BIOGRAPHY
2011 – present: British Academy Postdoctoral Research Fellow, University of Essex
2008 - 2011: MRC/ESRC Postdoctoral Research Fellow, King's College London
2004 - 2008: PhD Psychology, Birkbeck College, London
2002 - 2003: MSc Cognitive Neuropsychology, UCL, London
1999 - 2002: BA Psychology, University of Copenhagen
RESEARCH OVERVIEW
My research focuses on the development of frontal cortex functioning in infancy and early childhood. The frontal cortex is particularly important for what is often referred to as executive functions, a set of psychological functions that allow us plan and organise our behaviour and also to inhibit unwanted behaviour. Despite the extensive knowledge which exists about this area in adulthood, relatively little is known about the functional status of the frontal cortex in infancy and early childhood. In my work I use behavioural, electrophysiological and genetic data to investigate this question. I am particularly interested in understanding individual longitudinal trajectories in executive and related functions and how these trajectories relate to brain development and genetic variation.
RECENT PUBLICATIONS
For abstracts and article requests, please see my page on academia.edu: http://essex.academia.edu/KarlaHolmboe/Papers
Holmboe, K., Nemoda, Z., Fearon, R. M. P., Sasvari-Szekely, M., & Johnson, M. H. (2011). Dopamine D4 receptor and serotonin transporter gene effects on the longitudinal development of infant temperament. Genes, Brain and Behavior, 10(5), 513-522.
Elsabbagh, M., Holmboe, K., Gliga, T., Mercure, E., Hudry, K., Charman, T., Baron-Cohen, S., Bolton, P., Johnson, M.H., & the BASIS team (2011). Social and attention factors during infancy and the later emergence of autism characteristics. In: Braddick, O., Atkinson, J., & Innocenti, G.M. (eds.), Progress in Brain Research vol. 189 (pp. 195-207). Amsterdam: Elsevier.
Holmboe, K., Elsabbagh, M., Volein, A., Tucker, L. A., Baron-Cohen, S., Bolton, P., Charman, T., Johnson, M. H. (2010). Frontal cortex functioning in the infant broader autism phenotype. Infant Behavior and Development, 33(4), 482-491.
Holmboe, K., Nemoda, Z., Fearon, R. M. P., Csibra, G., Sasvari-Szekely, M., & Johnson, M. H. (2010). Polymorphisms in dopamine system genes are associated with individual differences in attention in infancy. Developmental Psychology, 46(2), 404-416. (Rated as a ‘Must Read’ article on Faculty of 1000 Biology: http://f1000.com/3056957.)
Elsabbagh, M., Volein, A., Holmboe, K., Tucker, L., Csibra, G., Baron-Cohen, S., Bolton, P., Charman, T., Baird, G., & Johnson, M. H. (2009). Visual orienting in the early broader autism phenotype: Disengagement and facilitation. Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry, 50(5), 637-642.
Elsabbagh, M., Volein, A., Csibra, G., Holmboe, K., Garwood, H., Tucker, L., Krljes, S., Baron-Cohen, S., Bolton, P., Charman, T., Baird, G., & Johnson, M. H. (2009). Neural correlates of eye gaze processing in the infant broader autism phenotype. Biological Psychiatry, 65, 31-38.
Holmboe, K., Fearon, R. M. P., Csibra, G., Tucker, L. A., & Johnson, M. H. (2008). “Freeze-Frame”: A new infant inhibition task and its relation to frontal cortex tasks in infancy and early childhood. Journal of Experimental Child Psychology, 100(2), 89-114.
Holmboe, K., & Johnson, M. H. (2005). Educating executive attention. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, 102(41), 14479-14480.
