214 / 218
212
Biography
Mieke was born in Valkenswaard (The Netherlands). After attending high school there
(“HAVO” at Were-Di college), she obtained a college certificate in applied psychology at
Fontys in Eindhoven in 2003. After her undergraduate degree in psychology at the Radboud
University in Nijmegen and a backpacking trip in Asia, Mieke went on to start a Master’s
in psychology (specializing in psychonomics), at the University of Amsterdam. During this
period, she did an internship at the Amsterdam institute for addiction research (part of the
Academic Medical Center). Under the supervision of Dr. Anneke Goudriaan and Ruth van
Holst she investigated the neural mechanisms underlying a number of cognitive control
processes in patients with alcohol dependence and pathological gamblers. A month after
obtaining her master’s degree Mieke started working as a research assistant with dr. Esther
Aarts, in the Motivation and Cognitive Control lab of dr. Roshan Cools. With Esther, she
worked primarily on a project studying adults with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder
(ADHD). She studied the effects of ADHD medication on brain activity during cognitive
control processes. In January 2011 Mieke was granted a full PhD scholarship (the DCCN
TOPtalent scholarship) and she started her PhD in September of that year. During her PhD
she used a number of techniques, including genetics, brain imaging (fMRI), brain stimulation
(TMS), pharmacology to study how rewards can alter ones mental flexibility. During this
period she also gained an interest in animal work. To test this curiosity, Mieke arranged a
1-year lab visit in the lab of dr. Bernard Balleine, at the university of Sydney, Australia.
Mieke is currently a postdoctoral researcher in the neural circuits and cognition laboratory
of dr. Stan Floresco at the university of British Columbia in Vancouver in Canada, where
she studies how dissociable regions of the prefrontal cortex are involved during cue-guided
behaviour in the context of risky decision making and when switching between well-
established tasks.
Biography