Personalia
Hilde Geurts, born in Nijmegen, the Netherlands, in 1972. Ph.D. from VU University Amsterdam. Professor of Neuropsychology at University of Amsterdam.
Fellow (1 Sept 2016 – 30 June 2017)
What determines happiness and cognitive aging in older adults with autism?
Research Question
Is cognitive aging and well-being different between people with autism and people without autism? Moreover, can we identify specific risk- or protective factors for cognitive aging and well-being in older adults with ASD so we know what we need to target in ASD interventions.
Project Description
We collect(ed) a lot of information about a group of adults with autism (35 to 90 years). Many people with and without autism filled out questionnaires about autism, anxiety, mood, cognition, physical activity, their social network, and their quality of life (etc.) on two different time points. By using innovative statistical techniques from different scientific fields we can unravel what changes across a three year period in these aforementioned areas. Moreover, we can determine how they all relate to each other. This will help us in understanding why some people with autism do very well later in life, while others still have severe problems. If we understand why, this will give us information to develop new interventions for those that encounter the most day-to-day problems.
Selected Publications
1) Ruzzano, L., Borsboom, D., & Geurts, H.M. (2015). Repetitive behaviors in autism and obsessive-compulsive disorder: new perspectives from a network analysis. JADD, 45, 192-202.
2) Geurts, H.M., & Corbett, B., & Solomon. M. (2009). The paradox of cognitive flexibility in autism. TICS, 13, 74-82.
3) Geurts, H.M., & Vissers, M. (2012). Elderly with autism: Executive functions and memory. JADD, 42, 665-675.