Andre Aleman PhD

André Aleman studied psychology (neuropsychology and psychophysiology) at Utrecht University, where his research was focused on understanding the cognitive basis of hallucinations. He received his PhD cum laude in 2001. In 2006, Aleman was appointed Professor of Cognitive Neuropsychiatry at the University Medical Centre Groningen. Currently, he is Director of the Cognitive Neuroscience Center of the Department of Biomedical Sciences of Cells and Systems. In 2015, he was appointed Honorary Visiting Professor at the University of Shenzhen, China.

Aleman has published articles on memory impairment in schizophrenia, the neural basis of auditory verbal imagery, cognitive ageing, and insights into psychosis. His current research interests are related to the neural basis for cognitive and affective disorders in psychosis and depression with an emphasis on apathy, emotion regulation and treatment with non-invasive electromagnetic neurostimulation (TMS). He is also involved in studies into suicidality.

In total he has been awarded over €9.35 million in funding for his research projects since 2005: he received a Vici grant from the Netherlands Organisation for Scientific Research (2012) and an ERC Consolidator Grant from the European Research Council (2013). In 2006 he received a European Young Investigator Award from the European Science Foundation.

Professor Aleman was elected to the Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences (KNAW) in 2017. He has served as a member of the Health Council of the Netherlands since 2009. He is also an academic editor for PLoS ONE and a member of the editorial boards of Cognitive Neuropsychiatry, npj Schizo­phrenia, and Schizophrenia Research: Cognition.

He has written four popular science books. One, Our Ageing Brain, is a bestseller and was published in seven languages in total. Over 55,000 copies of Het Seniorenbrein (in Dutch) have been sold (per summer 2020). Aleman’s most recent popular science book is Je brein de baas; over de rol van bewust denken (2017).

His latest academic/medical book is due to appear in 2021: Aleman, A. & Lanctôt K., Eds. (in press, publication expected May 2021). Apathy: Clinical and Neuroscientific Perspectives. Oxford University Press.

Brain Stimulation Foundation (Hersenstimulatie-stichting  NL + Belgie)

Transcraniële Elektrische Stimulatie (TES) Brain Stimulation Foundation (Hersenstimulatie-stichting  NL + Belgie)

• All Publications: mepa page     Selected Publications:

  1. Aleman A, Denys D. (2014) Mental health: A road map for suicide research and prevention. Nature.
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  2. Curcic-Blake B, Liemburg E, Vercammen A, Swart M, Knegtering H, Bruggeman R, Aleman A. (2012) When Broca goes uninformed: reduced information flow to Broca's area in schizophrenia patients with auditory hallucinations. Schizophr Bull.
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  3. Vercammen A, Knegtering H, denBoer JA, Liemburg EJ, Aleman A.(2010) Auditory Hallucinations in Schizophrenia Are Associated with Reduced Functional Connectivity of the Temporo-Parietal Area. Biol Psychiatry
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  4. Vercammen A, Knegtering H, Bruggeman R, Westenbroek HM, Jenner JA, Slooff CJ, Wunderink L, Aleman A. (2009). Effects of bilateral repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation on treatment resistant auditory-verbal hallucinations in schizophrenia: a randomized controlled trial. Schizophr Res.
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  5. Allen, P., Larøi, F., McGuire, P.K., Aleman, A. (2008). The hallucinating brain: A review of structural and functional neuroimaging studies of hallucinations. Neurosci Biobehav Rev
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  6. Van’t Wout M, Kahn RS, Sanfey A, Aleman A. (2006). Affective state and decision making in the Ultimatum Game. Exp Brain Res.
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  7. Aleman A, E Formisano, H Koppenhagen, P Hagoort, EHF de Haan, RS Kahn (2005). The functional neuroanatomy of metrical stress evaluation of perceived and imagined spoken words. Cerebral Cortex
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  8. Aleman A, Kahn RS. (2005) Strange feelings: do amygdala abnormalities dysregulate the emotional brain in schizophrenia? Progress in Neurobiology
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  9. Aleman A, De Haan EHF. (2000). Antipsychotics and working memory in schizophrenia. Science
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  10. Aleman, A., Hijman, R., De Haan, E.H.F., & Kahn, R.S. (1999) Memory impairment in schizophrenia: a meta-analysis. American Journal of Psychiatry
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