Emese Kroon
Postdoctoral researcher at Erasmus University Rotterdam
About me
I am a passionate researcher with a background in neurobiology and psychology. My research vision is guided by the principle that substance use should not be reduced to isolated mechanisms or deficit models; instead, individual behavior must be understood in its full cognitive, motivational, social, and cultural context. I aim to advance both fundamental science and societal understanding by integrating rigorous neurocognitive research with attention to real-world influences and accurate measurement, translating scientific insights into evidence-informed policy and public dialogue.
Research interests
Cannabis
Most of my research focuses on heavy cannabis use and cannabis use disorder. In recent projects we assessed:
- Gender differences in symptom endorsement, mental health, cognitive performance, and brain activity
- The role of cannabis attitudes – in the US and NL – in the association between cannabis use and brain activity
- The role of attentional bias and craving in cannabis use, and whether cognitive control affects these associations
- The moderating role of tobacco co-use in the effects of cannabis on a large range of cognitive functions
- The effectiveness of a self-guided 2-week online intervention for cannabis use reduction
Other substances
My other projects have focused on other substance use, such as alcohol use, tobacco use, and NO use:
- We developed a social attunement questionnaire – which is now available in Dutch, English, and Danish – and a task to assess the effects of individual tendencies to adapt to peers on alcohol use
- We assessed the role of nicotine use in cognitive deficits observed in heavy cannabis users
- We reviewed the existing literature on nitrous oxide use to assess whether nitrous oxide is an addictive substance according to DSM-5 criteria
- We developed a gender sensitive questionnaire to assess barriers to treatment for alcohol use disorders
Measurement
In my research, I try to integrate different types of measurements and use a variety of analytical methods, including:
- Assessing the associations between hair-derived cannabinoid concentrations and self-reported cannabis use
- Using resting state and task-based fMRI to assess the neural underpinnings of cannabis use disorder
- Developing experimental tasks and questionnaires to assess social influence of peers
- Using network analyses to explore interactions between symptoms to look beyond diagnoses
- Using experience sampling methods (ESM) to assess how daily fluctuations in mood affect substance use
Ideas for collaboration?
The best research might come from the most unexpected collaborations! Hence, I am always open to new ideas and projects.
Any ideas for collaborations? Feel free to send me an email!