Stefanie De Smet

Stefanie De Smet is an experimental psychologist and a PhD candidate at Ghent University in Belgium. She is working under the guidance of Prof. Dr. Marie-Anne Vanderhasselt and Prof. Dr. Chris Baeken. Stefanie is also enrolled in a joint PhD program with the University of Maastricht, where she receives supervision from Prof. Dr. Alexander Sack. She is dedicated to exploring the underlying mechanisms of non-invasive brain stimulation techniques, including transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS), transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS), and transcutaneous vagus nerve stimulation (tVNS). Her primary research objective is to deepen our understanding of how these techniques modulate the excitability of the prefrontal cortex and their impact on cognitive and affective processes, such as working memory and emotion regulation. In 2020, Stefanie was awarded a prestigious PhD Fellowship in fundamental research by the Research Foundation Flanders (FWO). Her fellowship focuses on investigating the combined effects of brain stimulation techniques using a multimodal approach that integrates neuroimaging (fMRI), psychophysiological assessments (HRV, cortisol), and behavioural (working memory) measurements.