{"id":958,"date":"2025-07-31T08:28:11","date_gmt":"2025-07-31T08:28:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.dcc.ru.nl\/babybrain\/?page_id=958"},"modified":"2025-07-31T08:34:08","modified_gmt":"2025-07-31T08:34:08","slug":"dimanaatanassova","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/www.dcc.ru.nl\/babybrain\/our-team\/dimanaatanassova\/","title":{"rendered":"Dimana Atanassova"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<div class=\"wp-block-columns is-layout-flex wp-container-core-columns-is-layout-9d6595d7 wp-block-columns-is-layout-flex\">\n<div class=\"wp-block-column is-layout-flow wp-block-column-is-layout-flow\" style=\"flex-basis:25%\"><div class=\"wp-block-image\">\n<figure class=\"aligncenter size-full is-resized\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1536\" height=\"1207\" src=\"https:\/\/www.dcc.ru.nl\/babybrain\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/Dimana_photo_V2-scaled-e1740652857695-1536x1207-1.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-962\" style=\"width:218px;height:auto\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.dcc.ru.nl\/babybrain\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/Dimana_photo_V2-scaled-e1740652857695-1536x1207-1.jpg 1536w, https:\/\/www.dcc.ru.nl\/babybrain\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/Dimana_photo_V2-scaled-e1740652857695-1536x1207-1-300x236.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.dcc.ru.nl\/babybrain\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/Dimana_photo_V2-scaled-e1740652857695-1536x1207-1-1024x805.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/www.dcc.ru.nl\/babybrain\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/Dimana_photo_V2-scaled-e1740652857695-1536x1207-1-768x604.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1536px) 100vw, 1536px\" \/><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n<h4 class=\"wp-block-heading has-text-align-left titel_naam\" id=\"marlene-meyer\">Dimana Atanassova<\/h4>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-text-align-left functie\">Postdoctoral Researcher<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full is-resized\"><a href=\"mailto:dimana.atanassova@donders.ru.nl\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\" noreferrer noopener\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"101\" height=\"69\" src=\"https:\/\/www.dcc.ru.nl\/babybrain\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/11\/mail.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-337\" style=\"aspect-ratio:1.457142857142857;width:50px;height:auto\"\/><\/a><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-column is-layout-flow wp-block-column-is-layout-flow\" style=\"flex-basis:75%\">\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"about-me\">About me<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>My research focuses on how babies and young children learn about the world and how early experiences with caregivers and the environment shape their learning. Specifically, I\u2019m interested in early learning that helps children develop later social and cognitive skills such as empathy and (moral) decision-making.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>I completed my PhD at the Donders Institute studying how adults make decisions and learn to empathize. In my work, I explored maladaptive decision-making: what happens when learning goes wrong, making it harder to adapt to change. Now, as a postdoctoral researcher at the BRC, I study how babies learn from the world around them, especially in unpredictable situations. My goal is to understand how early experiences shape learning and decision-making, and how these early patterns help children develop important thinking and social skills as they grow.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h4 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"publications\">Recent Publications<\/h4>\n\n\n\n<p>Atanassova, D. V., Brazil, I. A., Tomassen, C. E. A., &amp; Oosterman, J. M. (2025). Pain sensitivity mediates the relationship between empathy for pain and psychopathic traits.&nbsp;<em>Scientific Reports<\/em>,&nbsp;<em>15<\/em>(1), 3729. https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1038\/s41598-025-87892-x<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Atanassova, D. V., Mathys, C., Diaconescu, A. O., Madariaga, V. I., Oosterman, J. M., &amp; Brazil, I. A. (2024). Diminished pain sensitivity mediates the relationship between psychopathic traits and reduced learning from pain.&nbsp;<em>Communications Psychology<\/em>,&nbsp;<em>2<\/em>(1), 86. https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1038\/s44271-024-00133-1<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Atanassova, D. V., Oosterman, J. M., Diaconescu, A. O., Mathys, C., Madariaga, V. I., &amp; Brazil, I. A. (2025). Exploring when to exploit: The cognitive underpinnings of foraging-type decisions in relation to psychopathy.&nbsp;<em>Translational Psychiatry<\/em>,&nbsp;<em>15<\/em>(1), 31. https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1038\/s41398-025-03245-2&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-buttons is-layout-flex wp-block-buttons-is-layout-flex\">\n<div class=\"wp-block-button\"><a class=\"wp-block-button__link wp-element-button\" href=\"https:\/\/www.dcc.ru.nl\/babybrain\/our-team\/#staff\">Team overview<\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Dimana Atanassova Postdoctoral Researcher About me My research focuses on how babies and young children learn about the world and how early experiences with caregivers and the environment shape their learning. Specifically, I\u2019m interested in early learning that helps children develop later social and cognitive skills such as empathy and (moral) decision-making. I completed my &#8230; <a title=\"Dimana Atanassova\" class=\"read-more\" href=\"https:\/\/www.dcc.ru.nl\/babybrain\/our-team\/dimanaatanassova\/\" aria-label=\"Read more about Dimana Atanassova\">Read more<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"parent":9,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-958","page","type-page","status-publish"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.4 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Dimana Atanassova - BabyBrain<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.dcc.ru.nl\/babybrain\/our-team\/dimanaatanassova\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Dimana Atanassova - BabyBrain\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Dimana Atanassova Postdoctoral Researcher About me My research focuses on how babies and young children learn about the world and how early experiences with caregivers and the environment shape their learning. 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