Melle van der Molen
Assistant Professor
- Name
- Dr. M.J.W. van der Molen
- Telephone
- +31 71 527 6042
- m.j.w.van.der.molen@fsw.leidenuniv.nl
- ORCID iD
- 0000-0003-0431-7630
Melle van der Molen conducts research at the intersection between developmental cognitive neuroscience and clinical psychology.
More information about Melle van der Molen
PhD-candidates
Melle van der Molen conducts research at the intersection between developmental cognitive neuroscience and clinical psychology.
Research
The current work of Van der Molen lies at the intersection between developmental cognitive neuroscience and clinical psychology. A key denominator of his work is employing a multimethod approach - combining behavioral and neuroimaging assessments, and advanced statistical methods (e.g., network analyses). A goal of his work is to discover reliable transdiagnostic markers that will aid in understanding the etiology of psychological disorders.
Van der Molen found the CoDAP Lab in 2018. Research in his lab focuses on Cognitive Developmental and Affective Psychophysiology with a dominant focus on electrophysiological correlates of social-evaluative cognitive biases and aberrant social learning in anxiety disorders. Advanced electrophysiological (EEG/ECG) analyses are conjunctively used with behavioral and personality assessments to explain individual differences in responses to social evaluative stressors. Another research focus is using network theoretical analyses (e.g., community structure analyses, minimum spanning tree analyses) to parse subgroup profiles that show distinct symptom profiles and brain functioning to understand heterogeneity between clinical disorders. These methods have recently been employed in fragile X syndrome, social anxiety disorder, and dyslexia.
Teaching
- Developmental Psychophysiology & Psychopathology (Research Master, Course Coordinator)
- Research Apprenticeship Psychology (Coordinator)
- Bachelor Project (Supervisor)
- (Research) Master Thesis (Supervisor)
- Research Internship (Supervisor)
Short CV
Melle van der Molen is currently working as an assistant professor in the Developmental and Educational Psychology unit of the Institute of Psychology at Leiden University.
He obtained his master’s degree in Clinical Neuropsychology at the University of Amsterdam in 2007. In 2011 he obtained his PhD from the same University supervised by Prof. K. Richard Ridderinkhof and Dr. Ger J.A. Ramakers. In his Ph.D. project, titled “Profiling Fragile X Syndrome in Males: A Psychophysiological and Neuropsychological Approach”, he focused on the repercussions of genetic abnormalities on brain development and cognitive function in fragile X syndrome. In 2011, Van der Molen moved to Leiden University for a post-doc position on profiling neurocognitive endophenotypes of social anxiety disorder supervised by Prof. Michiel Westenberg. In 2012, he was appointed to assistant professor in Clinical and Neurodevelopmental Psychology.
Supervised PhD candidates
- Hanjie Liu, MSc. "The dynamic brain network architecture of reinforcement learning in social anxiety". 2022-2026.
- Elise Kortink, MSc. “Changing minds in social anxiety: A developmental network approach to cognitive biase modification”. Supported by an NWO research talent grant. 2018-2022.
- Anita Harrewijn, "Shy parent, shy Child? Delineating psychophysiological endophenotypes of social anxiety disorder", 2018.
Awards and Grants
- Credibility in Neuroscience Team Award (2023). Awarded by the British Neuroscience Association to the #EEGManylabs Project Team.
- NWO Research Talent grant (€233K). Role: principal investigator.
- Leiden Family Lab study of Social Anxiety Disorder (2011-2018; Role: Co-PI; institute funding €120K).
- Travel award to attend the European Science Foundation conference on “Gene Expression to Neurobiology and Behavior: Human Brain Development and Developmental Disorders" (Saint Feliu de Guixols, Spain, September 2009).
- NWO poster prijs (first place).
- Socrates-Erasmus scholarship for a six-month stay at Fondazione Santa Lucia (IRCCS) and the Sapienza University, Rome, Italy (2006).
Registrations
- University Teaching Qualification (BKO)
- Basisaantekening Psychodiagnostiek (Netherlands Institute of Psychologists)
Membership scientific associations
- Society for Psychophysiological Research (SPR)
- FLUX Society for Developmental Cognitive Neuroscience
- European Society for Cognitive and Affective Neuroscience (ESCAN)
- International Society for Developmental Psychobiology (ISDP)
Assistant Professor
- Faculteit der Sociale Wetenschappen
- Instituut Psychologie
- Ontwikkelings- & Onderwijspsychologie
- Torzillo J., Topel S., Harrewijn A., Molen M.J.W. van der & Veen F. van der (2024), Subjective pain and reward in a social judgment paradigm, Current Psychology : 1-14.
- Zhang X., Molen M.J.W. van der, Otieno S.C.S.A., He Z., Leppänen P.H.T. & Li H. (2022), Neural correlates of acceptance and rejection in online speed dating: an electroencephalography study, Cognitive, Affective, & Behavioral Neuroscience 22(1): 145-159.
- Topel S., Noordt S.J.R. van, Willner C.J., Banz B.C., Wu J., Castagna P., Kortink E.D., Molen M.J.W. van der & Crowley M.J. (2021), As they wait: anticipatory neural response to evaluative peer feedback varies by pubertal status and social anxiety, Developmental Cognitive Neuroscience 51: 101004.
- Fraga-González G., Smit D.J.A., Molen M.J.W. van der, Tijms J., Stam C.J., Geus E.J.C. de & Molen M.W. van der (2021), Graph analysis of EEG functional connectivity networks during a letter-speech sound binding task in adult dyslexics, Frontiers in Psychology 12: 767839.
- Fraga Gonzalez G., Smit D.J.A., Van der Molen M.J.W., Tijms J., De Geus E.J.C. & Van der Molen M.W. (2019), Probability learning and feedback processing in dyslexia: A performance and heart rate analysis, Psychophysiology 56(12): e13460.
- Bexkens A., Huizenga H.M., Neville D.A., d'Escury-Koenigs A.L.C., Bredman J.C., Wagemaker E. & Van der Molen M.W. (2019), Peer-influence on risk-taking in male adolescents with mild to borderline intellectual disabilities and/or behavior disorders, Journal of Abnormal Child Psychology 47(3): 543-555.
- Harrewijn A., Van der Molen M.J.W., Van Vliet I.M., Tissier R.L.M. & Westenberg P.M. (2018), Behavioral and EEG responses to social evaluation: A two-generation family study on social anxiety, NeuroImage: Clinical 17: 549-562.
- Harrewijn A., Van der Molen M.J.W., Van Vliet I.M., Houwing-Duistermaat J.J. & Westenberg P.M. (2018), Delta-beta correlation as a candidate endophenotype of social anxiety: A two-generation family study, Journal of Affective Disorders 227: 398-405.
- Molen M.J.W. van der, Harrewijn A. & Westenberg P.M. (2018), Will they like me? Neural and behavioral responses to social-evaluative peer feedback in socially and non-socially anxious females, Biological Psychology 135: 18-28.
- Kortink E.D., Weeda W.D., Crowley M.J., Gunther Moor B. & Van der Molen M.J.W. (2018), Community structure analysis of rejection sensitive personality profiles: A common neural response to social evaluative threat?, Cognitive, Affective, & Behavioral Neuroscience 18(3): 581-595.
- 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.
- Poppelaars E.S., Harrewijn A., Westenberg P.M. & Van der Molen M.J.W. (2018), Frontal delta-beta cross-frequency coupling in high and low social anxiety: An index of stress regulation?, Cognitive, Affective, & Behavioral Neuroscience 18(4): 764-777.
- Harrewijn A., Van der Molen M.J.W., Verkuil B., Sweijen S.W., Houwing-Duistermaat J.J. & Westenberg P.M. (2018), Heart rate variability as candidate endophenotype of social anxiety: A two-generation family study, Journal of Affective Disorders 237: 47-55.
- Fraga Gonzalez G., Smit D.J.A., Van der Molen M.J.W., Tijms J., Stam C.J., De Geus E.J.C. & Van der Molen M.W.J. (2018), EEG resting state functional connectivity in adult dyslexics using phase lag index and graph analysis, Frontiers in Human Neuroscience 12: e341.
- Van der Molen M.J.W., Dekkers L.M.S., Westenberg P.M., Van der Veen F.M. & Van der Molen M.W. (2017), Why don't you like me? Midfrontal theta power in response to unexpected peer rejection feedback, NeuroImage 146: 474-483.
- Harrewijn A., Schmidt L.A., Westenberg P.M., Tang A. & Van der Molen M.J.W. (2017), Electrocortical measures of information processing biases in social anxiety disorder: A review, Biological Psychology 129: 324-348.
- Harrewijn A., Van der Molen M.J.W. & Westenberg P.M. (2016), Putative EEG measures of social anxiety: Comparing frontal alpha asymmetry and delta-beta cross-frequency correlation, Cognitive, Affective, & Behavioral Neuroscience 16(6): 1086-1098.
- Veen F.M. van der, Molen M.J.W. van der, Molen M.W. van der & Franken I.H.A. (2016), Thumbs up or thumbs down? Effects of neuroticism and depressive symptoms on psychophysiological responses to social evaluation in healthy students, Cognitive, Affective, & Behavioral Neuroscience 16(5): 836-847.
- Fraga Gonzalez G., Van der Molen M.J.W., Zaric G., Bonte M., Tijms J., Blomert L., Stam C.J. & Van der Molen M.W. (2016), Graph analysis of EEG resting state functional networks in dyslexic readers, Clinical Neurophysiology 127(9): 3165-3175.
- Dekkers L.M.S., Van der Molen M.J.W., Gunther Moor B., Van der Veen F.M. & Van der Molen M.W. (2015), Cardiac and electro-cortical concomitants of social feedback processing in women, Social Cognitive and Affective Neuroscience 10(11): 1506-1514.
- Van der Molen M.J.W. (2015), Abnormal EEG oscillatory dynamics in fragile X syndrome: Insights from resting-state and stimulus processing investigations, International Journal of Developmental Neuroscience 47: 78-78.
- Van der Molen M.J.W., Stam C.J. & Van der Molen M.W. (2014), Resting-state EEG oscillatory dynamics in Fragile X Syndrome: Abnormal functional connectivity and brain network organization , PLoS ONE 9(2): e88451.
- Van der Molen M.J.W., Poppelaars E.S., Van Hartingsveldt C.T.A., Harrewijn A., Gunther Moor B. & Westenberg P.M. (2014), Fear of negative evaluation modulates electrocortical and behavioral responses when anticipating social evaluative feedback, Frontiers in Human Neuroscience 7(936): 1-12.
- Van der Molen M.J. & Van der Molen M.W. (2013), Reduced alpha and exaggerated theta power during the resting-state EEG in fragile X syndrome, Biological Psychology 92(2): 216-219.
- Van der Molen M.J.W. (2012), Het fragiele-X-syndroom: Cognitieve vaardigheden en onderliggende problemen in de informatieverwerking, Neuropraxis 16: 53-60.
- Van der Molen M.J., Van der Molen M.J.W., Ridderinkhof K.R., Hamel B.C., Curfs L.M. & Ramakers G.J. (2012), Auditory change detection in fragile X syndrome males: a brain potential study, Clinical Neurophysiology 123(7): 1309-1318.
- Van der Molen M.J.W., Van der Molen M.W., Ridderinkhof K.R., Hamel B.C., Curfs L.M. & Ramakers G.J. (2012), Attentional set-shifting in fragile X syndrome, Brain and Cognition 78(3): 206-217.
- Van der Molen M.J.W., Van der Molen M.W., Ridderinkhof K.R., Hamel B.C., Curfs L.M. & Ramakers G.J. (2012), Auditory and visual cortical activity during selective attention in fragile X syndrome: a cascade of processing deficiencies, Clinical Neurophysiology 123(4): 720-729.
- Van der Molen M.J.W., Huizinga M., Huizenga H.M., Ridderinkhof K.R., Van der Molen M.J.W., Hamel B.J., Curfs L.M. & Ramakers G.J. (2010), Profiling Fragile X Syndrome in males: Strengths and weaknesses in cognitive abilities, Research in Developmental Disabilities 31(2): 426-439.