Individuals sharing a psychiatric diagnosis often show vast biological differences, which standard diagnostic guidelines rarely capture. This thesis establishes reference charts for brain white matter—the pathways enabling communication between brain regions. Mirroring the concept of World Health Organization growth charts, this framework maps variations in brain structure across the human lifespan. The research demonstrates that these charts clarify individual deviations in white matter microstructure. These structural patterns correlate with the early stages of psychosis and relate to clinical variation across the autism spectrum. By moving beyond group-level averages to track individual structural diversity, this work provides a clearer, more objective statistical foundation for studying psychiatric conditions through computational models.
Ramona Cirstian (1995) obtained her Master’s degree in Electrical Engineering (cum laude) from Eindhoven University of Technology. In 2021, she began her PhD research at the Donders Institute and Radboud university medical center, specializing in neuroimaging and computational psychiatry. Alongside neuroscience, she studies classical philosophy and philology as an associate member of the OIKOS national research school.