Meike van der Heijden, Ph.D.
“We want to know how the developing cerebellum contributes to developmental motor and non-motor milestones.”
Development of Cerebellar Function in Health and Disease
How does the developing cerebellar guide new behaviors after birth? How does abnormal cerebellar development cause motor and neurodevelopmental disorders?
Dr. Van der Heijden studies the development of cerebellar function in health and disease. Abnormal cerebellar development is associated with pediatric movement disorders, like ataxia and dystonia, and neurodevelopmental disorders, like autism spectrum disorder. She seeks to understand how the healthy cerebellum contributes to the postnatal development of behaviors so that we can predict, prevent, and reverse neurodevelopmental disabilities caused by abnormal cerebellar development.
The cerebellum is one of the slowest brain regions to develop – many of its neurons are born after birth. As a result, cerebellum-dependent behaviors do not mature until later in life. These functions include motor control and neural functions less known to involve the cerebellum, like social and emotional processing, language, and cognition. Because the healthy cerebellum is important for many behaviors, developmental perturbations to the cerebellum can cause impairments in different behavioral domains.
mheijden@vt.edu
540-526-2405
R2126, Riverside 2
- Assistant Professor, Fralin Biomedical Research Institute at VTC
- Assistant Professor, School of Neuroscience, College of Science
Van der Heijden, ME*^, Brown, AM*, Kizek, DJ, Sillitoe, RV^. (2024) Cerebellar nuclei cells produce distinct pathogenic spike signatures in mouse models of ataxia, dystonia, and tremor. eLife. DOI:10.1101/2023.05.07.539767. PMID: 37214855.
Van der Heijden, ME*, Rey Hipolito, AG*, Kim, LH, Kizek, DJ, Perez, RM, Lin, T, Sillitoe, RV. (2023) Glutamatergic cerebellar neurons differentially contribute to the acquisition of motor and social behaviors. Nature Communications. DOI: 10.1038/s41467-023-38475-9. PMID: 37188723
Van der Heijden, ME, Lackey, EP, Perez, R, Ișleyen, FS, Brown, AM, Lin, T, Zoghbi, HY, Sillitoe, RV (2021). Maturation of Purkinje cell firing properties relies on neurogenesis of excitatory neurons. eLife – DOI:10.7554/eLife.68045. PMID: 34542409
Dooley, JC*^, Van der Heijden, ME*^ (2024) More than a small brain: the importance of studying neural function during circuit development. Journal of Neuroscience – DOI: 10.1523/JNEUROSCI.1367-24.2024. PMID: 39603806
Van der Heijden, ME^ (2024) Converging and Diverging Cerebellar Pathways for Motor and Social Behaviors in Mice. Cerebellum – DOI: 10.1007/s12311-024-01706-w. PMID: 38780757
Baylor College of Medicine, Department of Pathology and Immunology, Postdoctoral Fellow
Baylor College of Medicine, Department of Opthalmology, Research Assistant
Baylor College of Medicine, Department of Neuroscience, Graduate Student
- Ph.D., Neuroscience, Baylor College of Medicine
- B.S., Psychobiology, University of Amsterdam
- Leading Edge Fellow – HHMI/Janelia Research Campus, 2021
- Rush and Helen Record Fellow in Neuroscience – Department of Neuroscience, Baylor College of Medicine, 2018
- McNair Teaching Fellow – McNair Education Collaborative, 2016
- Outstanding Educator Award: Teaching Assistant – Department of Neuroscience, Baylor College of Medicine, 2016
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