Jonathan Posthuma obtained his background in Psychology (BSc) and Cognitive Neuroscience (MSc, cum laude) at Radboud University in Nijmegen. During his Master’s program, he worked as a research assistant in the Cognitive Affective Neuroscience lab, led by Prof. Erno Hermans. In this role, he contributed to the Dynamic Modelling of Resilience (DynaMORE) project, gaining experience in ecological momentary and physiological assessments. Additionally, he assisted in study management and data collection for the Cortisol for PTSD project, which explored potential pharmaceutical targets for treating post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). During his thesis project, Jonathan developed a computational model of the laboratory-induced cortisol stress response in collaboration with the STRESS-EU consortium.
After defending his thesis project, “Developing Novel Measures of the Cortisol Stress Response Using Mathematical Modelling Leveraging the STRESS-EU Database,” Jonathan joined the Experimental Psychopathology and Affective Neuroscience (EPAN) lab as a PhD student in 2023. Within the EPAN lab, he works on the Decision under Stress (DUST) project, which leverages a virtual reality training environment with real-time biofeedback to operantly condition police officers to perform slow-paced breathing in active and high-stress contexts. His work aims to achieve a better understanding of the mechanisms underlying the positive effects of biofeedback applications on stress regulation and decision-making under pressure.