Min forskning fokuserer på de atferdsmessige, nevrofysiologiske og genetiske mekanismene for impulskontroll, dvs. hvordan vi kontrollerer våre handlinger. Jeg er spesielt interessert i hvordan disse mekanismene kan påvirkes av dopamin-dysregulering som ved Parkinsons sykdom og andre dopaminrelaterte lidelser. Jeg bruker teknikker som ikke-invasiv hjernestimulering, genotyping, beregningsmodellering og elektroencefalografi for å undersøke mekanismer for impulskontroll.

Du kan lese litt mer om hennes mitt forskningsfokus i denne artikkelen.

• Leder for Bergen Dopamine Group (nettsted kommer snart), som er tilknyttet Bergen fMRI Group.

• Gjesteredaktør for spesialemnesamling for eksperimentell hjerneforskning, 'Dopaminsysteminvolvering i impulskontroll' 

(NB: Du finner meg nå også på UiBs sider med etternavnet McCardle).

Emneansvarlig for PRPSYK303 (Biologisk psykologi)

Sørensen, L., Kvadsheim, E., Koenig, J., Thayer, J.F., Williams, D.P., MacDonald, H.J., McCardle, R.D., Wollschlaeger, D., Fasmer, O.B., Osnes, B. (2026). Capturing sex differences in spontaneous autonomic fluctuations of resting heart rate using a similarity graph theory approach. Biology of Sex Differences. doi: 10.1186/s13293-026-00904-x  

Warden, A. C. M., Cruse, D., McAllister, C., MacDonald, H. J. (2026). β-bursting as a sensitive neural marker of inhibitory control in healthy older adults: a linear mixed-effects modelling and threshold-free cluster approach. Journal of Neuroscience. doi: 10.1523/JNEUROSCI.1151-25.2026

Warden, A. C. M., McAllister, C., Cruse, D., Wright, B., MacDonald, H. J. (2026). Muscle Bursting and Corticomotor Excitability Mark Impaired Impulse Control in Parkinson’s Disease. npj Parkinsons Dis. doi: 10.1038/s41531-025-01207-5

MacDonald, H. J., Fasmer, O. B., Jønsi, O. T., Sørensen, L. (2025). Capturing Trial-by-Trial Variability in Behaviour: People with Parkinson’s Disease Exhibit a Greater Rate of Short-Term Fluctuations in Response Times. Translational Psychiatry. doi: 10.1038/s41398-025-03516

Warden, A. C. M., McAllister, C., Ruitenberg, M. F. L., MacDonald, H. J (2025) Impulse Control in Parkinson’s Disease: Distinct Effects between Action and Choice. Neuroscience and Biobehavioral Reviews. doi: 10.1016/j.neubiorev.2025.106026

Whooley, E., Koppelmans, V., MacDonald, H. J., Hall, A., Ruitenberg, M. (2025). Dopamine genetic risk scores and psychiatric symptoms: Interacting risk factors for impulse control behaviors in de novo Parkinson’s disease. Journal of Neuropsychology. doi: 10.1111/jnp.12415

MacDonald, H. J., Kleppe, R, Szigetvari, P. D., Haavik, J. (2024). The dopamine hypothesis for ADHD: An evaluation of evidence accumulated from human studies and animal models. Frontiers in Psychiatry. 15. doi.org/10.3389/fpsyt.2024.1492126

Hall, A., Weightman, M., Jenkinson, N., MacDonald, H.J., (2023). Performance on the Balloon Analogue Risk Task and Anticipatory Response Inhibition Task is Associated with Severity of Impulse Control Behaviours in People with Parkinson’s Disease. Experimental Brain Research. doi: 10.1007/s00221-023-06584-y

Hall, A., Jenkinson, N., and MacDonald, H. J., (2022) Exploring Stop Signal Reaction Time Over Two Sessions of the Anticipatory Response Inhibition Task. Experimental Brain Research. 240(11). doi: 10.1007/s00221-022-06480-x  

He, J.L., Hirst, R.J., Puri, R. … MacDonald, H.J., Chowdbury, N.S. … Puts, N.A.J. (2022) OSARI: an Open-Source Anticipated Response Inhibition task. Behav Res Methods. 54(3). doi:10.3758/s13428-021-01680-9

Hall, A., Weaver, S. R., …, MacDonald, H. J. (2021). Dopamine genetic risk score predicts impulse control behaviors in Parkinson's disease. Clin Park Relat Disord. 5. doi:10.1016/j.prdoa.2021.100113

MacDonald H.J., et al. (2021) The Role of Interhemispheric Communication During Complete and Partial Cancellation of Bimanual Responses. J Neurophysiol. 125(3). DOI: 10.1152/jn.00688.2020

MacDonald H. J., et al. (2019) Memory Deficits in Parkinson's Disease are Associated with Reduced Beta Power Modulation. Brain Communications. 1(1). DOI: 10.1093/braincomms/fcz040

Cirillo J, … MacDonald HJ, Byblow WD. (2018) Response Inhibition Activates Distinct Motor Cortical Inhibitory Processes. J Neurophysiol. 119(3). DOI: 10.1152/jn.00784.2017

MacDonald H.J., et al. (2017). An Activation Threshold Model for Response Inhibition. PLoS One. 12(1). DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0169320

Cowie M.J*, MacDonald H.J.*, et al. (2016) Proactive Modulation of Long-Interval Intracortical Inhibition During Response Inhibition. J Neurophysiol. 116(2). DOI: 10.1152/jn.00144.2016*Shared first authorship

MacDonald H.J., et al. (2016) Dopamine Gene Profiling to Predict Impulse Control and Effects of Dopamine Agonist Ropinirole. J Cogn Neurosci,10(7). DOI: 10.1162/jocn_a_00946

MacDonald, H. J., & Byblow, W. D. (2015). Does Response Inhibition Have Pre- and Postdiagnostic Utility in Parkinson's Disease? J Mot Behav, 47(1). DOI: 10.1080/00222895.2014.941784

Ackerley S.J., … MacDonald H.J., et al. (2015) Primed Physical Therapy Enhances Recovery of Upper Limb Function in Chronic Stroke Patients. Neurorehab & Neural Repair, 30(4). DOI: 10.1177/1545968315595285

MacDonald, H. J., et al. (2014). The Fall and Rise of Corticomotor Excitability with Cancellation and Reinitiation of Prepared Action. J Neurophysiol, 112(11). DOI: 10.1152/jn.00366.2014

MacDonald, H. J., e al. (2012). Uncoupling Response Inhibition. J Neurophysiol, 108(5). DOI: 10.1152/jn.01184.2011