Janina Neufeld

Janina Neufeld

Principal Researcher | Docent
Telephone: +46852482874
Visiting address: Gävlegatan 22B, plan 8, 11330 STOCKHOLM
Postal address: K6 Kvinnors och barns hälsa, K6 Neuropsykiatri Bölte Neufeld, 171 77 Stockholm
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About me

  • I studied Biology with a main focus on Neurobiology, conducting my PhD and
    postdoctoral studies in the field of Human Neuroscience. Methodologically my
    core interests are Magnetic Resonance Imaging, Eye-Tracking, Electromyography
    and Psychophysics.
    Currently, I am Assistant Professor (FoAss) at the Center of
    Neurodevelopmental Disorders at Karolinska Institutet (KIND [1]).
    Post-doctoral training 2014-2018, Center of Neurodevelopmental Disorders
    at Karolinska Institutet (KIND) at the Department of Women's and
    Children's Health (KBH), K6
    Post-doctoral training 2012-2014, Centre for Integrative Neuroscience and
    Neurodynamics (CINN) / School of Psychology and Clinical Language Sciences,
    University of Reading, Reading, Berkshire, United Kingdom
    PhD 2008-2012, Center for Systems Neuroscience Hannover (ZSN) / Hannover
    Medical School (MHH), Clinic of Psychiatry, Socialpsychiatry and
    Psychotherapy, Hanover, Germany
    [1] https://ki.se/kind/start

Research

  • My research focuses on neural correlates and behavioral markers of Autism
    Spectrum Condition (ASC) and ASC-related symptoms. More specifically, I am
    interested in biomarkers of overall symptom severity, social cognition
    deficits, altered reward functioning and especially altered sensory
    processing in ASC.
    Since 2019, I started a project [1]on the link between ASC and synesthesia,
    a non-pathological sensory phenomenon where sensory stimuli such as letters,
    weekdays, sounds or smells automatically lead to additional sensations such
    as color and/or shape. Synesthesia occurs more commonly in people with ASC,
    but the reason for this is unknown. In my project, I am investigating in a
    large twin cohort from The Child and Adolescent Twin Study in Sweden (CATSS
    [2]) whether/to what extent this link is genetic. I am further looking into
    the neural correlates and sensory processing differences overlapping between
    both conditions. As a recently admiited Pro Futura Scientia fellow [3], I am
    further styding the association between synesthesia and a wider range of
    mental health conditions, including obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD).
    Within the Roots of Autism and ADHD Twin Study in Sweden (RATSS [4]), one of
    my primary aims is to identify brain connectivity-based biomarkers for ASC
    including both functional brain connectivity [5] during the resting state
    using functional MRI and structural connectivity measured via Diffusion
    Tensor Imaging in twins. I am also investigating the genetic vs environmental
    basis of altered sensory processing in ASC, such as globally vs locally
    directed attention in visual processing and hyper- and hyposensitivity to
    sensory input.
    [1] https://www.rj.se/en/anslag/2018/where-is-the-link-between-synesthesia-and-autism-a-twin-study-on-shared-neural-mechanisms-and-their-causes/
    [2] https://ki.se/en/meb/the-child-and-adolescent-twin-study-in-sweden-catss
    [3] http://www.swedishcollegium.se/subfolders/Fellows/Profutura/Janina_Neufeld.html
    [4] https://ki.se/en/kind/the-project-ratss
    [5] https://www.nature.com/articles/mp2017160

Articles

All other publications

Grants

  • Swedish Research Council
    1 January 2023 - 31 December 2025
    This project will investigate the mechanisms of detail-oriented perception in autism and synesthesia, and their possible implications for social functioning. The project will contribute to a better understanding of the etiology of both conditions and perception in humans in general.We will characterize similarities and differences of detail-oriented perception in autism and synesthesia, using established visual tasks (performance) and simultaneous eye tracking (visual strategy). Second, we will investigate altered perceptual inference in autism and synesthesia, i.e. how learned assumptions influence perception, and whether these alterations are linked social difficulties. Third, we will investigate the brain mechanisms of detail-oriented perception and perceptual inference in autism and synesthesia, using functional magnetic resonance imaging. In all these studies, we compare individuals with autism/high autistic traits or synesthesia not only to controls without these conditions (case-control design), but also their twins (co-twin control design), enabling us to estimate relative genetic and environmental influences. After a 6 month build-up phase (preparation, recruitment), data acquisition for all 3 studies will be conducted in parallel over 2 years, followed by 6 months to finalize analyses and publication.The project is both clinically relevant, since it can help to identify new biomarkers and interventions for autism, and of interest for a broader research community.
  • Swedish Research Council
    1 January 2020 - 31 December 2022
  • Bank of Sweden Tercentenary Foundation
    1 January 2019 - 31 December 2021
  • Bank of Sweden Tercentenary Foundation
    31 December 2018 - 30 December 2021

Employments

  • Principal Researcher, Department of Women's and Children's Health, Karolinska Institutet, 2022-

Degrees and Education

  • Docent, Karolinska Institutet, 2024
  • PhD, Hannover Medical School, 2012

Leadership and responsibility assignments

  • Treasurer for Junior Faculty, Karolinska Institutet, 2022-
  • Research team leader, Team Neufeld, Karolinska Institutet, 2022-

Committee work

  • Member, Junior Faculty Steering Group, Karolinska Institutet, 2022-

Visiting research fellowships

  • Postdoc, University of Reading

Editorial work

  • Scientific Reports, Guest editor, 2022

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