At Flux, we are committed to nurturing the next generation of researchers who are shaping the future of developmental cognitive neuroscience. In our new Trainee Spotlight series, we will highlight the achievements, aspirations, and contributions of outstanding trainees within our community. These young scientists are not only pushing the boundaries of research but also embodying the spirit of collaboration and innovation that drives our field forward.

Today, we are excited to introduce Jordy van Langen. Let's dive into their journey, insights, and what motivates them to make a lasting impact in developmental cognitive neuroscience.

What is the focus of your research?I
 I study the mechanisms of cognitive variability in early childhood, both at the behavioural and neuroimaging level. In an accelerated burst design study, I follow children over 3 years both in classrooms and at home through experience sampling assessment allowing us to examine the structure, causes and consequences of (individual differences in) cognitive variability.

What is your most interesting research finding or inquiry so far?
Optimal cognitive performance often involves finding a balance between exploring different strategies and exploiting successful ones. For instance, for a matrix reasoning task, individuals may use either elimination (ruling out response options) or constructive matching (building a prediction and then examining whether it is among the available options). In our fMRI sub-project, we will study whether differences in strategy use govern individual differences in variability, and whether we can identify neural networks associated with different strategies as a potential mechanism underlying trial-to-trial variability. While exploring different strategies may temporarily reduce performance, it could facilitate long-term improvement by promoting exploration and adaptation. We also use eye-tracking data to infer foci of attention and task strategies, and changes in pupil dilation during the fMRI task blocks as a proxy for fluctuations in underlying noradrenergic and dopaminergic processes.

Are you presenting at the Flux meeting in Dublin?
Yes, I will give a poster presentation about the very first results of our CODEC project (https://doi.org/10.1186/s40359-024-01904-5).

What do you enjoy doing when not researching?
Seeing my 10-month-old son growing up is what I am enjoying the most. At the same time, I try to stay active through either doing running or crossfit. Lately, I have developed a passion for Free Pour Latte Art and I am currently learning to make a rosetta.

Best piece of advice you have received as a trainee?
"Celebrate" every bit of progress along the way, even if it is as small as - for instance - fixing a rather small coding mistake in one of your experimental tasks. Most likely, this pile will become quite large and at the end of your PhD it will be something you can be proud of.

Do you have any advice for early-stage trainees?
Try to enjoy the process and don't forget to smile.

Most useful resource that you would recommend to other trainees in developmental cognitive neuroscience?
For anyone working with Intensive Longitudinal data, I highly recommend: 'Modelling the Dynamics of Intensive Longitudinal Data' course from Ellen Hamaker at Utrecht University. Also, our lab website (https://lifespancognitivedynamics.com/) contains a lot of freely available resources to model and visualize data (e.g., https://jessicaschaaf.github.io/jessicaschaaf/dsem-workshop.html & https://github.com/njudd/ggrain).

Please list any social media accounts / personal websites that you would like us to highlight
https://github.com/jorvlan
https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2504-2381
https://www.linkedin.com/in/jordy-van-langen/
https://bsky.app/profile/jordyvanlangen.bsky.social

I am looking forward to meeting so many of the community in Dublin and exchanging ideas!