Contact Details

Curriculum Vitae

Cédric Koolschijn was born at February 26 1980 in ‘s Gravenhage, The Netherlands. He obtained his high school certificate at the Adelbert College in Wassenaar in 1998. After taking several foundation courses in Nature Sciences & Innovation Management from 1998-2001, he started to study psychology at Utrecht University in 2001. He graduated in 2005 with a specialization in biopsychology. After working as a neuroimaging assistant at the structural neuroimaging lab, Cédric started his PhD program in Neuroscience at the Department of Psychiatry at the University Medical Center in Utrecht in 2005, supervised by Prof. Dr. René Kahn and Dr. Neeltje van Haren, and in the last year also by Prof. Dr. Hilleke Hulshoff Pol. Cédric will continue his work in the field of neuroscience with the focus on neuroimaging research. He accepted a postdoc position starting in september 2009 at the Brain and Development lab of Prof. Dr. Eveline Crone in Leiden.

PhD Thesis

Brainstorm
Structural brain abnormalities in schizophrenia and depression
P.Cédric M.P. Koolschijn

In his thesis “Brainstorm” Cédric Koolschijn described a variety of studies that explore structural brain abnormalities in schizophrenia and major depressive disorder.
This main title may need some clarification for the reader. Probably the first association you have with this word will be that of a session to generate new ideas. In a way, that is exactly what this thesis-trajectory was all about. Brainstorm also means a short-term “malfunctioning” of the brain or the “convolution of the brain” like a gyrus, but then in a more figurative manner. In addition, taking brainstorm in a literally point of view, it can be argued that there is an actual storm going on in the brain of patients with schizophrenia (e.g. hallucinations) and patients with major depressive disorder (e.g. severe mood changes).
In this thesis a variety of magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) studies in schizophrenia and major depressive disorder are described. The importance of genetic research by means of twin models, or the search for candidate genes and relating them to brain morphometry is highlighted. Furthermore, evidence is provide to show the importance of longitudinal (MRI) studies when investigating age-related changes or the confounding influences of antipsychotic medication on brain morphometry. In addition, the combination of different MRI techniques such as cortical thickness measurements and voxel-based morphometry can provide a better understanding of what is going on in the brain, not only cortical but also subcortical. Finally, we have shown that the application of meta-analytic methods in MRI research increases our knowledge of which brain structures are affected, and shows the path to which future research should be directed.

Publications
Koolschijn, P. C., van Haren, N. E., Hulshoff Pol, H. E. & Kahn, R. S. (2008). Hypothalamus volume in twin pairs discordant for schizophrenia. Eur. Neuropsychopharmacol. 18, 312-315 doi:10.1016/j.euroneuro.2007.12.004
 

Koolschijn, P. C., van Haren, N. E., Cahn, W., Schnack, H. G., Janssen, J., Klumpers, F., Hulshoff Pol, H. E. & Kahn, R. S. (2009). Hippocampal volume change in schizophrenia. J Clin Psychiatry, in press

Koolschijn, P. C., van Haren, N. E., Lensvelt-Mulders, G. J., Hulshoff Pol, H. E. & Kahn, R. S. (2009). Brain volume abnormalities in major depressive disorder: a Meta-analysis of magnetic resonance imaging studies. Hum. Brain Mapp. doi:10.1002/hbm.20801
 

Koolschijn, P. C., van Haren, N. E., Bakker, S. C., Hoogendoorn, M. L., Hulshoff Pol, H. E. & Kahn, R. S. (2009). Effects of brain-derived neurotrophic factor VAL66MET polymorphism on hippocampal volume change in schizophrenia. Hippocampus. doi:10.1002/hipo.20699
 

van der Schot, A. C., Vonk, R., Brans, R., van Haren, N. E., Koolschijn, P. C., Nuboer, V., Schnack, H. G., van Baal, G. C., Boomsma, D. I., Nolen, W. A., Hulshoff Pol, H. E. & Kahn, R. S. (2009). Influence of genes and environment on brain volumes in twinpairs concordant and discordant for bipolar disorder. Arch Gen. Psychiatry 66, 142- 151
 

Koolschijn, P. C. van Haren, N. E., Schnack, H. G., Janssen, J., Hulshoff Pol, H. E. & Kahn, R. S. (2009). Cortical thickness and voxel-based morphometry in depressed elderly. Eur. Neuropsychopharmacol. doi:10.1016/j.euroneuro.2010.02.010
 

van Haren, N. E., Koolschijn, P. C., Cahn, W., Schnack, H. G., Hulshoff Pol, H. E. & Kahn, R. S. (2009). Cigarette smoking and brain volume loss in schizophrenia. Eur. Neuropsychopharmacol. doi:10.1016/j.euroneuro.2010.02.009