Eco de Geus

Professional interests

• Imaging Genetics
• Stress, Genes, Lyfestyle & Health
• Ambulatory Monitoring Technology
• Psychophysiological Recording in Neuroscience

Highlighted publications

Sullivan, P.F., Geus, E.J.C. de, Willemsen, G., Hottenga, J.J., Posthuma, D., & Boomsma, D.I. (2009)
Genome-wide association for major depressive disorder: a possible role for the presynaptic protein piccolo. Molecular Psychiatry, 14, 359-375.

Geus, E.J.C. de, Goldberg, T., Boomsma, D.I., & Posthuma, D. (2008)
Imaging the genetics of brain structure and function. Biological Psychology, 79, 1-8.

Geus, E.J.C. de & Moor, M.H.M. de (2008)
A genetic perspective on the association between exercise and mental health. Mental Health and Physical Activity, 1, 53-61.

Goedhart, A.D., Willemsen, G., Houtveen, J.H., Boomsma, D.I., & Geus, E.J.C. de (2008)
Comparing low frequency heart rate variability and preejection period: Two sides of a different coin. Psychophysiology, 45, 1086-1090.

Licht, C.M.M., Geus, E.J.C. de, Zitman, F.G., Hoogendijk, W.J.G., Dyck, R. van, & Penninx, B.W.J.H. (2008)
Association between major depressive disorder and heart rate variability in the Netherlands Study of Depression and Anxiety (NESDA). Archives of General Psychiatry, 65(12), 1358-1367.

Wolfensberger, S.P.A., Veltman, D.J., Hoogendijk, W.J.G., Boomsma, D.I., & Geus, E.J.C. de (2008)
Amygdala responses to emotional faces in twins discordant or concordant for the risk for anxiety and depression. NeuroImage, 41, 544-552.

Wolfensberger, S.P.A., Veltman, D.J., Hoogendijk, W.J.G., Ruiter, M.B. de, Boomsma, D.I., & Geus, E.J.C. de (2008)
The neural correlates of verbal encoding and retrieval in monozygotic twins at low or high risk for depression and anxiety. Biological Psychology, 79, 80-90.

LIST OF ALL PUBLICATIONS

Teaching

• Biological Psychology
• Biobehavioral Medicine
• Psychophysiology
• Genes, Brain, Behavior

CV

Vrije Universiteit (MA cum laude) 1987 Human Movement Sciences
Vrije Universiteit PhD (cum laude) 1992 Psychology

Work experience:
1985 - 1986 : Research assistant (0.2 days/week) ZWO
1985 - 1986 : Research assistant (0.8 days/week) FPP-VU
1987 - 1988 : Junior Researcher VROM
1988 - 1992 : PhD NWO
1992 - 1996 : Post-doc FPP-VU, dept of Psychonomics 1996 - 1998 : Assistant professor (UD) FPP-VU, dept of Psychonomics 1998 - 2002 : Associate professor (UHD) FPP-VU, dept of Biological Psychology
2002 - Current: Full professor FPP-VU, dept of Biological Psychology

Field (‘leeropdracht’): Professor of psychophysiology of individual differences.

Personal interests

The leitmotiv of my research is the psychophysiological study of individual differences in behavior and health. Two major lines of research are genes, stress, lifestyle and health and genetic neuroscience.

In our research on genes, stress, lifestyle and health, both controlled experiments and epidemiological strategies are used to test contribution of genes, stress and lifestyle (exercise) to cardiovascular health and psychological well-being. Ongoing research emphasizes the gene-environment interaction perspective, e.g. looking explicitly at gene-stress and gene-lifestyle interactions in longitudinal designs. A major emphasis in this research is on the ambulatory measurement of the physiological stress responses in naturalistic “real life” settings with the Vrije Universiteit Ambulatory Monitoring System (VU-AMS).

In our genetic neuroscience research, psychometric and neuropsychological testing is combined with central (fMRI, EEG, ERP) and autonomic nervous system measurements to identify heritable endophenotypes of affective and cognitive functioning. These endophenotypes are applied in genetic association and linkage studies to help unravel the exact genetic pathways to affective and cognitive disorders.

Links

• www.tweelingenregister.org
• www.psy.vu.nl/vu-ams
• www.neurosciencecampus-amsterdam.nl