Antoinette van Laarhoven is Associate Professor at the Health, Medical and Neuropsychology Unit at Leiden University. She specializes in the psychoneurobiology of symptom perception, particularly itch and pain, and investigates how cognitive, affective, and neurophysiological processes interact in shaping somatosensory experiences and overall health and well-being.

More information about Antoinette van Laarhoven

Short CV

Antoinette van Laarhoven is Associate Professor of Medical Psychology at the Health, Medical and Neuropsychology Unit at Leiden University since 2024. She obtained her MSc in Biomedical Sciences from Radboud University Nijmegen in 2006 and completed her PhD in 2012 at Radboudumc, Nijmegen, with a dissertation entitled Itch and pain: common and distinct psychophysiological processes, 2012. After some years working as a postdoctoral researcher at Radboudumc, she joined the Health, Medical, and Neuropsychology unit at Leiden University in 2014 as Assistant Professor. In her teaching, she contributes to courses on health and medical psychology, and research methods, with a particular focus on the interaction between psychological and biological processes in health and disease.

Her research focuses on the psychoneurobiology of somatic sensations, particularly itch and pain, in both inflammatory conditions (e.g., atopic dermatitis and rheumatoid arthritis) and non-inflammatory conditions (e.g., post-burn itch and fibromyalgia). A central theme in her work is the role of psychoneurobiological processes such as expectancies (including placebo and nocebo effects), attention, avoidance, and interoception in symptom perception and somatosensory modulation. Her work examines how cognitive and affective factors can aggravate or alleviate itch and pain, and how this knowledge can be translated into interventions to reduce symptoms and improve patients’ well-being.

Research

Dr. van Laarhoven and her team investigate psychophysiological processes involved in itch and pain in both inflammatory conditions (e.g., atopic dermatitis and rheumatoid arthritis) and non-inflammatory conditions (e.g., post-burn itch and fibromyalgia). Her research line focuses on the mechanisms underlying somatosensory perception, including the influence of diverse cognitive and affective factors, including attentional processes and expectancies, on the experience of itch and pain.

For instance, studies have explored the effects of attention training and induction of positive expectancies on perception of physical sensations. Together with her team, she applies a broad range of psychophysiological methods to investigate these processes, including quantitative sensory testing (QST) for itch and pain induction, electroencephalography (EEG), behavioral paradigms such as the dot-probe task, physiological measures such as heart rate monitoring, and virtual reality.. By advancing understanding of the psychoneurobiological mechanisms and (bio)markers underlying chronic itch and pain, her research aims to contribute to prevention, early identification of individuals at risk of developing chronic symptoms, and the development of more effective treatments for chronic conditions. Through this work, she seeks to promote health, resilience, participation in daily life, and overall well-being in individuals living with chronic somatic symptoms.

Teaching

Bachelor Psychology

• Coordinator and lecturer of the elective Pharmacological and biological approaches to clinical and health psychology 
• Supervisor Bachelor projects Psychology 
• Tutor workgroups Health & Medical Psychology

(Research) Master Psychology

• Coordinator, lecturer, and tutor workgroups of the master course Psychological Assessment and Interventions in Chronic Disease
• Coordinator, lecturer, and tutor workgroups research master course  Research Topics in Health Promotion
• Supervisor master theses and research internships master tracks Health and Medical Psychology, and Clinical Neuropsychology
• Thesis supervisor and research internships Master students

Management / Ancilliary activities

• Chair of the Admission Committee Research Master Psychology
• Research Coordinator Health, Medical, and Neuropsychology unit
• Daily board member Health, Medical, and Neuropsychology unit

Grants and Awards

2023-2028: NWA-ORC project “Next Generation Immunodermatology (NGID): From One-size-fits-all to high-tech personalized skin care”. PI: Prof. R. Rissmann. Role: Work package leader of WP 2.1 “Patient perspective and psychological markers” with Dr. van Beugen.

2023-2028: NWO Aspasia grant.

2020-2030: NWO Gravitation Project “New Science of Mental Disorders”. PI: Prof. A. Janssen Role young talent (2020-2025); Co-PI (2025-present, together with Prof. B. Elzinga, Prof. M. Kindt, Prof. R. Wiers, et al.)
2019: John de Korte Travel Grant to present “Can Attention Bias Modification (ABM) training modify attention towards visual itch stimuli in healthy individuals?” at the 18th Congress of the European Society for Dermatology and Psychiatry (ESDaP) Giessen, Germany

2018-2019: Research project grant from Leiden University Profile area Brain function and dysfunction over the lifespan project “Full body mimicry using virtual reality” (role: project leader and Co-PI with Prof. M.E. Kret and Dr. R. Sellaro)
2017-2018: Leiden University Fund (LUF) Den Dulk-Moermans Fund project “Unconscious attentional processing of itch: towards an innovative training”. (role PI)
2015-2020: NWO Veni project “Itch even harder to ignore than pain? A psycho-physiological approach to attentional processing of somatosensory sensations.”  (role PI)
2015: International Forum for the Study of itch (IFSI) Travel grants to present “Psychophysiological processing of itch in patients with persistent post-burn itch”  at the 8^th World Congress on Itch in Nara, Japan.

2014-2015: Dutch Burns Foundation project “Psychoneurobiology of itch symptoms in patients following burn injuries”. (role project leader and Co-PI with Prof. A.W.M. Evers)

2013: International Forum for the Study of itch (IFSI) Travel grant to present “Placebo effects on itch: A review of clinical trials” at the 7^th World Congress on Itch in Boston, USA.

2013: Association for Researchers in Psychology & Health (ARPH) PhD Thesis Award for the best PhD thesis on psychology and health in 2012.
2011: Herman Musaph Literature AwardArticle prize for the best publication in the field of Psychodermatology over 2010 and 2011.

Supervised PhD candidates

Current projects

Theres Patzelt, MSc: Unravelling the complex interplay between somatic and mental symptoms: towards a personalized network approach for patients with migraine. Promotores: Dr. A.I.M. van Laarhoven, Prof. G.M. Terwindt, Prof. A.W.M. Evers†; Co-promotor: Dr. B. Verkuil.

Vivian Pijnenburg, MSc: Targeting Fear of Worsening as transdiagnostic factor in patients with Complex Mental Disorders using Network-Informed Treatment. Promotores: Prof. T. Smeets, Prof. M. van der Lee, Prof. A.W.M. Evers†; Co-promotor: Dr. A.I.M. van Laarhoven.

Anastasiia Myronenko, MSc: Biopsychosocial factors in chronic skin conditions. Promotor: Dr. A.I.M. van Laarhoven, Co-promotor: S. van Beugen.

Jard Mattens, MD, MSc: (Psycho)dermatology: itch, immunology, and supportive care; an extended reality (XR) perspective beyond the skin. Promotores: Prof. T. Rustemeyer, Dr. A.I.M. van Laarhoven. Co-promotor: P.M.J.H. Kemperman.

Finished Projects

Gita Nadinda, PhD: Nexus, Uncovered: On the Relations Between Expectancy, Avoidance, and Somatic Sensations. Defense 10 September 2025. Promotores: Dr. A.I.M. van Laarhoven, Prof. M.L. Peters, Prof.  J.W.S. Vlaeyen, Prof. A.W.M. Evers†.

Jennifer M. Becker, PhD: Starting from scratch: Exploring attentional bias towards itch. PhD defense 25 June 2025. Promotor: Prof. A.W.M. Evers; Co-promotor: Dr. A.I.M. van Laarhoven.

LingLing Weng, PhD: Generalization of placebo and nocebo effects on somatosensory sensations. PhD defense 17 October 2023. Promotor: Prof. A.W.M. Evers; Co-promotor: Dr. A.I.M. van Laarhoven, Dr. K.J. Peerdeman.

Danielle Bartels, PhD: The role of expectancy learning on placebo and nocebo effects on itch and pain. PhD defense 18 November 2020. Promotores: Prof. A.W.M. Evers, Prof. P.C.M. van de Kerkhof; Co-promotor: Dr. A.I.M. van Laarhoven.

Kaya Peerdeman, PhD: Harnessing placebo effects by targeting expectancies. PhD defense 7 February 2018. Promotores: Prof. A.W.M. Evers, Prof. M.L. Peters; Co-promotor: Dr. A.I.M. van Laarhoven.

Relevant links

Personal website
LinkedIn profile
Research Gate profile 
Google Scholar

Memberships societies, Research Schools, and Institutes

• International Forum for the Study on Itch (IFSI) (role: co-chair of Special Interest Group on Psychological factors in itch)
• International Association for the Study of Pain (IASP)
• Dutch Flemish Postgraduate School for Research and Education Experimental Psychopathology (EPP)
• Association for Researchers in Psychology and Health (ARPH)
• Leiden Institute for Brain and Cognition (LIBC)
• Dutch Society for Psychodermatology (NVPD) (role: vice-chair)

Publications