About Me

My main research interest is cognitive neuroscience of emotion and memory. I entered this field during a traineeship at Karolinska Institute in Stockholm, Sweden, where I worked on fear conditioning in Arne Ohman’s psychophysiology lab. I did my PhD in the Netherlands with Jack van Honk at Utrecht University and Nick Ramsey at University Medical Center Utrecht on neuroendocrine regulation of socio-emotional behavior. After receiving my PhD, I obtained a Postdoctoral Fellowship with Guillen Fernández at the Donders Centre for Cognitive Neuroimaging in Nijmegen, the Netherlands. There, I studied effects of stress-sensitive neuromodulators on cognitive functions, in particular memory formation and consolidation. In 2007, I received a personal (NWO-VENI) grant for a project entitled “In a fit of fear: novel strategies for functional decomposition of the neural circuits of fear and anxiety in humans”. This project focuses on system-scale reconfiguration of network connectivity in affective states and high resolution neuroimaging of subcortical structures. Currently, I am an Assistant Professor at the Donders Institute for Brain, Cognition and Behaviour and a visiting Research Fellow at New York University (New York, USA)..

Publications

Qin, S., van Marle, H.J.F., Hermans, E.J., and Fernández, G. (in press). Subjective sense of memory strength and the objective amount of information accurately remembered are related to distinct neural correlates at encoding. Journal of Neuroscience.

Ossewaarde, L., van Wingen, G.A., Kooijman, S.C., Bäckström, T., Fernández, G, and Hermans, E.J. (in press). Changes in functioning of mesolimbic incentive processing circuits during the premenstrual phase. Soc Cogn Affect Neurosci.

van Wingen, G.A., Ossewaarde, L., Bäckström, T., Hermans, E.J., and Fernández, G (in press). Gonadal hormone regulation of the emotion circuitry in humans. Neuroscience.

Ossewaarde, L., Verkes, R.J., Hermans, E.J., Kooijman, S.C., Urner, M., Tendolkar, I., van Wingen, G.A., and Fernández, G (in press). Two-week administration of the combined serotonin/noradrenaline reuptake inhibitor duloxetine augments functioning of mesolimbic incentive processing circuits. Biological Psychiatry.

Ossewaarde, L., Qin, S., van Marle, H.J.F., van Wingen, G.A., Fernández, G., and Hermans, E.J. (2011). Stress-induced reduction in reward-related prefrontal cortex function. Neuroimage 55, 345-352.

Klumpers, F., Raemaekers, M., Ruigrok, A., Hermans, E.J., Kenemans, J.L., and Baas, J. (2010). Prefrontal mechanisms of fear reduction after threat offset. Biological Psychiatry 68, 1031-1038.

van Kesteren, M.T.R., Fernández, G., Norris, D.G., & Hermans, E.J. (2010). Persistent schema-dependent hippocampal-neocortical connectivity during memory encoding and post-encoding rest in humans. Proc Natl Acad Sci USA 107, 7550-7555.

Hermans, E.J., Bos, P.A., Ossewaarde, L., Ramsey, N.F., Fernández, G, and Van Honk, J. (2010). Effects of exogenous testosterone on the ventral striatal BOLD response during reward anticipation in healthy women. NeuroImage 52, 277-283.

van Marle, H.J.F., Hermans, E.J., Qin, S., and Fernández, G. (2010). Enhanced resting-state connectivity of amygdala in the immediate aftermath of acute psychological stress. NeuroImage 53, 348-354.

Cousijn, H., Rijpkema, M., Qin, S., van Marle, H.J.F., Franke, B., Hermans, E.J., van Wingen, G., and Fernández, G. (2010). Acute stress modulates genotype effects on amygdala processing in humans. Proc Natl Acad Sci USA 107, 9867-9872.

Putman, P., Hermans, E.J., and Van Honk, J. (2010). Cortisol administration acutely reduces threat-selective spatial attention in healthy young men. Physiol Behav. 99, 294-300.

Bos, P.A., Hermans, E.J., Montoya, E.R., Ramsey, N.F., and van Honk, J. (2010). Testosterone administration modulates neural responses to crying infants in young females. Psychoneuroendocrinology 35, 114-121.

Ossewaarde, L., Hermans, E.J., van Wingen, G.A., Kooijman, S.C., Johansson, I., Bäckström, T., and Fernández, G. (2010). Neural mechanisms underlying changes in stress-sensitivity across the menstrual cycle. Psychoneuroendocrinology 35, 47-55.

Henckens, M.J.A.G.*, Hermans, E.J.*, Pu, Z., Joëls, M., and Fernández, G. (2009). Stressed Memories: How Acute Stress Affects Memory Formation in Humans. J. Neurosci. 29, 10111-10119. *authors contributed equally

van Marle, H.J.F., Hermans, E.J., Qin, S., and Fernández, G. (2009). From Specificity to Sensitivity: How Acute Stress Affects Amygdala Processing of Biologically Salient Stimuli. Biol. Psychiatry 66, 649-655.

Hermans, E.J., van Wingen, G., Bos, P.A., Putman, P., and van Honk, J. (2009). Reduced spontaneous facial mimicry in women with autistic traits. Biol. Psychol. 80, 348-353.

Qin, S., Hermans, E.J., van Marle, H.J.F., Luo, J., and Fernández, G. (2009). Acute psychological stress reduces working memory-related activity in the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex. Biol. Psychiatry 66, 25-32.

Qin, S., Rijpkema, M., Tendolkar, I., Piekema, C., Hermans, E.J., Binder, M., Petersson, K.M., Luo, J., and Fernández, G. (2009). Dissecting medial temporal lobe contributions to item and associative memory formation. Neuroimage 46, 874-881.

Morgan, B., Honk, J., Hermans, E.J., Scholten, M., Stein, D., and Kahn, R. (2009). Gray's BIS/BAS dimensions in non-comorbid, non-medicated social anxiety disorder. World J. of Biol. Psychiatry, 1-4.

Hermans, E.J., Ramsey, N.F., and van Honk, J. (2008). Exogenous testosterone enhances responsiveness to social threat in the neural circuitry of social aggression in humans. Biol. Psychiatry 63, 263-270.

Neggers, S.F., Hermans, E.J., and Ramsey, N.F. (2008). Enhanced sensitivity with fast three-dimensional blood-oxygen-level-dependent functional MRI: comparison of SENSE-PRESTO and 2D-EPI at 3 T. NMR Biomed. 21, 663-676.

Hermans, E.J., Putman, P., Baas, J.M., Gecks, N.M., Kenemans, J.L., and van Honk, J. (2007). Exogenous testosterone attenuates the integrated central stress response in healthy young women. Psychoneuroendocrinology 32, 1052-1061.

Putman, P., Hermans, E.J., and van Honk, J. (2007). Exogenous cortisol shifts a motivated bias from fear to anger in spatial working memory for facial expressions. Psychoneuroendocrinology 32, 14-21.

Roelofs, K., Bakvis, P., Hermans, E.J., van Pelt, J., and van Honk, J. (2007). The effects of social stress and cortisol responses on the preconscious selective attention to social threat. Biol. Psychol. 75, 1-7.

Putman, P., Hermans, E.J., Koppeschaar, H., van Schijndel, A., and van Honk, J. (2007). A single administration of cortisol acutely reduces preconscious attention for fear in anxious young men. Psychoneuroendocrinology 32, 793-802.

Hermans, E.J., Putman, P., Baas, J.M., Koppeschaar, H.P., and van Honk, J. (2006). A single administration of testosterone reduces fear-potentiated startle in humans. Biol. Psychiatry 59, 872-874.

Hermans, E.J., Putman, P., and van Honk, J. (2006). Testosterone administration reduces empathetic behavior: a facial mimicry study. Psychoneuroendocrinology 31, 859-866.

Hermans, E.J., and van Honk, J. (2006). Toward a framework for defective emotion processing in social phobia. Cognitive Neuropsychiatry 11, 307-331.

Hermans, E.J., Nijenhuis, E.R., van Honk, J., Huntjens, R.J., and van der Hart, O. (2006). Identity state-dependent attentional bias for facial threat in dissociative identity disorder. Psychiatry Res. 141, 233-236.

Putman, P., Hermans, E.J., and van Honk, J. (2006). Anxiety meets fear in perception of dynamic expressive gaze. Emotion 6, 94-102.

Putman, P., Hermans, E.J., and van Honk, J. (2004). Emotional stroop performance for masked angry faces: it's BAS, not BIS. Emotion 4, 305-311.

van Honk, J., Schutter, D.J.L.G., Hermans, E.J., and Putman, P. (2004). Testosterone, cortisol, dominance, and submission: Biologically prepared motivation, no psychological mechanisms involved. Behav. Brain Sci.

van Honk, J., Schutter, D.J.L.G., Hermans, E.J., Putman, P., Tuiten, A., and Koppeschaar, H. (2004). Testosterone shifts the balance between sensitivity for punishment and reward in healthy young women. Psychoneuroendocrinology 29, 937-943.

van Honk, J., Hermans, E.J., d'Alfonso, A.A., Schutter, D.J.L.G., van Doornen, L., and de Haan, E.H. (2002). A left-prefrontal lateralized, sympathetic mechanism directs attention towards social threat in humans: evidence from repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation. Neurosci. Lett. 319, 99-102.

van Honk, J., Hermans, E.J., Putman, P., Montagne, B., and Schutter, D.J.L.G. (2002). Defective somatic markers in sub-clinical psychopathy. Neuroreport 13, 1025-1027.

van Honk, J., Schutter, D.J.L.G., Hermans, E.J., and Putman, P. (2003). Low cortisol levels and the balance between punishment sensitivity and reward dependency. Neuroreport 14, 1993-1996.

Schutter, D.J.L.G., Putman, P., Hermans, E.J., and van Honk, J. (2001). Parietal electroencephalogram beta asymmetry and selective attention to angry facial expressions in healthy human subjects. Neurosci. Lett. 314, 13-16.

van Honk, J., Tuiten, A., Hermans, E.J., Putman, P., Koppeschaar, H., Thijssen, J., Verbaten, R., and van Doornen, L. (2001). A single administration of testosterone induces cardiac accelerative responses to angry faces in healthy young women. Behav. Neurosci. 115, 238-242.

d'Alfonso, A.A., van Honk, J., Hermans, E., Postma, A., and de Haan, E.H. (2000). Laterality effects in selective attention to threat after repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation at the prefrontal cortex in female subjects. Neurosci. Lett. 280, 195-198.