Neeltje Blankenstein is a developmental cognitive neuroscientist. Her research focuses on adolescent risk taking, including online risk behavior. In her research she combines biological en behavioral methods.

More information about Neeltje Blankenstein

Neeltje Blankenstein is a developmental cognitive neuroscientist. Her research focuses on adolescent risk taking, including online risk behavior. In her research she combines biological en behavioral methods.

Research

Neeltje Blankenstein's research focuses on the (neuro)biological and psychological mechanisms that underlie risk-taking behavior in youth. She investigates why some adolescents take more risks than others. She also studies the role of hormones, brain function, psychophysiology, and personal characteristics in the development of risk taking from childhood to young adulthood. She also investigates online risk-taking behavior, such as sexting and online gambling, and the influence of social media on adolescent risk taking.

Short CV

Blankenstein has a background in cognitive neuroscience (graduated with honors in 2014), after which she completed her PhD at the Department of Developmental and Educational Psychology on decision-making behavior of adolescents under different levels of risk (2019). For her PhD research she combined behavioral modelling and neuroimaging techniques.

After this, she completed a postdoc at the Youth at Risk section of the Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry and Psychosocial Care (Amsterdam UMC), where she studied negative manifestations of adolescent risk taking: antisocial behavior. She conducted research on the development of delinquency and aggression by combining physiological and hormonal, psychological, and social environment measures, in multi-sample studies.

She then returned to the Department of Developmental and Educational Psychology where she first conducted postdoc research on adolescent risk taking in different domains. Since 2022 she is Assistant Professor and has her own research line on adolescent online risk taking, such as online gambling and sexting.

Grants and Awards

• Leids Universiteits Fonds Scientific Project (2022): 35.000
• ECNP conference Excellence Award (2020): best abstract
• Leids Universiteits Fonds travel grant (2017): €1000

Teaching

• Clinical Child and Adolescent Psychology
• Evidence Based Practice in Clinical Child and Adolescent Psychology
• Master's thesis

Master's Education Committee (MOC)

In addition to her research and teaching, Blankenstein is a teaching member of the Master's Education Committee (MOC) of Psychology.

Publications