Marit Ruitenberg investigates the role that the brain plays in the movement of our bodies. She is interested in the cognitive aspects involved in movement, executing them correctly and learning new movements and which brain areas may be involved. In order to understand how the brain works, she studies both healthy people and those with a particular disorder. This makes it possible to understand the brain when it functions well and also when it functions less well.

More information about Marit Ruitenberg

Marit Ruitenberg investigates the role that the brain plays in the movement of our bodies. She is interested in the cognitive aspects involved in movement, executing them correctly and learning new movements and which brain areas may be involved. In order to understand how the brain works, she studies both healthy people and those with a particular disorder. This makes it possible to understand the brain when it functions well and also when it functions less well.

Short C.V.

Marit Ruitenberg is an Assistant Professor in Neuropsychology at the Health, Medical, and Neuropsychology unit at Leiden University as of 2019. She obtained her PhD in cognitive neuropsychology from the University of Twente in 2013. From 2014 to 2018 she worked as a postdoctoral researcher at the Department of Experimental psychology at Ghent University, Belgium (2014; 2016-2019), and the School of Kinesiology at the University of Michigan, USA (2015-2016). Her work focuses on the cognitive and neural mechanisms underlying sensorimotor function and movement learning, and how these change with age and neuro(psycho)logical disease. See the Research section below for further details.

Research

My research focuses on the cognitive and neural mechanisms underlying sensorimotor function across the lifespan, both in healthy and clinical populations (e.g., Parkinson’s disease, MCI). I am intrigued by the role of cognitive processes in movement, as the involvement of these processes suggests that cognitive control deficits may contribute to motor deficits. Understanding how movement is controlled at the cognitive and neural level in health is therefore necessary in order to be able to study movement difficulties that arise with aging and various diseases. I study the cognitive and neural aspects of movement control deficits associated with healthy aging and disorders such as in Parkinson’s disease, using a combination of behavioral and neuroimaging methods (fMRI, fcMRI).

Teaching

• Master thesis coordination and supervision
• Internship supervision
• BioNeuropsychology (Ba)
• Clinical Neuropsychology (Ba)
• Neurocognition (Ma)
• Innovations in Clinical Neuropsychology (Ma)
• Research Methods in Clinical Neuropsychology (Ma)
• Mentor coordination CNP

Grants

• Young Investigator Grant from the Brain & Behavior Research Foundation (2021)
• Collaborative Research Grant from the International Brain Research Organization (2021)
• Travel grants from the Research Foundation – Flanders and the Ghent University Faculty Mobility Fund (2017).
• Ghent University Special Research Fund (BOF) – 3-year postdoctoral fellowship for the project “Start! Adapt! Stop! Tracking the dynamics of action control in Parkinson’s disease” (2015).
• Pegasus Marie Curie fellowship Research Foundation – Flanders (FWO) – 1-year postdoctoral fellowship for the project “Do cognitive problems underlie motor deficits in Parkinson’s disease?” (2013).

Relevant links

Scientific articles (Google Scholar)