Sophie Schweizer
Dr. Tanja Sophie Schweizer, Assistant Professor
What fascinates you in the area of cognitive neuropsychology?
I am enthusiastic about the technologies we currently have for visualizing brain activity during higher cognitive functioning. fMRI and MEG are such technologies that I use to try and unravel the Neuropsychology of how human beings obtain new insights and new perspectives (creative cognition). This is a relatively new topic in the field of cognitive neuropsychology and for me a most fascinating one. Apart from the neural correlates of such processes I seek to understand how they are affected by various neuropharmacological and behavioral interventions. I am thrilled by the thought that it might be possible to design interventions that can support human beings in gaining new insights and new perspectives, an ability that is relevant to many areas of human existence, for instance scientific revolutions or neuropsychotherapeutic settings. I am for instance curious about how people suffering from Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder or Schizophrenia do in these particular cognitive processes.
What are recent accomplishments in your research?
I developed a model of the novelty generation process, which could help to better research and understand the processes of creating something new. Also, I have developed a Dutch Version of the Remote Associates Test (RAT). The RAT is one of the very few creativity tests that can be made suitable for a neuroimaging environment, so I also designed a version that can be used in the fMRI scanner and I am planning to do the same for other creativity tests that are useful in a neurocognitive context.
What are you working on at the moment?
Apart from running projects mentioned in the first section above I am currently working on the development of several new projects:
- Brain-imaging Meditation & its effects on creative cognition (MEG study).
- Pre-decisional Option Generation in Schizophrenic patients- do Schizophrenic patients have trouble with taking decisions as such, or is it rather the problem that they cannot generate decisional options in the first place (fMRI study).
- Cannabis Use and Creativity (fMRI study).
