.L.M., Van der Molen M.J.W., Van Steenbergen H., Van Vliet I.M., Reichart C.G., Houwing-Duistermaat J.J., Slagboom P., Van der Wee N.J.A. & Westenberg P.M. (2018), The Leiden Family Lab study on Social Anxiety Disorder: A multiplex, multigenerational family study on neurocognitive endophenotypes, International Journal of Methods in Psychiatric Research 27(2): e1616.
- Bas J.M., Steenbergen H. van, Wee N.J.A. van der & Westenberg P.M. (2018), Not intended, still embarrassed: Social anxiety is related to increased levels of embarrassment in response to unintentional social norm violations, European Psychiatry 52: 15-21.
- Van Dillen L.F. & Van Steenbergen H. (2018), Tuning down the hedonic brain: Working memory load reduces neural responses to high-calorie food images in the nucleus accumbens, Cognitive, Affective, & Behavioral Neuroscience 18(3): 447-459.
- Van der Wel P. & Van Steenbergen H. (2018), Pupil dilation as an index of effort in cognitive control tasks: A review, Psychonomic Bulletin & Review 25(6): 2005-2015.
- Bas J.M., Van Steenbergen H., Tissier R.L.M., Houwing-Duistermaat J.J., Westenberg P.M. & Van der Wee N.J.A. (2018), Subcortical brain volumes, cortical thickness and cortical surface area in families genetically enriched for social anxiety disorder - a multiplex multigenerational neuroimaging study, EBioMedicine 36: 410-428.
- Spapé M.M., Verdonschot R.G., Van Dantzig S. & Van Steenbergen H. (2018), The E-primer: An introduction to creating psychological experiments in E-Prime. Second edition updated for E-Prime 3. Leiden: Leiden University Press.
- Kuipers M., Richter M., Scheepers D., Immink M., Sjak-Shie E. & Steenbergen H. van (2017), How effortful is cognitive control? Insights from a novel method measuring single-trial evoked beta-adrenergic cardiac reactivity, International Journal of Psychophysiology 119: 87-92.
- Bas-Hoogendam J.M., Steenbergen H. van, Wee N.J.A. van der & Westenberg P.M. (2017), Social norm processing as an endophenotype of social anxiety disorder: a family study in two generations. ELSEVIER SCIENCE BV. [other].
- Bas J.M., Van Steenbergen H., Kreuk T., Van der Wee N.J.A. & Westenberg P.M. (2017), How embarrassing! The behavioral and neural correlates of processing social norm violations, 12(4): e0176326.
- Bas-Hoogendam J.M., Van Steenbergen H., Pannekoek J.N., Fouche J.P., Lochner C., Hattingh C.J., Cremers H.R., Furmark T., Mansson K.N.T., Frick A., Engman J., Boraxbekk C.J., Carlbring P., Andersson G., Fredrikson M., Straube T., Peterburs J., Klumpp H., Phan K.L., Roelofs K., Stein D.J. & Wee N.J.A. van der (2017), Sample size matters: A voxel-based morphometry multi-center mega-analysis of gray matter volume in social anxiety disorder, Biological Psychiatry 81(10): S7-S8.
- Van Steenbergen H., Watson P., Wiers R.W., Hommel B. & De Wit S. (2017), Dissociable corticostriatal circuits underlie goal-directed versus cue-elicited habitual food seeking after satiation: evidence from a multimodal MRI study, European Journal of Neuroscience 46(2): 1815-1827.
- Steenbergen H. van, Warren C.M., Kuhn S., Wit S. de, Wiers R.W. & Hommel B. (2017), Representational precision in visual cortex reveals outcome encoding and reward modulation during action preparation, NeuroImage 157: 415-428.
- Bas J.M., Steenbergen H. van, Pannekoek J.N., Fouche J.P., Lochner C., Hattingh C.J., Cremers H.R., Furmark To., Mansson K.N.T., Frick A., Engman J., Boraxbekk C.J., Carlbring P., Andersson G., Fredrikson M., Straube T., Peterburs J., Klumpp H., Phanp K.L., Roelofs K., Veltman D.J., Tol M.J. van, Stein D.J. & Wee N.J.A. van der (2017), Voxel-based morphometry multi-center mega-analysis of brain structure in social anxiety disorder, NeuroImage: Clinical 16: 678-688.
- Peer J.M. van, Enter D., Steenbergen H. van, Spinhoven P. & Roelofs K. (2017), Exogenous testosterone affects early threat processing in socially anxious and healthy women, Biological Psychology 129: 82-89.
- Van Steenbergen H., Weissman D., Stein D.J., Malcolm-Smith S. & Van Honk J. (2017), More pain, more gain: blocking the opoid system boosts adaptive cognitive control, Psychoneuroendocrinology 80: 99-103.
- Steenbergen H. van & Bocanegra B.R. (2016), Promises and pitfalls of Web-based experimentation in the advance of replicable psychological science. A reply to Plant (2015), Behavior Research Methods 48(4): 1713-1717.
- Steenbergen H. van, Haasnoot E., Bocanegra B.R., Berretty E.W. & Hommel B. (2015), Practice explains abolished behavioral adaptation after human dorsal anterior cingulate cortex lesions, Scientific Reports 5: e9721.
- Steenbergen H. van, Band G.P.H. & Hommel B. (2015), Does conflict help or hurt cognitive control? Initial evidence for an inverted u-shape relationship between perceived task difficulty and conflict adaptation, Frontiers in Psychology 6: e974.
- Rondeel E.W.M., Steenbergen H. van, Holland R.W. & Knippenberg A. van (2015), A closer look at cognitive control: Differences in resource allocation during updating, inhibition and switching as revealed by pupillometry, Frontiers in Human Neuroscience 9: e494.
- Van Steenbergen H. (2015), Affective modulation of cognitive control: A biobehavioral perspective. In: Gendolla G., Tops S. & Koole S.L. (Eds.), Handbook of Biobehavioral Approaches to Self-Regulation.: Springer. 89-107.
- Kowal M., Van Steenbergen H., Colzato L.S., Hazekamp A., Van der Wee N., Manai M., Durieux J. & Hommel B. (2015), Dose-dependent effects of cannabis on the neural correlates of error monitoring in frequent cannabis users, European Neuropsychopharmacology 25(11): 1943-1953.
- Kowal M.A., Hazekamp A., Colzato L.S., Steenbergen H. van, Wee N.J.A. van der, Durieux J., Manai M. & Hommel B. (2015), Cannabis and creativity: Highly potent cannabis impairs divergent thinking in regular cannabis users, Psychopharmacology 232(6): 1123-1134.
- Barnhoorn J., Haasnoot E., Bocanegra B.R. & Steenbergen H. van (2015), QRTEngine: An easy solution for running online reaction time experiments using Qualtrics, Behavior Research Methods 47(4): 918-929.
- Watson P., Van Steenbergen H., De Wit S., Wiers R.W. & Hommel B. (2015), Limits of ideomotor action-outcome acquisition, Brain Research 1626: 45-53.
- Bas-Hoogendam J.M., Andela C.D., Van der Werff S.J., Pannekoek J.N., Van Steenbergen H., Meijer O.C., Van Buchem M.A., Rombouts S.A., Van der Mast R.C., Biermasz N.R., Van der Wee N.J. & Pereira A.M. (2015), Altered neural processing of emotional faces in remitted Cushing's disease, Psychoneuroendocrinology 59: 134-146.
- Van Steenbergen H., Band G.P.H., Hommel B., Rombouts S.A.R.B. & Nieuwenhuis S. (2015), Hedonic hotspots regulate cingulate-driven adaptation to cognitive demands, Cerebral Cortex 25(7): 1746-1756.
- Van Steenbergen H., Langeslag S.J.E., Band G.P.H. & Hommel B. (2014), Reduced cognitive control in passionate lovers, Motivation and Emotion 38(3): 444-450.
- Spapé M.M., Verdonschot R.G., Van Dantzig S. & Van Steenbergen H. (2014), The E-Primer: An introduction to creating psychological experiments in E-Prime: Leiden University Press / Chicago University Press.
- Brown S.B.R.E., Steenbergen H. van, Kedar T. & Nieuwenhuis S. (2014), Effects of arousal on cognitive control: Empirical tests of the conflict-modulated Hebbian-learning hypothesis, Frontiers in Human Neuroscience 8: e23.
- Hengstler M., Holland R.W., Van Steenbergen H. & Van Knippenberg A. (2014), The influence of approach-avoidance motivational orientation on conflict adaptation, Cognitive, Affective, & Behavioral Neuroscience 14(2): 548-560.
- Kowal M., Hazekamp A., Colzato L.S., Steenbergen H. van & Hommel B. (2013), Modulation of cognitive and emotional processing by cannabidiol: the role of the anterior cingulate cortex, Frontiers in Human Neuroscience 7: 147.
- De Laat S., Hengstler M., Holland R.W., Van Steenbergen H. & Van Knippenberg A. (2013), Dat kan niet goet zijn: Domein-generiek conflict verhoogt cognitieve controle. In: Dotsch R., Papies E.K. & Pronk T.M. (Eds.), Jaarboek Sociale Psychologie 2013. Groningen: ASPO Pers.
- Bruyneel L., Van Steenbergen H., Hommel B., Band G.P.H., De Raedt R. & Koster E.H.W. (2013), Happy but still focused: Failures to find evidence for a mood-induced widening of visual attention, Psychological Research 77: 320-332.
- Steenbergen H. van & Band G.P.H. (2013), Pupil dilation in the Simon task as a marker of conflict processing, Frontiers in Human Neuroscience 7: 215.
- Steenbergen H. van, Booij L., Band G.P.H., Hommel B. & Does A.J.W. van der (2012), Affective regulation of cognitive-control adjustments in remitted depressive patients after acute tryptophan depletion, Cognitive, Affective, & Behavioral Neuroscience 12(2): 280-286.
- Brown S.B.R.E., Steenbergen H. van, Band G.P.H., Rover M. de & Nieuwenhuis S. (2012), Functional significance of the emotion-related late positive potential, Frontiers in Human Neuroscience 6: 33.
- Steenbergen H. van (17 January 2012), The drive to control : how affect and motivation regulate cognitive control (Dissertatie. Institute of Psychology, Faculty of Social and Behavioural Sciences, Leiden University). Supervisor(s) and Co-supervisor(s): Hommel B., Band G.P.H.
- Steenbergen H. van, Band G.P.H. & Hommel B. (2012), Reward valence modulates conflict-driven attentional adaptation: Electrophysiological evidence, Biological Psychology 90(3): 234-241.
- Jepma M., Verdonschot R.G., Steenbergen H. van, Rombouts S.A.R.B. & Nieuwenhuis S. (2012), Neural mechanisms underlying the induction and relief of perceptual curiosity, Frontiers in Behavioral Neuroscience 6: e5.
- Hengstler M., Holland R.W., Van Steenbergen H. & Van Knippenberg A. (2011), Conflict adaptatie gereguleerd: De invloed van lichaamsfeedback op conflict adaptatie. In: Ven N. van de, Baas M., Dillen L. van, Lakens D., Lokhorst A.M. & Strick M. (Eds.), Jaarboek Sociale Psychologie 75-86.
- Van Steenbergen H., Nieuwenhuis S., Band G.P.H., Rombouts S.A.R.B. & Hommel B. (2011), Positive affect reduces conflict-driven executive control: behavioral and neural evidence?. [other].
- Steenbergen H. van, Band G.P.H. & Hommel B. (2011), Threat but not arousal narrows attention: Evidence from pupil dilation and saccade control, Frontiers in Psychology 2: 281.
- Van Steenbergen H., Band G.P.H. & Hommel B. (2010), In the mood for adaptation: How affect regulates conflict - driven control, Psychological Science 21: 1629-1634.
- Van Steenbergen H., Band G.P.H. & Hommel B. (2009), Reward counteracts conflict adaptation: Evidence for a role of affect in executive control, Psychological Science 20: 1473-1477.
- Band G.P.H., Van Steenbergen H., Ridderinkhof K.R., Falkenstein M. & Hommel B. (2009), Action-effect negativity: Irrelevant action effects are monitored like relevant feedback, Biological Psychology 82: 211-218.
- Van Steenbergen H., Band G.P.H. & Hommel B. (2008), Emotional arousal drives reflexive saccades. Gent, Belgie, December 2008: Universiteit Leiden. [other].
- Van Steenbergen H., Band G.P.H. & Hommel B. (2008), How mood influences attention. Leiden , May 2008.: Universiteit Leiden. [other].