Mascha van 't Wout-Frank, PhD completed her doctoral degree in the Netherlands - where she was born - in the field of cognitive neuropsychiatry with a focus on emotion processing in psychosis-related disorders, such as schizophrenia. After obtaining a PhD, her research continued to focus on emotional and social processing when she moved to the University of Arizona, and later Brown University, for a postdoctoral research position in the field of neural decision sciences using methods from game theory. At Brown University she became particularly interested in the use of noninvasive brain stimulation to understand and modify negative emotions, such as fear, regret and pain. She is affiliated with the Center for Neurorestoration and Neurotechnology at the Providence VA Medical Center and the COBRE Center for Neuromodulation at Butler Hospital, where she studies the effect of noninvasive brain stimulation to improve treatments for posttraumatic stress.
| van 't Wout-Frank M, Shea MT, Larson VC, Greenberg BD, Philip NS. "Combined transcranial direct current stimulation with virtual reality exposure for posttraumatic stress disorder: Feasibility and pilot results." Brain Stimulation, vol. 12, no. 1, 2019, pp. 41-43. |
| Barredo, Jennifer, Aiken, Emily, van 't Wout-Frank, Mascha, Greenberg, Benjamin D., Carpenter, Linda L., Philip, Noah S. "Neuroimaging Correlates of Suicidality in Decision-Making Circuits in Posttraumatic Stress Disorder." Frontiers in Psychiatry, vol. 10, 2019, pp. 44. |
| Koek, Ralph J., Roach, Janine, Athanasiou, Nicholas, van 't Wout-Frank, Mascha, Philip, Noah S. "Neuromodulatory treatments for post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD)." Progress in Neuro-Psychopharmacology and Biological Psychiatry, vol. 92, 2019, pp. 148-160. |
| Petrosino NJ, Wout-Frank MV, Aiken E, Swearingen HR, Barredo J, Zandvakili A, Philip NS. "One-year clinical outcomes following theta burst stimulation for post-traumatic stress disorder." Neuropsychopharmacology, vol. 45, no. 6, 2019, pp. 940-946. |
| Philip, Noah S., Barredo, Jennifer, Aiken, Emily, Larson, Victoria, Jones, Richard N., Shea, M. Tracie, Greenberg, Benjamin D., van ’t Wout-Frank, Mascha. "Theta-Burst Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation for Posttraumatic Stress Disorder." American Journal of Psychiatry, 2019, pp. appi.ajp.2019.1. |
| Abend R, van 't Wout M. "Commentary: Augmentation of Fear Extinction by Transcranial Direct Current Stimulation (tDCS)." Frontiers in behavioral neuroscience, vol. 12, 2018, pp. 121. |
| Barredo, Jennifer, Aiken, Emily, van 't Wout-Frank, Mascha, Greenberg, Benjamin D., Carpenter, Linda L., Philip, Noah S. "Network Functional Architecture and Aberrant Functional Connectivity in Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder: A Clinical Application of Network Convergence." Brain Connectivity, vol. 8, no. 9, 2018, pp. 549-557. |
| Mariano, Timothy Y, Burgess, Frederick W, Bowker, Marguerite, Kirschner, Jason, van’t Wout-Frank, Mascha, Jones, Richard N, Halladay, Christopher W, Stein, Michael, Greenberg, Benjamin D. "Transcranial Direct Current Stimulation for Affective Symptoms and Functioning in Chronic Low Back Pain: A Pilot Double-Blinded, Randomized, Placebo-Controlled Trial." Pain Medicine, vol. 20, no. 6, 2018, pp. 1166-1177. |
| Ridout, Samuel J., Spofford, Christopher M., van’t Wout-Frank, Mascha, Philip, Noah S., Unger, William S., Carpenter, Linda L., Tyrka, Audrey R., Shea, M. Tracie. "Heart Rate Variability Responses to a Standardized Virtual Reality Exposure in Veterans with PTSD." Current Treatment Options in Psychiatry, vol. 4, no. 3, 2017, pp. 271-280. |
| van 't Wout M, Silverman H. "Modulating what is and what could have been: The effect of transcranial direct current stimulation on the evaluation of attained and unattained decision outcomes." Cogn Affect Behav Neurosci, 2017. |
| Philip, Noah S., Barredo, Jennifer, van ’t Wout-Frank, Mascha, Tyrka, Audrey R., Price, Lawrence H., Carpenter, Linda L. "Network Mechanisms of Clinical Response to Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation in Posttraumatic Stress Disorder and Major Depressive Disorder." Biological Psychiatry, vol. 83, no. 3, 2017, pp. 263-272. |
| van ’t Wout, Mascha, Spofford, Christopher M., Unger, William S., Sevin, Elizabeth B., Shea, M. Tracie. "Skin Conductance Reactivity to Standardized Virtual Reality Combat Scenes in Veterans with PTSD." Applied Psychophysiology and Biofeedback, vol. 42, no. 3, 2017, pp. 209-221. |
| van‘t Wout, Mascha, Longo, Sharon M., Reddy, Madhavi K., Philip, Noah S., Bowker, Marguerite T., Greenberg, Benjamin D. "Transcranial direct current stimulation may modulate extinction memory in posttraumatic stress disorder." Brain and Behavior, vol. 7, no. 5, 2017, pp. e00681. |
| van 't Wout, Mascha, Mariano, Timothy Y., Garnaat, Sarah L., Reddy, Madhavi K., Rasmussen, Steven A., Greenberg, Benjamin D. "Can Transcranial Direct Current Stimulation Augment Extinction of Conditioned Fear?." Brain Stimulation, vol. 9, no. 4, 2016, pp. 529-536. |
| van Dijke, Annemiek, van ‘t Wout, Mascha, Ford, Julian D., Aleman, André. "Deficits in Degraded Facial Affect Labeling in Schizophrenia and Borderline Personality Disorder." PLoS ONE, vol. 11, no. 6, 2016, pp. e0154145. |
| Sorgi KM, van 't Wout M. "The influence of cooperation and defection on social decision making in depression: A study of the iterated Prisoner's Dilemma Game." Psychiatry Research, vol. 246, 2016, pp. 512-519. |
| Mariano, Timothy Y., van't Wout, Mascha, Jacobson, Benjamin L., Garnaat, Sarah L., Kirschner, Jason L., Rasmussen, Steven A., Greenberg, Benjamin D. "Effects of Transcranial Direct Current Stimulation (tDCS) on Pain Distress Tolerance: A Preliminary Study." Pain Med, vol. 16, no. 8, 2015, pp. 1580-1588. |
| Mariano, Timothy Y., van’t Wout, Mascha, Garnaat, Sarah L., Rasmussen, Steven A., Greenberg, Benjamin D. "Transcranial Direct Current Stimulation (tDCS) Targeting Left Dorsolateral Prefrontal Cortex Modulates Task-Induced Acute Pain in Healthy Volunteers." Pain Med, vol. 17, no. 4, 2015, pp. pnv042. |
| van 't Wout M, Faught S, Menino D. "Does interoceptive awareness affect the ability to regulate unfair treatment by others?." Frontiers in Emotion Science, vol. 4, 2013, pp. 880. |
| Goldin, Gideon, Wout, Mascha van ‘t, Sloman, Steven A., Evans, David W., Greenberg, Benjamin D., Rasmussen, Steven A. "Risk judgment in Obsessive–Compulsive Disorder: Testing a dual-systems account." Journal of Obsessive-Compulsive and Related Disorders, vol. 2, no. 4, 2013, pp. 406-411. |
| Grecucci, A., Giorgetta, C., van't Wout, M., Bonini, N., Sanfey, A. G. "Reappraising the Ultimatum: an fMRI Study of Emotion Regulation and Decision Making." Cerebral Cortex, vol. 23, no. 2, 2012, pp. 399-410. |
| Harlé, Katia M., Chang, Luke J., van 't Wout, Mascha, Sanfey, Alan G. "The neural mechanisms of affect infusion in social economic decision-making: A mediating role of the anterior insula." NeuroImage, vol. 61, no. 1, 2012, pp. 32-40. |
| van Rijn, Sophie, Schothorst, Patricia, Wout, Mascha van 't, Sprong, Mirjam, Ziermans, Tim, van Engeland, Herman, Aleman, André, Swaab, Hanna. "Affective dysfunctions in adolescents at risk for psychosis: Emotion awareness and social functioning." Psychiatry Research, vol. 187, no. 1-2, 2011, pp. 100-105. |
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"Game theory and the brain: neural modulation and lesion studies as a tool to examine interpersonal decision-making." Nervenheilkunde., 2011.
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| van 't Wout M, Sanfey AG. "Interactive decision-making in people with schizotypal traits: A game theory approach." Psychiatry Research, vol. 185, no. 1-2, 2011, pp. 92-6. |
| Chang LJ, Doll BB, van 't Wout M, Frank MJ, Sanfey AG. "Seeing is believing: trustworthiness as a dynamic belief." Cognitive Psychology, vol. 61, no. 2, 2010, pp. 87-105. |
| van't Wout, Mascha, Chang, Luke J., Sanfey, Alan G. "The influence of emotion regulation on social interactive decision-making." Emotion, vol. 10, no. 6, 2010, pp. 815-821. |
| van 't Wout M, van Rijn S, Jellema T, Kahn RS, Aleman A. "Deficits in implicit attention to social signals in schizophrenia and high risk groups: behavioural evidence from a new illusion." PLoS ONE, vol. 4, no. 5, 2009, pp. e5581. |
| van der Meer, Lisette, Wout, Mascha van't, Aleman, André. "Emotion regulation strategies in patients with schizophrenia." Psychiatry Research, vol. 170, no. 2-3, 2009, pp. 108-113. |
| Jellema, Tjeerd, Lorteije, Jeannette, van Rijn, Sophie, van t' Wout, Mascha, de Haan, Edward, van Engeland, Herman, Kemner, Chantal. "Involuntary interpretation of social cues is compromised in autism spectrum disorders." Autism Research, vol. 2, no. 4, 2009, pp. 192-204. |
| van 't Wout M, Sanfey AG. "Friend or foe: the effect of implicit trustworthiness judgments in social decision-making." Cognition, vol. 108, no. 3, 2008, pp. 796-803. |
| Aleman, André, van’t Wout, Mascha. "Repetitive Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation over the Right Dorsolateral Prefrontal Cortex Disrupts Digit Span Task Performance." Neuropsychobiology, vol. 57, no. 1-2, 2008, pp. 44-48. |
| van 't Wout M, Aleman A, Kessels RP, Cahn W, de Haan EH, Kahn RS. "Exploring the nature of facial affect processing deficits in schizophrenia." Psychiatry Research, vol. 150, no. 3, 2007, pp. 227-35. |
| van't Wout, Mascha, van Dijke, Annemiek, Aleman, Andr??, Kessels, Roy P. C., Pijpers, Wietske, Kahn, Ren?? S. "Fearful Faces in Schizophrenia: the relationship between patient characteristics and facial affect recognition." The Journal of Nervous and Mental Disease, vol. 195, no. 9, 2007, pp. 758-764. |
| van 't Wout M, Aleman A, Bermond B, Kahn RS. "No words for feelings: alexithymia in schizophrenia patients and first-degree relatives." Comprehensive Psychiatry, vol. 48, no. 1, 2007, pp. 27-33. |
| Baas, D., van't Wout, M., Aleman, A., Kahn, R. S. "Social judgement in clinically stable patients with schizophrenia and healthy relatives: behavioural evidence of social brain dysfunction." Psychological Medicine, vol. 38, no. 05, 2007. |
| van 't Wout M, Kahn RS, Sanfey AG, Aleman A. "Affective state and decision-making in the Ultimatum Game." Exp Brain Res, vol. 169, no. 4, 2006, pp. 564-8. |
| van't Wout, Mascha, Aleman, André, Kessels, Roy P. C., Kahn, René S. "Object‐location memory in schizophrenia: Interference of symbolic threatening content." Cognitive Neuropsychiatry, vol. 11, no. 3, 2006, pp. 272-284. |
| van 't Wout M, Kahn RS, Sanfey AG, Aleman A. "Repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation over the right dorsolateral prefrontal cortex affects strategic decision-making." Neuroreport, vol. 16, no. 16, 2005, pp. 1849-52. |
| van 't Wout M, Aleman A, Kessels RP, Larøi F, Kahn RS. "Emotional processing in a non-clinical psychosis-prone sample." Schizophrenia Research, vol. 68, no. 2-3, 2004, pp. 271-281. |
| Aleman, Andr�, Wout, Mascha van?t. "Subvocalization in auditory-verbal imagery: just a form of motor imagery?." Cognitive Processing, vol. 5, no. 4, 2004, pp. 228-231. |
Rubicon Award 08/01/06 – 12/31/08
Netherlands Organization for Scientific Research (NWO)
“Gut feelings, split second decisions and unfairness; the role of emotions in decision-making”
Role: PI
Young Investigator Award 07/15/11 – 01/14/15
NARSAD
"Effects of Direct Current Stimulation of the vmPFC on Fear Extinction and Recall: Implications for Obsessive Compulsive Disorder"
The goal of this project is to examine whether the noninvasive technology of transcranial Direct Current Stimulation (tDCS) can modulate and improve extinction recall which is central to the clinical usefulness of exposure-based behavioral therapies for OCD and related illnesses.
Role: PI
CfNN Seed funding 01/10/13 – 06/30/16
VA RR&D Center for Neurorestoration and Neurotechnology
“Pilot Study of transcranial Direct Current Stimulation for PTSD”
The goal of this project is to examine whether tDCS can modulate and improve fear extinction learning and subsequent extinction recall in Veterans with warzone-related PTSD. This is central to the clinical usefulness of exposure-based behavioral therapies for PTSD.
Role: PI
CfNN Seed funding 04/01/14 – 03/30/16
VA RR&D Center for Neurorestoration and Neurotechnology
“Transcranial Direct Current Stimulation-Augmentation of Virtual Reality Exposure for PTSD: A Feasibility Pilot Study”
This pilot study explores preliminary feasibility and efficacy of virtual reality exposure therapy augmented with tDCS.
Role: PI
CfNN Seed funding (PI: Philip) 05/10/14 – 05/11/16
VA RR&D Center for Neurorestoration and Neurotechnology
“Pilot Testing of Theta-Burst Neuromodulation for Chronic PTSD”
This pilot study explores preliminary feasibility and efficacy Theta-burst Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation (TBS) for treatment of PTSD in Veterans.
Role: co-PI
SPiRE, I21RX002032-01 (PI: Philip) 04/01/16 – 03/31/18
US Dept. of Veterans Affairs, RR&D
“Pilot testing of theta-burst neuromodulation for chronic PTSD”
This pilot study explores preliminary feasibility and efficacy Theta-burst Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation (TBS) for treatment of PTSD in Veterans.
Role: Co-I
New Frontiers Award (MPI: van ‘t Wout & Burwell) 05/01/17 – 04/30/19
Brown Institute for Brain Science – Norman Prince Neuroscience Institute
"Learning not to avoid: a translational approach with implications for anxiety disorders"
The goal of this translational project is to evaluate whether inhibition of the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex can improve generalization of extinction of avoidance behaviors.
Role: Co-PI
Merit Award, 1I01RX002450-01A2 (PI: Philip) 04/01/18 – 03/31/22
US Dept. of Veterans Affairs, RR&D
“Combined Transcranial Direct Current Stimulation and Virtual Reality for PTSD”
This Merit Award project involves a randomized, sham-controlled study of transcranial direct current stimulation in combination with virtual-reality based exposure therapy, to
determine if this combination may reduce PTSD symptoms and improve quality of life.
Role: Co-I
Innovation Voucher (PI: Philip) 03/01/18 – 10/31/18
Rhode Island Commerce Corporation
“Closed-Loop Noninvasive Brain Stimulation for Posttraumatic Stress Disorder”
This early phase project aims to collect psychophysiological data to create an electronic device with an intelligent control algorithm that can apply patient-specific, appropriate tDCS dose for the treatment of fear-related responses in PTSD in an individualized manner.
Role: Co-I
STTR, AF17B-T002 (PI: Philip) 03/01/18 – 10/31/19
DoD, Airforce
“Closed-Loop Feedback Control for Transcranial Direct Current Stimulation”
This early phase project aims to collect psychophysiological data to create an electronic device with an intelligent control algorithm that can apply patient-specific, appropriate tDCS dose for the treatment of fear-related responses in PTSD in an individualized manner.
Role: Co-I
COBRE Center for Neuromodulation, 1P20GM130452-01 (PI Greenberg) 03/01/19-01/31/24
NIH, National Institute of General Medical Sciences
“Effect of tDCS timing on safety memory in PTSD”
This COBRE study will use a well-established fear-conditioning paradigm to systematically test the effects of timing of transcranial direct current stimulation intended to facilitate VMPFC function on extinction memory in individuals with PTSD.
Role: Project Leader
van Rijn, S., van ’t Wout, M., Spikman, J. Emotion and Social Cognition. Chapter in ‘Clinical Neuropsychology’ (Klinische Neuropsychologie) handbook Eds. Kessels, R., Eling, P., Ponds, R., Spikman, J., van Zandvoort, M. Reprint and translation in English, August 2017.
van ’t Wout M., Leder J. (2018). Ultimatum Game. In: Zeigler-Hill V., Shackelford T. (eds) Encyclopedia of Personality and Individual Differences. Springer, Cham, DOI: 10.1007/978-3-319-28099-8_880-1.
| Year | Degree | Institution |
|---|---|---|
| 2006 | PhD | Utrecht University |
| 2001 | MSc | Utrecht University |
| Postdoctoral Research Associate | Brown University, Psycholoy | 2009-2011 | Providence, RI, USA |
| Postdoctoral Research Associate | University of Arizona, Psychology; Neural Decision Sciences | 2006-2008 | Tucson, AZ, USA |
| Name | Title |
|---|---|
| Barredo, Jennifer | Assistant Professor of Psychiatry and Human Behavior (Research) |
| Burwell, Rebecca | Albert D. Mead Professor Emerita of Cognitive, Linguistic, and Psychological Studies |
| Carpenter, Linda | Professor of Psychiatry and Human Behavior |
| Garnaat, Sarah | Assistant Professor of Psychiatry and Human Behavior (Research) |
| Greenberg, Benjamin | Professor of Psychiatry and Human Behavior |
| McLaughlin, Nicole | Associate Professor of Psychiatry and Human Behavior |
| Philip, Noah | Professor of Psychiatry and Human Behavior |
| Shea, M Tracie | Professor of Psychiatry and Human Behavior |
Center for Neurorestoration and Neurotechnology, Providence VA Medical Center
Department of Cognitive, Linguistic & Psychological Sciences, Brown University
COBRE Center for Neuromodulation, Butler Hospital
| Assistant Professor (Research). Brown University, 2012- |
| Assistant Professor (Research). Brown University, 2011-2012 |
Previous Courses
CLPS 1480A (formerly PSYCH 1820) 'Cognitive Neuroscience of Emotion', Brown University, Department of Cognitive, Linguistic & Psychological Sciences, Providence (Fall 2009-2011).
CLPS 1480D 'Topics in Cognitive Neuroscience: Cognitive Neuropsychiatry', Brown University, Department of Cognitive, Linguistic & Psychological Sciences, Providence (Spring 2011).
'Mind, brain and behavior: an introduction to Cognitive Neuroscience' at Rhode Island School of Design, Providence (Spring 2011).
Independent student supervision
Honors-thesis supervisor, Brown University (2010-2016; 2018-19)
Independent Study supervisor, Brown University (2010-2016)
Summer UTRA supervision, CfNN & Brown University (summer 2015; 2019)
