I am a cognitive neuropsychologist who studies the implicit and bodily mechanisms of addiction. My research combines cognitive psychology, psychopharmacology, cardiac physiology and neuro-imaging.

I joined the lab in 2023 as a Marie Curie Fellow. At UvA I conduct research examining the neural and behavioral correlates of implicit reward learning, aiming to answer basic research questions:

Can stimuli associated with rewards trigger neural responses while we are unaware of their predictive value?

Can these implicit conditioned stimuli shape motivational responses and decision making?

Do implicit reward responses map onto risk for alcohol use disorder?

I combine my work at Adapt with an FNRS CR position at UC Louvain, where I work with Pierre Maurage on understanding the bodily and interoceptive processes supporting addiction. Previously I worked for 5 years at the Cardiac Neuroscience Laboratory at Rutgers University (New Jersey), after completing my PhD at the University of Sussex (UK).

I am always looking for motivated students at all levels, drop an email at m.leganesfonteneau [at] uva.nl.