Franc Donkers, Ph.D.
Email: franc_donkers@med.unc.edu
Phone: (919) 843-3140
Education:
PhD., Cognitive Neuroscience, Tilburg University, The Netherlands
M.S., Physiological Psychology, Tilburg University, The Netherlands
Postdoctoral Fellowship, Department of Psychiatry, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
Research Interests:
Dr. Donkers’ research interests focus on the neurobiological underpinnings of human information processing in both healthy and clinical populations. He combines non-invasive brain imaging techniques (i.e. (f)MRI, EEG, fNIR) with behavioral assessments to examine attentional, executive and affective functions as they develop from early infancy to adolescence into adulthood. He is particularly devoted to a better understanding of mental disorders such as autism and schizophrenia in which attentional, executive and affective processes develop atypically.
Representative Publications:
1. Belger A, Yucel GH, Donkers FC. In search of psychosis biomarkers in high-risk populations: is the mismatch negativity the one we've been waiting for? Biol Psychiatry. 2012 Jan 15;71(2):94-5.
2. Donkers FC, Schwikert SR, Evans AM, Cleary KM, Perkins DO, Belger A. Impaired neural synchrony in the theta frequency range in adolescents at familial risk for schizophrenia. Front Psychiatry. 2011;2:51.
3. Belger A, Carpenter KL, Yucel GH, Cleary KM, Donkers FC. The neural circuitry of autism. Neurotox Res. 2011 Oct;20(3):201-14.
