new cognitive neuroscience seminar

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Published on Thursday, 19 April 2012 06:57

The Cognitive Neuroscience Seminar schedule is now available. Please visit schedules/cognitive-neuroscience-seminar

Meet your Expectations – A Local Circuit for Calculating Reward Prediction Errors in the Ventral Tegmental Area

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Published on Tuesday, 06 March 2012 12:54

We are happy to announce that Sebastian Haesler (Harvard University, USA) will be giving a talk on March 7, 2012 for the neurodapt! Cognitive Neuroscience Seminar.

DATE: March 7, 2012

TIME: 17:00

PLACE: UKE Campus, W30, seminar room

ABSTRACT: The long-term goal of my research is to understand how animals learn from experience and how they subsequently use this knowledge to guide their behavior. I approach these questions by combining molecular genetics, multielectrode recording and optogenetic techniques to tag specific neuronal populations for electrophysiological identification and manipulation in awake, behaving mice. In my recent work I have used this method to study learning from reward and punishment that involves the midbrain dopamine system. Dopaminergic neurons, of the ventral tegmental area (VTA) and substantia nigra pars compacta (SNc), encode the discrepancy between actually received and expected reward i.e. reward prediction errors. In line with formal theories of reinforcement learning, these signals are proposed to act as a teaching signal to mediate learning from reward. While there is a large body of evidence supporting such coding scheme in monkeys, rats and humans, relatively little is known about the mechanisms of how reward prediction errors are calculated. Since anatomical, physiological and pharmacological evidence suggests that local GABAergic neurons can modulate dopamine neuron firing, I hypothesized they might also be involved in calculating reward prediction errors. Together with a colleague, I recorded optogenetically identified GABA neurons in mice performing an odor-guided classical conditioning task. We found that the response profile of identified GABAergic neurons is consistent with signaling reward expectation. Based on these observation and previous theoretical work, we propose a model in which dopamine responses to predicted rewards are inhibited by GABAergic expectation-related activity. While these studies begin to clarify the mechanisms of reward prediction error calculation in the VTA, they also raise important questions that will be the focus of my future research.

CIHR Postdoctoral fellowships available

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Published on Wednesday, 08 February 2012 10:56

The Research Group on children’s psychosocial maladjustment (GRIP) at the University of Montreal, Canada invites applications for two postdoctoral fellowships beginning anytime before September 2012 which could be funded for up to 6 years.

Click here for details

Neuroscientist with focus on MR image analysis

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Published on Monday, 06 February 2012 13:32

The Medical Faculty of the University of Münster is searching for a

postdoctoral research associate

at the 'Translational Research Imaging Center' (TRIC), where a new 3T MR-system for neuroimaging research will be put into operation soon. This position is focused on image processing and optimization to support the interdisciplinary working groups from the faculties of Medicine and Psychology. The position (TVL13) is initially limited to 3 years with possibility of extension.

For further information, please click here.

PhD position in social cognitive neuroscience

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Published on Tuesday, 31 January 2012 15:25

Social Cognitive and Affective Neuroscience Unit, Faculty of Psychology
University of Vienna, Austria

The PhD position is part of a large-scale externally funded project on the evolutionary and neurocognitive basis of the link between imitation, empathy and prosocial behaviour, in humans and dogs. This project aims at resolving open questions with respect to the proximate (neurocognitive) and ultimate (evolutionary) mechanisms mediating the relationship between these distinct yet intertwined phenomena.

For details, please click here.

Further information on the project can be found at
http://www.wwtf.at/projects/research_projects/details/index.php?PKEY=2106_DE_O

PhD Stelle in Ulm/London

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Published on Tuesday, 17 January 2012 16:10

PhD Neurowissenschaften Thema der Dissertation ist die Untersuchung des Motorkortex bei Merkmalsträgern der Huntington Krankheit, einer autosomal dominant vererbten Erkrankung. Auf der Suche nach Biomarkern der Huntington Krankheit soll die kortikale Erregbarkeit und Plastizität mit Hilfe der transkraniellen Magnetstimulation in Verbindung mit Neuroimaging und klinischen Parametern untersucht werden. Die/der erfolgreiche Kandidat/in wird zu gleichen Teilen im Huntington Zentrum in der Neurologischen Abteilung der Universitätsklinik in Ulm (Supervisor PD Dr. M. Orth) und am Sobell Department of Motor Neuroscience and Movement Disorders (head Professor J Rothwell), University College London, UK, arbeiten. Eine wesentliche Aufgabe ist die Untersuchung von Teilnehmern an der TRACK-ON HD Studie in London (http://hdresearch.ucl.ac.uk/future-studies/trackon-hd/) mit transkranieller Magnetstimulation. An dieser Studie nehmen an 4 Zentren (London, Paris, Leiden, Vancouver) Huntington Gen Merkmalsträger ohne Krankheitszeichen und Patienten mit ersten Zeichen der HK teil. Die Stelle eignet sich besonders für Bewerber mit einem Interesse an systemischen Neurowissenschaften.

IRTG-CINACS - doctoral position

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Published on Tuesday, 17 January 2012 15:41

The International Research Training Group Hamburg/Germany – Beijing/China (IRTG-CINACS) Cross-modal Interaction in Natural and Artificial Cognitive Systems funded by the German Research Foundation (Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft, DFG), the State of Hamburg and the Ministry of Education of the People’s Republic of China, is seeking highly qualified and motivated candidates for 1 Doctoral Student Position at the University of Hamburg beginning 1 February 2012 or later. The IRTG-CINACS offers a 3-year doctoral program based at the University of Hamburg and at Tsinghua University, Beijing. The dissertation projects will be carried out at the University of Hamburg. A part (up to 6 months) of the studies will be performed at Tsinghua University. The interdisciplinary program provides exciting research opportunities for research on multi-sensory perception and cross-modal information processing. The position is available at the Department of Informatics of the University of Hamburg. It concerns common sensor fusion methods to achieve robot systems with multi-modal memory. The main focus is to build and use grounded multi-modal long-term memories of robot actions to improve future action planning. Programming of complex systems, knowledge of service robots and model checking techniques are required. You should have a degree in a relevant discipline (e.g. Computer Science, Electronic Engin-eering). Female applicants are particularly welcome. Applicants should submit a CV and a brief statement of research interests by e-mail to cinacs (at) informatik.uni-hamburg.de. Further information on CINACS can be obtained at: http://www.cinacs.org/. Contact: University of Hamburg Prof. Dr. Jianwei Zhang TAMS Department of Informatics Vogt-Kölln-Str. 30 22527 Hamburg Germany Tel.: +49 40 42883-2430

Neuropsychologie Promotion

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Published on Thursday, 12 January 2012 14:52

An der Universitätsklinik für Neurologie der Otto-von-Guericke-Universität Magdeburg ist in der Sektion Neuropsychologie ab sofort die Stelle eines/einer Wissenschaftlichen Mitarbeiters/Mitarbeiterin (Doktorand/in) zu besetzen.

Bitte hier klicken für Details

A Two Year Post-doc Position in Neuroimaging

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Published on Monday, 05 December 2011 10:21

Description of the work:
We announce a full-time post-doctoral position for two years, with possibility of extension.
The position is to be started in January or February 2012. The successful candidate will work with the analysis and modeling of multimodal data from a longitudinal developmental study of working memory in children and young adults. The data consists of neuroimaging, behavioral and genetic measurements.

The work will be conducted at the Department of Neuroscience at the Karolinska Institutet, Solna, Stockholm, which is a stimulating and international research environment (www.ki.se/neuroscience). The work will be supervised by Rita Almeida, statistician at the department for Neuroscience, and conducted in close association with the group for Developmental Cognitive Neuroscience (www.klingberglab.se) headed by Professor Torkel Klingberg.

The employment also includes a limited amount of consulting, in terms of providing support to other researchers from the neuroimaging groups of the Karolinska Institutet working with questions involving similar methodological knowledge. The support will not exceed 20% of the weekly work hours.

Qualifications:
A desirable background is a PhD including work of neuroimaging, statistical image analysis or analysis and modeling of other neuroscience data. Experience in programing is valued. In particular, experience with Matlab, SPSS and the most common packages for analysis of neuroimaging data is a plus.

For application details and contact information, please click here.

PhD position in Cognitive Neuroscience at the University of Giessen, Germany

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Published on Wednesday, 26 October 2011 12:21

PhD position in Cognitive Neuroscience at the University of Giessen, Germany

We invite applications for a PhD project on incentive motivation in the Biological Psychology group at the Department of Psychology of the University of Giessen, Germany. The project will investigate how motivational stimuli are processed in the human dopaminergic system and how these processes affect cognition, in particular long-term memory and decision-making. The work involves fMRI, genetic analysis and psychopharmacology. Interested candidates are encouraged to develop computational modelling skills. Additional duties include teaching an undergraduate seminar on biological psychology (2 h/week, approx. 30 weeks/calendar year).
The department offers a research-dedicated MRI scanner with peripheral physiology equipment, EEG facilities and access to a genetics lab through local collaboration. We encourage research visits at collaborating institutes abroad. We are looking for highly motivated candidates with a Master’s or equivalent degree in neuroscience, psychology, biology or a related field and with a strong interest in cognitive neuroscience. Proficiency in English is expected; programming skills in Matlab and experience with fMRI are an advantage. The position is funded for 1 year (50% TV-H 13), with the possibility of extension for 2 more years, from December 2011 (starting date is flexible). The University of Giessen is an equal opportunity employer in compliance with the German disability laws. Women and persons with disabilities are strongly encouraged to apply. Please send your CV, transcripts or degree certificates, a brief statement of research interests and contact details of two referees by e-mail to Prof. Dr. Bianca Wittmann. Applications will be considered until the position is filled.
For further details, please contact Bianca Wittmann: link to contact information

PostDoc real-time fMRI neurofeedback

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Published on Thursday, 13 October 2011 13:03

A 2-year postdoctoral position is available at the University of Geneva, Switzerland. The successful candidate will join a team of real-time fMRI enthusiasts who develop and apply new methods for neurofeedback. Candidates must have a PhD in neuroscience, biology, psychology, computer science, physics, engineering, or related areas. Previous experience with fMRI is essential; programming skills are highly desirable. Geneva offers a thriving international environment, with extensive cultural and outdoor activities, and a very high quality of living. The post is available immediately for 2 years. Salary will range between 68'964 CHF and 75'686 CHF (~84'000 USD) per year. Further details can be obtained from This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. . To apply send a CV, a statement of research interests, and contact information for two references to This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. .

Position Available

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Published on Monday, 25 July 2011 12:29

There is a research project manager (with a university degree) position available in the lab of Professor Brigitte Röder at the University of Hamburg. Please follow this link to see the job description.

Niels Birbaumer and Stefan Schweinberger

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Published on Friday, 10 June 2011 08:15

June 16, 2011

We are happy to announce that we will have two illustrious speakers back-to-back. Please note that the talks will be in
the LECTURE HALL in building W30 on the UKE Campus.

First, Prof. Niels Birbaumer from the Eberhard-Karls-University in Tübingen will speak.
Zerfall des Denkens: Brain Computer Interaktion
W30 LECTURE HALL
15:30 - 17:00

Then, Prof. Stefan Schweinberger from Friedrich-Schiller-University in Jena will speak.
Multisensory face-voice integration in person recognition
W30 LECTURE HALL
17:30 - 19:00

Refreshments will be served during the half hour break.

PDF of flyer.

Mind-Brain Lecture

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Published on Tuesday, 31 May 2011 12:34

July 11, 2011

In cooperation with the Hamburg Center for NeuroScience (HCNS), neurodapt is fortunate to host two outstanding guest speakers, Helen Neville and Steven Hillyard, for this year's Mind-Brain Lecture. The lectures will follow each other, starting at 4pm, on the UKE Campus in ERIKA Haus.

Steven Hillyard, from the University of California, San Diego, will speak about "Neural Substrates of Crossmodal Influences on Auditory and Visual Perception."

Starting at 17:15, Helen Neville, from the University of Oregon will give a talk entitled "Experiential, Genetic and Epigenetic Effects on Neurocognitive Development."

After the second talk, appetizers and drinks will be served for all who attend.

Special Talks

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Published on Friday, 20 May 2011 14:23

May 27, 2011

Gilles Pourtois

"Oops! I did it again. Early and automatic emotion control during action monitoring"

At 15:00 in the neurodapt Graduate School (UKE campus, building W30, Seminar Room)

cooperation with ASMB

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Published on Monday, 16 May 2011 12:30

The neurodapt Graduate School cooperates with the Graduate Program in Molecular Biology at the ZMNH. If you are interested in attending any of the courses, please contact us.

workshops summer / fall 2011

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Published on Friday, 13 May 2011 15:35

The workshops running from June 15 to September 8, 2011 are now posted. There are many hands on opportunities with limited space, so be sure to register early. Please use the contact button to send a list of courses you would like to attend.