About us

The Amsterdam Emotional Memory Lab is based at the Clinical Psychology Department at the University of Amsterdam and led by Professor Merel Kindt. Our research focuses on understanding neurobiological and psychological processes underlying the development and plasticity of emotional memory. Aside from addressing fundamental questions about memory malleability, we investigate mechanisms of change in the treatment of mental disorders and contribute to treatment innovation. Our lab harnesses a variety of paradigms and measures including behavioural experimentation, pharmacological manipulations, physiological measures (fear potentiated startle, skin conductance, pupillometry, facial electromyography), and functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI). Furthermore, we have structural collaborations with labs conducting research in non-human animals, as well as with science practitioners working with patients suffering from emotional disorders. This allows us to bring fundamental insights from basic neuroscience to the field of mental health, while using clinical observations to test theories about memory plasticity.