Background
Via my master studies at the Paris-Lodron-University of Salzburg, I obtained an inter-disciplinary background comprised of biology, psychology, philosophy and mathematics. I obtained two PhDs in Philosophy and Cognitive Neuroscience, respectively, and spent my first PostDoc year at the University of California, Irvine, researching the effects of sex and sex hormones on processing strategies during cognitive tasks. After returning to Austria, I followed up on this question including brain parameters within the framework of a single investigators project funded by the Austrian Science Fund. The results were summarized in my habilitation thesis in Psychology.
Current Research Focus
My research interests comprise all aspects of hormone-brain interactions, with a particular focus on sex hormones and gender-related aspects of neuroscience. I am currently the PI of the ERC Starting Grant BECONTRA, which investigates the effects of hormonal contraceptives on the female brain.
Publications
2025
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Progestagens and progesterone receptor modulation: Effects on the brain, mood, stress, and cognition in females
- Celine Bencker, Laura Gschwandtner, Sibel Nayman, Ramunė Grikšienė, Billie Nguyen, Urs M. Nater, Rachida Guennoun, Inger Sundström-Poromaa, Belinda Pletzer, Marie Bixo, Erika Comasco
- Frontiers in Neuroendocrinology
2024
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Preliminary results: NREM sleep alterations, hormonal shifts and overnight memory consolidation during early pregnancy
- Johanna Gfüllner, Melanie Wöhler, Kathrin Bothe, Christopher Höhn, Belinda Pletzer, Georg Gruber, Kerstin Hödlmoser
- Preprint
2023
2022
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Current and past duration of oral contraceptive use on cognitive performance and brain activation
- Isabel Noachtar, Esmeralda Hidalgo Lopez, Belinda Angela Pletzer
- Preprint
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Sex hormones modulate sex differences and relate to hemispheric asymmetries in a divided visual field Navon task
- Tobias Hausinger, Belinda Angela Pletzer
- Preprint