Contact Details

Neuroimaging Research Group
University Medical Center Utrecht
Heidelberglaan 100
3584 CX Utrecht
the Netherlands

Room: A.01.519
Tel.: +31 (0)88 7559998
Fax.: +31 (0)88 7555443
E-mail: R.Brans@umcutrecht.nl

Curriculum Vitae

Rachel Brans studied Psychology at the Radboud University Nijmegen, specializing neuro- and rehabilitation psychology. In June 2002 she started a PhD project in Neuroscience at the Rudolf Magnus Institute of Neuroscience at the University Medical Centre in Utrecht. In this project, possible mechanisms underlying the individual differences in brain structure and brain structure change in healthy adults and schizophrenia patients are explored. Therefore two lines of research were set out: one study comprises healthy individuals and the other studies comprise schizophrenia patients. All studies are conducted in relatives (i.e. twin pairs or siblings) to be able to disentangle genetic and environmental influences on brain structure and brain structure change.

List of Publications

• Brans RGH, van Haren NEM, van Baal GCM, Schnack HG, Kahn RS, Hulshoff Pol HE (2008). Heritability of changes in brain volume over time in twin pairs discordant for schizophrenia. Archives of General Psychiatry, 65 (11): 1259-68.
• Brans RGH, van Haren NEM, van Baal GCM, Staal WG, Schnack HG, Kahn RS, Hulshoff Pol HE (2008). Longitudinal MRI study in schizophrenia patients and their healthy siblings. British Journal of Psychiatry, 193 (5): 422-3.
• Brans RGH, Kahn RS, Hulshoff Pol HE (2007). Veranderingen in de hersenen bij schizofrenie. Tijdschrift voor neuropsychiatrie en gedragsneurologie. 6 (2): 33-7.
• Hulshoff Pol HE, Brans RGH, van Haren NEM, Schnack HG, Langen M, Baaré WF, van Oel CJ, Kahn RS (2004). Gray and white matter volume abnormalities in monozygotic and same-gender dizygotic twins discordant for schizophrenia. Biological Psychiatry, 55 (2): 126-30.