S. de Kater (Sam) MSc

Neurodevelopmental disorders often have a sex bias, meaning that they occur more frequently in either men or women. For example, autism is 3–4 times more common in men. Within the research consortium I am part of, we investigate how this is possible from multiple perspectives, ranging from diagnostics to biology.

My research focuses on (neuro)biology: how can sex hormones (testosterone and estradiol) influence the communication and function of neuronal networks? Could this help explain why some disorders are more common in men and others in women? To answer these questions, I use mouse brains and cultured neuronal networks derived from human stem cells.

• Development and lifelong plasticity

• Molecular Neurophysiology