Sander Martens

Sander Martens is a researcher at the University Medical Center Groningen (UMCG), Faculty of Medical Sciences, specializing in the Clinical Cognitive Neuropsychiatry Research Program (CCNP). His work bridges cognitive neuroscience and clinical psychiatry, focusing on individual differences in attention, emotion, and social cognition.

His research portfolio prominently features:

• Attentional mechanisms (e.g., attentional blink, selective attention)
• Working memory-emotion interactions
• Neurocognitive markers of mild cognitive impairment
• Alexithymia and facial emotion processing
• Social hierarchy effects on fairness perception

Analysis of his 2022-2025 publications reveals an interdisciplinary trajectory combining behavioral paradigms, neuroimaging, and computational modeling to dissect cognitive processes in health and disease. A consistent theme is how social contexts modulate attentional and decision-making systems, particularly through hierarchies and competition dynamics.

His science communication contributions earned recognition:

• SCIENCE COMMUNICATION BY SCIENTISTS: APPRECIATED! UMCG initiative: Marvelous Mind (2021)

Dr. Martens mentors 6 students and actively engages the public through events like Marvelous Mind and Weekend van de wetenschap. He contributes to UN Sustainable Development Goals related to mental health and well-being through his cognitive neuropsychiatry research.

As a core member of CCNP, he collaborates on projects investigating neural substrates of psychiatric conditions using structural and functional neuroimaging approaches.