Tinca Polderman

CV

• Mar 2010 Researcher at the Center of Neurogenomics and Cognitive Research, Dept. of Functional Genomics, VU University
• Mar 2008 - Mar 2010 Post doc at the Dept. Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, EUR, Rotterdam, in collaboration with Dept. Biological Psychology, VU University
• Dec 2007 - Feb 2008 Lecturer, at the Dept. Developmental Psychology, VU University
• April 2007 - Nov 2007 Post doc at the Dept. Biological Psychology, VU University in collaboration with Laboratoire de Psychologie Cognitive, Université de Provence, Marseille, France
• Jan 2007 - Mar 2007 Lecturer at the Dept. Developmental Psychology, VU University
• Dec 2001 - Dec 2006 PhD student at the Dept. Biological Psychology, VU University in collaboration with the Dept. Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, EUR, Rotterdam

Research focus

I am interested in individual differences between people. Why are some people smarter than others, or why do people differ in all sorts of behavior? Is it Nature or Nurture that plays the most important role? Behavior genetic research in the past decades has shown that both genetic and environmental factors are important.

My specific interest involves ADHD and related psychopathological disorders. My PhD project in behavior genetics showed that genetic variation explains a large part of the phenotypic variation in ADHD symptoms in children. Cognitive abilities are also heritable and are negatively associated with ADHD symptoms. Several of my studies showed that a shared genetic component plays a role here, indicating that biological processes that are important for ADHD, are also involved in cognition.

Since 2010 I work at the department of Functional Genomics, as part of the Complex Trait Genetics group. With Danielle Posthuma I set up a large data collection on cognition and behavior in adults, in collaboration with the NEMO Science Center in Amsterdam. My current research focuses on the biological pathways involved in ADHD, and comorbid disorders like autism spectrum disorder, and the relation with cognition. In a project with PhD student Mark Patrick Roeling we investigate the association between common childhood pathology, cognition and genes that are part of the presynaptic gene network.

Publications

Highlighted papers:

• Polderman, T. J. C., Boomsma, D. I., Bartels, M., Verhulst, F. C., & Huizink, A. C. (2010). Attention Problems and Academic Achievement during childhood: a systematic review of prospective studies. Acta Psychiatrica Scandinavica, 122, 271-284.
• Polderman, T. J. C., De Geus, E. J. C., Hoekstra, R. A., Bartels, M., Van Leeuwen, M., Verhulst, F. C., Posthuma, D., & Boomsma, D. I. (2009). Attention problems, inhibitory control and intelligence index overlapping genetic factors: A study in 9, 12 and 18 years old twins. Neuropsychology, 23, 381-391.
• Luciano, M., Lind, P. A., Deary, I. J., Payton, T., Posthuma, D., Butcher, L. M., Bochdanovits, Z., Whalley, L. J., Visscher, P. M., Harris, S. E., Polderman, T. J. C., Davis, O. S. P., Wright, M. J., Starr, J. M., De Geus, E. J. C., Bates, T. C., Montgomery, G. W., Boomsma, D. I., Martin, N. G., & Plomin, R. (2008). Testing replication of a 5-SNP set for general cognitive ability in six population samples. European Journal of Human Genetics, 16, 1388-1395.
• Gosso, M. F., De Geus, E. J. C., Polderman, T. J. C., Heutink, P., Boomsma, D. I., & Posthuma, D. (2008). Common variants underlying cognitive ability: further evidence for association between the SNAP-25 gene and cognition using a family-based study in two independent Dutch cohorts. Genes, Brain and Behavior, 7, 355-364.
• Polderman, T. J. C., Derks, E. M., Hudziak, J. J., Verhulst, F. C., Posthuma, D., & Boomsma, D. I. (2007). Across the continuum of Attention Skills: A twin study of the SWAN ADHD rating scale. Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry, 48, 1080-1087.

See all publications of Tinca Polderman in PubMed