Tatyana Branco

About me

I am Portuguese but was born and raised in Germany. I moved to Maastricht in 2018 for my Bachelor studies in Psychology and continued with the Research Master in Neuropsychology. Throughout my studies I developed a keen interest in translational neuroscience. I’ve always been deeply intrigued by unraveling the complexities of the disordered brain, particularly through the lens of neuroimaging to observe these mechanisms in action. This has led me to pursue a PhD in this field. With my supervision team of four incredible minds, every moment at work feels like an opportunity for continuous learning—a rewarding experience that I believe resonates with everyone.

Research

Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder (OCD) is a complex condition marked by intrusive obsessions and repetitive compulsions, stemming from abnormal affective and cognitive processing. For individuals resistant to standard treatments, deep brain stimulation (DBS) offers a potential treatment, involving the implantation of electrodes in the brain. However, DBS for OCD exhibits only moderate efficacy compared to its success in movement disorders, and the precise mechanisms remain elusive. Therefore, my project aims to investigate functional connectivity pattern of the two most common DBS targets in OCD, that is the subthalamic nucleus and the ventral striatum. Specifically, we want to compare the functional networks of both areas during cognitive and affective processing between OCD and healthy controls using fMRI.

Methods

  • fMRI
  • Behavioural Measures
  • Neuropsychological tests
  • MATLAB
  • R

Qualifications and Professional Experience

  • October 2023 – present: PhD candidate at Maastricht University, the Netherlands, supervised by Prof. Dr. Koen Schruers, Prof. Dr. Sonja Kotz, Dr. Linda Ackermans and Dr. Liesbeth Goossens
  • 2021 –2023: MSc – Research Master in Cognitive and Clinical Neuroscience spec. Neuropsychology at Maastricht University
    Thesis: The contribution of the Cerebellum and Basal Ganglia to language production in Classic Galactosemia
  • 2018 – 2021: BSc Psychology at Maastricht University
    Thesis: False memories in trauma
  • 2020 – 2022: Research assistant at the Cognitive Neuroscience department, Maastricht University