Newsletter 93
I N TH IS ISSU E
Alternative ways of funding research projects:
Interactive double interview between
Etienne Gaudrain and Anita Wagner 2
Keeping on track:
igniting sparks with your scientific story
Interview with Christian Keysers 5
Fast-paced social interactions at MIT:
An interview with Romy Wichmann 7
Cool links 8
Revealing the tip of the… tongue: How second
language learning can be improved using
articulography An interview with Martijn Wieling 9
BCN Lunch #3: Scientific Inventions – How the patent
process influences your academic future 11
Alumnus Column
A song of wise and higher: A game of chairs 13
The human brain project:
Lost in dynamic networking 14
Re-introducing a new staff writer:
Annika Luckmann 15
After work: André Aleman 16
The Project Management Course revisited 17
2014 BCN New Year’s meeting 18
Grand stuff 21
PhD and other news 22
Promotions 23
Cheeky theorems 32
Colophon 32
In the name of science…
March
2014
BCN - SCHOOL FOR BEHAVIOURAL AND COGNITIVE NEUROSCIENCES
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B C N N E W S L E T T E R 93 | M A R C H 2 014
Alternative ways of funding research projects: Interactive double
interview between Etienne Gaudrain and Anita Wagner
Nowadays, funding research projects has become an important part of researchers’ lives.
A couple of well-known grants are VENI, VIDI, VICI, and ERC grants. However, more ways of
funding projects do exist. Etienne Gaudrain and Anita Wagner, two postdocs at the UMCG,
found other ways to fund their projects. Their grants allowed them to work on a more applied
project, in the case of Etienne, and on her own ideas, in the case of Anita. Finding other
funds can be challenging, so we hope their experiences will open up a whole new field of
possibilities for funding the project of your dreams!
Etienne
Hey! Do you want coffee?
Anita
Hey, yes, nice, thank you
Etienne
Ok, it’s ready. I’ll tell you my story.
I’m an engineer, but switched radically from physics to
human auditory perception when I started my PhD…
nearly 10 years ago (!). Just when I finished my PhD I
moved from France to the UK for a first postdoc, which
was then followed by a second postdoc. After 5 years
on the island, I very much felt the desire to come back
to continental Europe: with kids, England became a bit
scary, and auditory research wasn’t as exciting as when
I moved in because a lot of people were retiring and
nobody seemed willing to replace them.
Anita
So do you feel that now you are where you should be?
Etienne
Yes, when a position opened here at the ENT
department, I jumped on it. The dynamic is very
positive, people are enthusiastic, the relationship with
the clinical team is unmatched, the work environment
is really amazing! And the Dutch society is so much
more European than the British one, so apart from the
language, I really feel at home here!
>> And the
Dutch society is
so much more
European than
the British one,
so apart from
the language,
I really feel at
home here! <
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B C N N E W S L E T T E R 93 | M A R C H 2 014
>> CO N T I N UAT I O N O F T H E I N T E R AC T I V E D O U B L E I N T E R V I E W B E T W E E N E T I E N N E G AU D R A I N A N D A N I TA WAG N E R
>> There are
also languages
I would like to
learn, Basque
and Dutch are
on the top of the
list, in that order,
unfortunately :). <
Now what is your story?
Anita
My story... I studied Psychology and Languages, after a
while I gave up some languages and focused on Phonetics and Psychology. I did my PhD in Psycholinguistics
in Nijmegen, which is where I started appreciating the
fact that Dutch people enjoy speaking in many languages, and then I moved to London for a postdoc. At that
time, I was working on native versus non-native speech
perception. I tried to figure out how much of what we
perceive in speech correlates with the acoustic signal
and how/whether one can be trained to perceive a second or third language as if it were your native one.
At a point I made the, hopefully preliminary, conclusion
that one cannot get rid of the perceptual accent one
gets with the mother tongue, and this is thus the end
of the correlation between the acoustic signal and
perception.
Then I started looking for another angle to address the
same questions, and got interested in how people learn
to understand speech through a cochlear implant (CI).
Amazing construction such an implant, isn’t it?
Etienne
Oh yes, almost as amazing as the normal ear! And it’s
funny that I come from psychophysics rather than
psycholinguistics, but I also initially came to CIs as a
means to access the auditory system in a different way
to answer very fundamental questions. But working
with CIs also means you work with patients, and that
provided a very strong motivation to make my research
more applied. And that’s why I started to look for
partnerships with industry, which ultimately led to this
2+2 grant with Advanced Bionics, a cochlear implant
manufacturer.
Anita
2+2 stands for 2 years + 2 years?
Etienne
Yes. 2 years funded by the industry and 2 years funded
by the Faculty of Medical Sciences.
Anita
So what is your project about?
Etienne
The project is about individually optimising the settings
of CIs in order to improve perception of speech in noisy
situations. The outcome of cochlear implantation varies
greatly from one individual to another, and optimisation
is limited by the time that can be spent in the clinic. We
will develop methods to achieve this optimisation partly
automatically and in a reasonable time.
The immediate goal is to improve the fitting, but this
may later extend to developing new training methods
for rehabilitation, which, I think is the focus of your
project?
Anita
My project is about lexical access in CI users, thus about
how people learn to process the unnatural sounding
signal from the CI and to map it onto their mental
representations that they have built up throughout
their life based on natural speech. The signal from CI
sounds weird and there are huge individual differences
in how well people re-learn to treat it as speech. There
is this analogy to non-native speech perception, where
you have the situation that what you hear does not
match your own representations on several levels: you
misperceive sounds, words, and often end up with
several potential interpretations for what you heard.
These non-native difficulties are not easy to overcome.
CI listeners are presented with their native language,
but what they hear does not necessarily resemble what
they know about their language. So they need to learn
and re-train their perception, just like highly motivated
non-native listeners can, but I want to believe that CI
listeners have higher chances to succeed.
So is your research now funded by industry?
Etienne
My own research is currently funded by Deniz Başkent’s
VIDI and is less directly applied. The 2+2 grant will let
me hire a PhD student to expand my work towards
more applied questions.
How is your project funded? Do you also have links or
plans with industry?
Anita
My project is funded by a Marie Curie fellowship that
I received last year. It is a European fellowship, and is
great because it allows me to work on my own ideas,
to learn about new fields like CI technology and
rehabilitation, and to apply my previous experience in
this new, and more applied field. As a postdoc you do
not always get the chance to work on your own research
ideas, and to expand you knowledge across disciplines.
So I feel extremely lucky.
What other areas or disciplines would you like to study
when you get the chance?
Etienne
I’d like to learn more about psycholinguistics and
phonetics, as this would also be a way to make my
research more useful. And this would also imply
learning more about cognitive psychology in general.
And then statistics and machine learning. And if I have
the chance, I’d like to learn EEG and fMRI. I already have
some experience, but I’m far from independent on
these methods...
What about you? Is there any skill you’d like to acquire or
develop further?
Anita
Yes, there are many skills I would like to develop
further. I would enjoy improving my programming
skills. There is this C++ course at the RUG, really neat, I
hope I can get through with it, but it requires a whole
lot of time. Physiology of hearing is also something I
am really keen on learning more about. There are also
languages I would like to learn, Basque and Dutch are
on the top of the list, in that order, unfortunately :). And
time management, I would like to learn how to get
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B C N N E W S L E T T E R 93 | M A R C H 2 014
>> CO N T I N UAT I O N O F T H E I N T E R AC T I V E D O U B L E I N T E R V I E W B E T W E E N E T I E N N E G AU D R A I N A N D A N I TA WAG N E R
everything done in a day that I intended to have done in
a day.
Etienne
You moved in with your family. Was there any special
support from the EU? Marie-Curie actions are presented
as ‘family friendly’ but at the same time fiercely promote
mobility. How are these two things made compatible
practically?
Anita
Marie Curie actions are family-friendly because they do
acknowledge the fact that moving from one country
to another requires more financial means with children
than when you move alone. You need a bigger flat, you
might need to arrange for international schooling, and
you also want to keep in touch with your family, so this
generates more travel costs, especially if you travel as
a family. This is important in particular because many
MC fellows return to their home country after their
fellowship, and then have to start there again.
Was it difficult for you to move from the UK?
Etienne
The UMCG made it easy for me to move in terms of
financial support, and the University Housing Office,
although unable to find us long term accommodation
(they don’t have so much experience with families
of four), was extremely helpful to find us gap
accommodation while we were waiting for our house to
become free.
What I find difficult in my position is to switch from
one project to another. I’m co-supervising two PhD
students aside from my own research and my biggest
challenge right now is to fit everything in my agenda.
Someone warned me when I was finishing my PhD that
the PhD was the easy part and that it was only getting
worse from there, and five years later, it hasn’t stopped
proving more and more true every year...
The current challenge is to supervise my own student
while fighting against the daemons of the past (namely
a couple of papers from my previous positions that still
need to be written...)... all this while securing my own
funding, so having limited visibility on the stability of
my own position.
What do you find difficult in your position, and what
challenges do you foresee in your near future?
Anita
I know what you mean, during the PhD one can focus
on one thing at a time, but then suddenly there are all
these different tasks that require your attention, and not
all of them seem related. But there is also something
nice in this diversion. I think that going through your
PhD puts things into perspective, and working on many
different tasks at the same time makes all these projects
appear smaller.
What I see as the biggest challenge coming up is the
fact that, as you mentioned, MC actions promote
mobility, but there are studies showing that what a
young researcher, after a postdoc or two, actually
needs in order to find a stable, possibly even tenured
position is a network that is built up over time. These
studies show that young researchers who stay at, or
return to their home university are more likely to find
a permanent position than these nomadic researchers
of whom I believe there are more and more around.
A stable position is very much desirable at a certain
point, especially if you have children who start going to
school, and who do not like to always be the new kids at
school.
Etienne
Yes, and I used to think that I could always switch to
another path, do teaching, go back to engineering... But
now I have the feeling that I’ve gone too far to come
back, and that from here, the only way is forward. So... I
feel pretty lucky I love what I do!
Anita
Yes, that is nicely said, but despite this, I still want to
believe that the possibility to change paths is always
there. There is sooooo much out there. Well, I am aware
that I cannot become a pilot anymore. Still, knowing this
makes me like my work even more.
Etienne
Well, I know someone who’s a pilot. Actually, I know
two! Maybe Groningen is also the place-to-be if you
want to become a pilot on the side!
■■ BY FREDERIEKE VLIEG
■■ PH O TO S BY D E N I Z BA S K E N T,
E T I E N N E G AU D R A I N , A N D A N I TA WAG N E R
>> The current
challenge is to
supervise my own
student while
fighting against
the daemons
of the past... <
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B C N N E W S L E T T E R 93 | M A R C H 2 014
Keeping on track: igniting sparks with your scientific story
>>I NTE RVI EW WITH CH R ISTIAN KE YSE RS
In recent years, mirror neurons and their role in empathy have attracted much attention in
both scientific and popular circles. Mirror neurons are involved in executing an action, but are
also active when you see, hear, or know that someone else performs a similar action.
One of the researchers busy with investigating the
role of mirror neurons in empathy is Prof. Christian
Keysers. About a year ago he received an ERC
grant (the 3000th grantee!) which he will use to
study emotional empathy. More specifically, he will
investigate the phenomenon that brain regions
involved in feeling an emotion are also involved
when witnessing that emotion in others. A key
question in this field is whether the same brain region
is activated during the observation of emotions
of others and experiencing emotions yourself, as
neurons in this region function as mirror neurons.
Or do some neurons in that region respond to
emotions of others and other neurons respond to
your own emotions? This question is the core of
Christian Keysers’ study.
How did researchers discover the existence of
mirror neurons?
The first discovery that some motor neurons respond
during action observation occurred by chance in Italy,
when the team members grasped food in order to hand
it to a monkey to test what happens when the monkey
grasps. The team wanted to study how the monkey
controlled his own actions, but noticed that some of
the cells also fired when the monkey saw them do the
same. Later, when I joined the team, we systematically
tested these properties not just when the monkey sees
an action, but also when the monkey hears an action,
or knows that an action happens behind an occluding
screen. This showed how much the motor system is
involved in perceiving what others do.
What is the advantage of having mirror neurons?
Why have they developed?
What we know is that if you interfere with the activity
of regions containing mirror neurons, you become less
able to perceive the actions and emotions of others. It
seems that being able to ‘mirror’ the actions of others
in your motor system allows you to get an inside
view of what goes on in the other person. Because
mirror neurons are multimodal cells, and we also need
cells that combine sensory information with motor
programmes to control our own actions, it might be the
case that these neurons originally developed for us to
control our own actions. The social benefits may have
come later, and added to their usefulness.
Is it possible to develop them later in life? Or is the
amount of mirror neurons set at birth?
About the neurons themselves, we know little. I
hypothesized that all it takes for a mirror neuron to
develop is that you perceive your own actions. If you,
for instance, never played the piano, and start for the
first time to play a melody, you’ll witness that each time
you press a certain key, you hear a certain tone. This
association, described in the wonderful work of Eric
Kandel which inspired me so early in my career, will
lead to the strengthening of synapses between neurons
representing the sound and neurons causing the action.
After doing that for a while, the next time you hear
someone else play the melody, these strengthened
connections from sound to action will activate the
motor programme you used to produce these same
sounds. This kind of Hebbian learning was first just a
hypothesis I made, but later, studies have shown exactly
that. People that never played the piano only activate
their auditory cortex when they hear piano melodies.
If they train for 5 hours to play a melody, hearing that
melody later automatically triggers activity in the motor
cortices. This fMRI brain activity suggests that you
basically wired up a new mirror neuron.
Can mirror neurons be switched on and off? For
example sometimes people that commit crimes
are judged non-accountable by psychiatrists. Are
mirror neurons switched temporally off in those
people?
We just had an important paper published (Meffert
et al., 2013, in Brain) in which we see exactly that.
Psychopathic criminals, when they see the pain of
another, recruit their own pain very little – that is, at
least, what our fMRI data suggest, namely, that they
activate brain regions involved in their own pain
much less when they view the pain of others. But their
empathy is not ‘broken’. My wife Valeria Gazzola had
the idea to ask them to watch the movies again, but this
time to empathize with the victim of the pain. Now their
empathy looked normal – brain activity in their pain
regions was as strong as in normal people. So it looks
like they have empathy ... when they want to.
>> With the
science of mirror
neurons, we start
to understand
how we relate
to others <
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B C N N E W S L E T T E R 93 | M A R C H 2 014
>> CO N T I N UAT I O N O F T H E I N T E R V I E W W I T H C H R I S T I A N K E Y S E R S
It is not strange to imagine why Christian Keysers
got interested in mirror neurons and their role in
empathy. He studied both psychology and biology,
and the study of mirror neurons combines aspects
of those two study fields. His PhD was in the field of
social neuroscience and his supervisor, David Perrett,
was and is his source of inspiration.
the big picture when their eyes start to glaze over when
you describe the experiment. Other experiments, on the
other hand, ignite a spark in people’s eyes, and that is a
great indicator that this is a question that really matters.
The subtitle of the book is ‘How the discovery of
mirror neurons changes our understanding of
human nature’, can you explain this?
One of the things Christian learned from David
Perrett was that it is a privilege, and an amazing
gift from society, to be able to devote your life to
researching the mind. In return, researchers have to
deeply devote themselves to understanding the truth
about nature. This means that you must not try to
impress other people with your papers but instead
try to describe the science as best and honestly as
you can. This involves attracting people’s attention
by writing a good story but also to dig deep – deeper
than most reviewers would ask you to do – and be
your worst and sharpest critic. Perhaps it was this
lesson which made him write a successful book for
non-scientists.
I think that humans are deeply social. By ‘deeply’, I
mean that the core of what we care about, and what
determines our lives, is our relationship to other people.
It’s the core of our social nature. With the science of
mirror neurons, we start to understand how we relate
to others. The nuts and bolts of what it means to be
around other people, and how it affects us. The good
and the bad consequences of how our brain makes
us relate to others pops out of this research. I wanted
the general public to understand really how we do the
science, so that they can draw their own conclusions on
how that changes their ideas about human nature.
You wrote a book ‘The empathic brain’, is it
difficult to translate scientific knowledge to the
layman?
Not for a while… Eric Kandel once said that he went to
a parent day at the school of his little son, in which each
parent needed to explain to the whole class the kind of
work they do. Everyone was fascinated by Eric’s work.
Two years later, the same event happened, Eric spoke
again, and his son looked very embarrassed. “But Dad”,
he said, “that is what you did two years ago!”. I don’t
want my little Julia to be as embarrassed and having to
tell me: “Daddy, but that is what you wrote two years
ago!”. I should probably work for another decade, to
have something really new to say. Maybe then I will…
It’s a challenge – especially, because you become a
leading scientist not because you are a good writer,
but because you are good at making experiments. But
it’s a very inspiring challenge too. Writing a book for
the general public means that you see your own work
from an important perspective – why does it matter?
This perspective sometimes gets lost in daily research
practice, because you make an experiment, and some
details remain unclear, so you are tempted to explore
these details in a follow-up experiment. This gets you
deeper and deeper into details, and when you speak to
lay people, you realize that you get side-tracked from
Are you planning to write more books in the
future?
■■ BY FREDERIEKE VLIEG
■■ PHOTO BY VALERIA GA Z ZOL A
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B C N N E W S L E T T E R 93 | M A R C H 2 014
Fast-paced social interactions at MIT:
An interview with Romy Wichmann
I couldn‘t find a lot of details about your Rubicon
proposal on-line. Could you explain what it is
about?
Yes, they never post a lot, only the short Dutch
summary.
My project is about the neurobiological mechanisms
of social interactions. We know that social interaction
is an essential and highly integrative behavioural
task and that many major psychopathologies, like
autism, schizophrenia or depression have significant
impairments in the social domain. However, little is
known about the neurobiological underpinnings of
social behaviour and social deficits associated with
these disorders. I will use different optogenetic tools
and a new in vivo calcium imaging technique to try to
provide additional information about the fundamental
neurobiological principles mediating social interaction
which might provide useful information to understand
social deficits in humans.
You mention a broad spectrum of pathologies in
combination with a general, highly dimensional
construct (social interaction). Could you envision
for me what a potential explanation in terms of
neurobiology would look like? With what kind
of paradigms and animal models will you study
these relationships?
We want to know how the brain is influencing social
interactions. I am using two different social interactions
tasks, the 3-Chamber sociability task and the JuvenileIntruder Task to disentangle the neurobiological circuits
that control or modulate interactions in these tasks. By
using optogenetic tools I can essentially turn on
(or off) certain groups of neurons in distinct regions
in the brain and detect differences in their social
interaction behaviours due to activation or silencing
of these particular group of neurons. With the in vivo
imaging technique I can directly watch neurons in a
certain region doing their job, by means of calcium
imaging, during the social interaction tasks and analyze
whether and how these neurons are involved in this
particular behaviour.
What is research like at MIT? Is it comparable to
the RuG at all?
Fast paced would be the first thing that comes to mind.
It’s very up to date, very cutting edge. They are able to
attract the best people and a lot of novel techniques
are either invented here or the people who invented
them will be recruited to MIT. A recent example is
Kwanghun Chung, the brain behind „CLARITY“
[also see the Cool Links section on page 8]. There are
a lot of possibilities at hand here and great minds to
collaborate with.
Clearly, great minds can also be found at the RuG and
establishing the right collaboration was also often
possible. The biggest difference might eventually be the
overall density and intensity of research at MIT.
That sounds fantastic. What principles of MIT would you
instill in your own lab, if you were to start one after your
postdoc? Or are the expensive tools, the great people,
and the money the greatest reasons for success?
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B C N N E W S L E T T E R 93 | M A R C H 2 014
>> CO N T I N UAT I O N O F T H E I N T E R V I E W W I T H R O M Y W I C H M A N N
Expensive tools are definitely not the sole reason for
success. I still believe that you can do great research
without them, you just need clever ideas how to prove
your theories. But sometimes, expensive tools make that
proof easier.
And what you definitely need are great people (…I just
heard an invited speaker here at MIT say, “great people
can make bad technology work but bad people will ruin
a great technology”.) and money (money kind of boils
down to expensive tools).
Why do you think that your Rubicon proposal
won?
Mmh, good question. I guess NWO thought it was a
good proposal with solid research ideas and feasible
ways to execute them. And of course a little bit of fancy
techniques and possibly an MIT bonus.
Looking back at your career so far, what were the
essential ingredients to come as far as you have?
Determination, perseverance, and luck. I still think luck is
the major component. Sometimes it’s just being at the
right place at the right time.
And maybe having a dream.
It‘s interesting that you mention the ‚dream‘
part. Having a vision. I noticed that this kind of
enthousiasm is often correlated with success.
So what makes you enthousiastic? What is your
dream (in research)?
Making an impact in science. I would like to
contribute something to our knowledge about the
brain, something that brings us a little bit closer to
understanding this intriguing part of our body.
What was your research about during your PhD?
During my PhD I worked on two different projects.
I started out studying sex differences in chronically
stressed animals. Later, I conducted fundamental
research in the field of emotional learning and
memory consolidation. I investigated the influence
of glucocorticoids on appetitive and aversive taste
memory consolidation.
Cool links
What future directions would you like to pursue?
>On why a Nobel prize winner decides to ban Nature and Science:
Research related, I am mostly interested in motivation,
emotions, and stress. How are those things controlled
and modulated by the brain and what goes awry when
psychiatric diseases develop.
Career related I am really open for anything, whatever
let’s me pursue my research related directions.This
could be either my own lab somewhere in the world or
an industrial position.
>A useful overview of software for visual psychophysics and cognitive
neuroscience (commercial, open source, cross-platform):
■■ BY ROBIN MILLS
Stumbled upon very cool or useful BCN/Science related things (e.g., youtube,
articles, demos, websites) that you think are worth sharing to the BCN
community? Let us know, and we’ll include a selection of it here!
http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2013/dec/09/howjournals-nature-science-cell-damage-science#
http://www.hans.strasburger.de/psy_soft.html
>Social cognition study finds that chimps can use gestures to communicate
while hunting:
http://news.gsu.edu/2014/01/16/study-finds-chimps-can-usegestures-communicate-hunt-food/
>V1 is multimodal! New study reports evidence that V1 integrates visual
motion + locomotion in mice:
http://www.nature.com/neuro/journal/v16/n12/full/nn.3567.html
>New technique called CLARITY that makes brains (and other organs)
translucent and allows visualization of functional structures:
http://www.nature.com/news/see-through-brains-clarifyconnections-1.12768
>Critical article at The Economist explaining why scientific publishing in its
current form isn’t self-correcting anymore and thereby hinders progress:
http://www.economist.com/news/briefing/21588057-scientiststhink-science-self-correcting-alarming-degree-it-not-trouble
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B C N N E W S L E T T E R 93 | M A R C H 2 014
Revealing the tip of the… tongue: How second language
learning can be improved using articulography
>>AN I NTE RVI EW WITH MARTI J N WI E LI NG
In Dr. Wieling’s office, on a perfectly normal Friday afternoon, I found myself reading aloud stories about
groceries, squirrels, and battles between the sun and the northern wind. With my mouth full of tiny sensors.
Fortunately, Dr. Wieling had convinced me of the purpose of this strange situation, conveying enthusiasm for
both his new project and his machine, the articulographer.
Dr. Wieling finished his PhD cum laude in 2012, as a member of BCN. His
dissertation dealt with new quantitative methods to investigate dialect
variation. Recently, he received a VENI grant for a four-year project on
pronunciation in second language learning. His main aim is to evaluate
how tongue and lip movements contribute to the production of certain
speech sounds in peoples’ native language compared to a second
language. To this end, he uses an electromagnetic articulographer:
a device which uses magnetic fields to track the three-dimensional
position of a number of sensors that are attached to the tongue, lips, and
jaw. As he will do with all his participants, Dr. Wieling let me read aloud
some written stories both in English and my native language - Dutch in
my case. Using the three-dimensional data, he is able to track my tongue
and lip movements over time as I pronounce the words. This way, he can
compare the movements I make when speaking Dutch or English, and
relate them to each other.
That day not only did I take part in Dr. Wieling’s experiment, I had the
chance to interview him.
Why do you want to compare tongue and lip movements
in peoples’ native language versus a second language?
“Generally, and often unwished, people have an accent in
their second language to a more or lesser extent. This is not
remarkable, given that in learning a second language, such as
English in primary or high school, very little time is spent on
how to achieve a native-like pronunciation. The problem of
course is that you have no clue as to what is going on inside the
mouth of a native speaker of English, because you cannot see it.
Learners of a second language are left to guess. All they can build
on is the sound, and this is what the learner is trying to match.
Interestingly, speech sounds can be approximated in a number
of different ways by using your tongue and lips. As an example,
Dutch speakers usually try to approximate the English /th/-sound
by saying a /t/ or /d/, while German speakers usually use a /s/.
In fact, for pronouncing the English /th/ you need to put the tip
of your tongue almost between your front teeth. This, however,
is not a speech sound in Dutch or German, and therefore the
accompanying tongue movements are not familiar to speakers of
these languages.
One of the open questions I wish to address with my
research is how second language learners try to approximate
the speech sounds of the second language. A speaker may think
the speech sound in a second language is quite different from
those in the native language, and revert to making different
tongue movements, hopefully resulting in a new speech sound.
Alternatively, a speaker may believe a speech sound in the
second language is quite like one that is used in the native
language, and map this sound, and accompanying movements,
onto the known one. Of course, from just audio material we will
not be able to answer such a question precisely, but with the
>> You have no clue as to what is going on
inside of the mouth of a native speaker of
English, because you cannot see it. <
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B C N N E W S L E T T E R 93 | M A R C H 2 014
>> CO N T I N UAT I O N O F T H E I N T E R V I E W W I T H M A R T I J N W I E L I N G
tongue and lip movements that the articulographer registers in
three-dimensional space, we will. This will inform us of how a
learner treats the second language, and how he, unconsciously,
perceives the relation between his native language and the new
one.”
So I can appreciate the articulographer as a window
into my mouth, and into the cognitive basis for speech
sound mapping. Now I’m curious to know whether I, as a
second language learner, could somehow benefit from the
insights the articulographer provides.
“I think you could indeed benefit from the literal ‘insights’, and this
is another focus of my research. The articulographer is reasonably
portable, and I intend to bring it along to several Dutch and
German schools. I will collect tongue and lip movement data , but
I will also take it a step further by visualizing the movement data
and presenting them to the participants. Using such a version of
the ‘talking head’, people will be able to view their own tongue as
they make the speech movements in a second language: a thing
that is normally not possible! If we then, additionally, show the
‘talking head’ of native speakers of that language, the learners will
have a much clearer view of which movements are necessary to
produce a certain speech sound, and how far off they are.
Unfortunately, an articulographer is quite costly and schools
will generally not have the funds to purchase one. So for future
implementation of the knowledge I expect to acquire, we will
probably need to use other means.”
Do you already have any ideas on how visualized tongue
and lip movements could be put to use in a more practical
manner?
“Luckily, there are actually two options I would deem fit for this.
The first is to use the collected data to calculate the ‘typical’ Dutch
or German tongue, and to visualize these movements instead of
the learner’s own. The learner can then be shown a native English
speaker’s tongue movements, and the typical movements of
speakers of his native language. Because the learner is likely to
produce tongue and lip movements that are similar to the typical
ones, the benefit of being able to compare the movements in the
native and the new language is not lost.
A second way is to stick with visualizing the learner’s own
tongue and lip movements, not based on articulographic data,
but on the audio produced. I always record participants’ speech
using a microphone while measuring their movements with the
articulographer. Based upon what I hope will become a very
large data set, I could relate speech sounds to movement. I love
working with people, but the numbers and doing statistics are
what really get me very excited, so this would be the kind of
thing I would very much like to do. And of course, it would be
a large practical advantage if we could model the tongue and
lip movements based on the produced speech sound alone.
The articulographer would then not be necessary anymore, and
schools would only have to use a microphone and some software
to show learners their own tongue and lip movements.”
These are quite a number of interesting things you could
do with the data you will be collecting. Do you have
any other future wishes for the use of the results of your
research with the articulographer?
“I will be focusing on, and comparing, Dutch and German
speakers who are learning English, taking British English as the
standard. Obviously, this is most practical for me as I work in
Groningen and Tübingen, but of course, Dutch and German
people do quite well at speaking English already. This is not
surprising, as English, Dutch and German are all part of the
Germanic language family. Nowadays we learn English quite
early in life, and we are confronted with a lot of spoken English
via the media. I foresee a larger benefit for speakers of languages
spoken at other places in the world to whom English is a much
more ‘exotic’ language. Likewise, I expect visualized tongue and
lip movements to really be of help if a speaker of Dutch wishes to
learn a much less familiar language.
Another topic that I would find very interesting to study
using articulography is bilingualism. Does, for example, a Belgian
speaker use a different set of speech sounds than a Dutch speaker
when speaking Dutch? Or in other words, does the Belgian
No physical discomfort
resulted from the
experiment, and sensors
stuck to your tongue do
nothing but make you lisp
a little at the beginning.
bilingual hold two different mappings for his French and Dutch
speech movements, or does he map the sounds of each language
onto the other, resulting in a sort of mixture that is applied in
both languages? We will be able to answer such questions, and
many more, using the articulographer, and ultimately learn what
implications speaking more than one language actually has.”
Based on my interesting visit with Dr. Wieling, there are several things
I feel I can safely say. One: Don’t judge a machine on its looks. The
articulographer isn’t very large, and it has some weird boxes (from which
the magnetic fields are sent), so it does not look as impressive as, say, an
MRI scanner. However, this machine is capable of recording data that will
probably change the way we think about speech and second language
learning. Two: Don’t judge the scientist on what he tries to put into your
mouth. Dr. Wieling admits that attaching the sensors to participants’
tongues with some sort of superglue is not his favourite part of the job.
“It’s always kind of weird to ask people to open their mouth and then
start to put things in there. I’ll be happy when I’ve hired my research
assistant.” I am assured that Dr. Wieling’s greatest interest is in the very
many questions he will be able to address with his articulographic data,
and that he doesn’t hold any dentist-related ambitions. Three: ‘Squirrel’ is
a rather odd word to pronounce. Try it. Squirrel. Squirrel.
■■ BY SANNE BREDEROO
■■ PHOTOS BY SANNE BREDEROO, MARTIJN WIELING
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B C N N E W S L E T T E R 93 | M A R C H 2 014
BCN Lunch #3: Scientific Inventions – How the patent process
influences your academic future
When talking about PhD projects, especially outside academia, many of us
are probably frequently asked about the societal relevance of our research.
Universities are increasingly judged on their performance in the field of
knowledge transfer. But how do we add social and economic value to our
research, and does it influence our academic future? One way is to turn research
ideas into products that can be patented and put on the market. Thinking in
terms of products and inventions can be a challenge for researchers. “Scientists
do not always realise the added value of their ideas. Some ideas appear so
obvious and trivial, while people working at Business Generator recognise the
uniqueness and potential of these ideas.”, Prof. Van Ooijen states on a website
dedicated to connecting researchers with businesses
(http://www.businessgeneratorgroningen.nl).
To discuss the link between research and
inventions that can be put on the market, we
organised the third BCN lunch at the Gasfornuis
on November 26th. We were very pleased to
see that around 30 BCN PhD students showed
up to eat delicious sandwiches and listen to the
invited speakers Hans Hektor and Esar van Hal
discuss scientific inventions.
Translating knowledge to value
Our first speaker, Hans Hektor, has a background
in Biology, after which he completed a PhD in
Biotechnology at the University of Groningen,
where he continued working as a postdoc.
Nowadays, he is Technology and Venture
Manager at Business Generator Groningen
(SBGG), a non-profit organisation dedicated to
assisting in the value creating process of science.
As a PhD student, you can contact SBGG to
get support in the procedure of applying for
a patent. SBGG is also experienced in starting
up small businesses and marketing scientific
ideas. Both the RUG and UMCG stimulate
entrepreneurship, wherein their collaboration
with SBGG provides assistance to researchers
who are interested in applying for a patent.
Together they propose that assisting in a patent
process is an incentive for economic growth as
the impact of your PhD research could extend
beyond the academic environment in the
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B C N N E W S L E T T E R 93 | M A R C H 2 014
>> CO N T I N UAT I O N O F B C N LU N C H #3: S C I E N T I F I C I N V E N T I O N S – H O W T H E PAT E N T P R O C E S S I N F LU E N C E S YO U R AC A D E M I C F U T U R E
industrial world. For example, the long tradition
in transplant medicine in the UMCG has resulted
in a patent for a pump system that flushes out
the internal organs during donor surgery. Within
the Neurosciences, Prof. J.A. den Boer holds a
patent on a new augmentation strategy in the
treatment of depression.
Realizing the added value of
scientific ideas
On the website of SBGG, Prof. Van Ooijen (RUG)
writes that “scientists do not always realise the
added value of their ideas. Some ideas appear
so obvious and trivial, while people working at
Business Generator recognise the uniqueness
and potential of these ideas.”
From invention to patent
Hans gave us an overview of the process from
the first pitch of the invention to the application
submission. He mentioned that it is important
to realise that you can’t publish first and then
ask for a patent. Once the idea is out there, it’s
not new anymore. Furthermore, a patent has
only national acceptability. This means that
the invention you patented in one country can
still be used in another country. Intellectual
property by means of a national patent can be
gained from scientific inventions, which are
new, inventive, applicable, and reproducible.
A patent is also necessary to exclude others
from commercial use. Copyrights, trademarks,
registered designs, trade secrets and plant
breeder rights are also examples of intellectual
property. As Hans put forward from a recent
NRC newspaper publication, universities are
more focused on patenting nowadays, to
prevent overtaking of their researchers’ ideas.
However, we should not be overenthusiastic
since diagnostic methods, surgical methods,
therapies, discoveries, and computer
programmes are not patentable.
From patent to prototype:
Innovations in prosthetic walking
The second speaker was Esar van Hal, a PhD
student from the Center of Human Movement
Sciences who works in the field of innovations
in prosthetic walking. He is currently working
on a balance mechanism controlled by the hip
to compensate for the missing ankle in persons
with no leg(s). He walked us through the steps
of the patenting process for this new lower leg
prosthesis, which was invented by his supervisor
Bert Otten. Regarding the steps of preparation,
design, realisation, and evaluation, they are
now at the realisation and testing prototypes
phase, in which they are working together with
orthopedic instrument makers.
Interaction between university and
industry
From his own experience Esar stated that good
contact with the company, and interaction
between university and industry, is very
important. However, he suggested that it would
be very useful to decide how ‘large’ the project
should be, so that you do not involve people
unnecessary. “Realising an idea takes time and
patience, but stick to your own ideas”, was one
of the pieces of advice Esar shared with us.
In addition, he discussed the importance of
embedding, meaning the way mathematical
ideas are translated into real life prototypes.
Adding economic and societal value
to research and education – Who’s
responsible?
Both speakers gave the impression that the
UMCG and RUG are successful in getting
bureaucracy away from the researcher, thereby
motivating researchers to work with industrial
partners. There are good connections to
industry, and SBGG can help with the application
process. Knowledge valorisation, meaning
the use or application of an object, process,
or activity so that it makes money, can also be
seen as a social responsibility of the research
community. Finally, working together with
industrial partners can be a valuable additional
experience to your PhD project. So who knows,
maybe you will have the next patentable idea
during your research?
■■ BY HELEEN HOOGEVEEN
■■ PHOTOS BY BARBARA NORDHJEM
13 | 32
B C N N E W S L E T T E R 93 | M A R C H 2 014
>>ALUM NUS CO LUM N
A song of wise and higher: A game of chairs
Although I’m writing this alumnus column, I have
never identified myself with alumni before. In
that sense, I’m coming out of a closet.
I am a research scientist, and of several
professions I have tried, it is the best by far!
Academia can be a whimsical patroness though.
You are ideally supposed to enter the field as
a promovendus and exit it as emeritus. Yet, a
majority of people wander through a network of
interconnecting passages, sometimes never to
emerge; such kind can often be called alumnus.
More worrisome is another type, the bogus, that
uses a backdoor to get in.
Academic careers sometimes remind me of
the scene in Kill Bill where Beatrix has to climb
long stone stairs to reach a martial arts master
– if that doesn’t ring a bell, you may prefer Kung
Fu Panda, which contains a similar scene. Most
of you will realize how it compares to getting a
Ph.D. The road may be long and hard, and the
goal may seem distant at times, but you learn a
lot about yourself and your particular trade on
the way. Fortunately, the end is clear and welldefined: the Ivory Tower is waiting at the top,
and a joyous bunch of people who made the
journey before you are waiting to hail you with
some deserved fanfare. In that context, BCN is
your local tour operator.
I made it there, and am one of those people
cheering you in.
But now let me be frank and reveal that once
you enter the Ivory Tower, you will find that you
are on a floor with more stairs to explore. They
tend to be shorter, but where they lead is usually
much less clear. To other stairs, likely. I have been
told that at some point there is an enchanted
path you can follow, the Tenured Track, that
will eventually lead to an idyllic penthouse
where you will be endowed with your very own
professorial chair. There is lore of other ways
leading there as well, but fate diverted me down
a corridor to another tower. So far, I have visited
five keeps, a few in the Netherlands, including
Groningen, and a few abroad. At the moment
I find myself in Nottingham, imitating its most
legendary son Robin Hood: stealing knowledge
from the wise to benefit the ignorant (equating
that to myself, for convenience).
I encourage you all to try alike for a while.
Don’t go up the first ladder you see, but have a
look around the place. You will learn that your
own Ivory Tower is part of a much bigger Snowy
Castle. The great benefit of visiting its other
rooms and gardens is not so much that they
are necessarily more beautiful or comfortable.
The point is that from there you have a fresh
perspective on the tower you came from. You
will meet other travelers that have been in
mythical places. Moreover, you cannot really
value any room if you don’t have something to
compare it to.
Some people sadly get lost on the way and
never find their way back, and some happily
choose not to stay; there are many exits one can
take. Lately, a few people have started slipping
in through backdoors too, sometimes riding fast
elevators to the top floor. At my own alma mater,
I remember a case involving one Professor
Buck; in the Groninger part of the Castle, a dark
lord Stapel sneaked around. Somehow, these
folks don’t quite get that the true value is in the
journey, not in the destination. Admittedly, that
it is an almost platonic notion that I regularly
need to remind myself of as well.
In my view, some of the trespassing is caused
by gatekeepers to our bastion who lure smoothtalking crooks in rather than guard the doors.
Yet, despite the flaws, I believe academia will
conquer. It has been around for more than two
millennia. The formula works; a present day fad
is not going to impact that factor. Somewhere
overseas, dragons are rising that free slaves and
topple masters. That last book hasn’t yet been
written, but let’s choose our allegiance and carry
that banner proudly!
“My name is Dave Langers, I am an alumnus,
and you are welcome to join me.” There, I said it.
Epilogue: This has been a fairytale in which I
perhaps took the metaphor a bit too far, making
it as shallow as it is deep. The thing about
wisdom is that we all must suffer to accumulate
it ourselves. If you doubt your decision to book
onto this stairway to heaven, take some time to
enjoy the journey whenever you can. But know
that I find it a marvelous road to travel!
■■ BY DAVE L ANGERS
■■ PHOTOS BY DAVE L ANGERS
14 | 32
B C N N E W S L E T T E R 93 | M A R C H 2 014
The human brain project: Lost in dynamic networking
Wouldn’t it be great if we could
simulate an entire human brain?
We would be able to understand
human cognition, we could find
solutions to the many brain
diseases, we would finally know
what consciousness is!
The European Union recently launched a 1 billion Euro
mega-science flagship project that aims to do just
that: simulate an entire human brain, at many different
levels of complexity. On Friday, January 24th 2014, NWO
organized a meeting in The Hague to inform Dutch
researchers about possibilities to participate in the
Human Brain Project (HBP; www.humanbrainproject.eu).
Five researchers from Groningen went to this meeting
to get more concrete information as well as to hear
how they might be able to participate in this innovative
science project.
Unfortunately, after an afternoon of talks, it was still
not really clear how interested researchers might join,
either because it’s not yet clear when calls will open,
what their topics will be, nor how much money will be
available within such calls. For example, there is a notion
of “associate members”. It is unclear what those are, and
it may even be the case that being an associate member
of the HBP might mean that you will not be able to
compete for future funding in the HBP – the EU’s ways
are inscrutable …
Currently in its so-called “ramp-up phase”, the HBP
still has many loose ends. Many decisions about its
concrete implementation still have to be decided on. In
fact, it seems that even the funding and its distribution
after the ramp-up phase of the project still have to be
decided on by the European Commission.
Ultimately, of course, the Groningen group (and
other researchers) came to hear ‘what’s in it for us’.
Unfortunately, as a result of the many open questions,
we still don’t know (even the Groningen researcher (NP)
who’s already a task leader still doesn’t know). There
was a first open call last October to submit projects (350
submissions (25 from NL, 2 from Groningen)), of which
only about 15 will be awarded ;-(. A next call may be
announced by the end of 2014. So, a lot of questions
remain.
A few useful tidbits of information did come out:
• NWO has promised to distribute the presentations
that were given during this information meeting,
and to inform the attendees of any important new
developments.
• NWO has set up a FLAG-ERA (European Research
Area) with national science foundations of other
countries. Together, they will open a call in 2014 for
projects (but only 0,75MEuro (i.e. three PhD projects)
for Dutch projects).
• They will also communicate relevant NWO-funded
projects to HBP. Therefore, a tip for aspiring Rubicon,
VENI, VIDI, or VICI applicants: it seems NWO would
like to be able to connect new projects from other
funding instruments to the HBP. It may therefore not
hinder to mention in your application how your ideas
and projects would connect to the HBP. (The idea was
described as an entire flotilla escorting the flagship.)
The NWO representative who is responsible for this is
Moniek Lijster ([email protected]).
• The project initially launched as an ICT project,
building upon the ‘Blue Brain Project’
(http://bluebrain.epfl.ch/). That explains the strong
focus on computing and imaging. Nevertheless, there
are also large chunks about cognition, modeling, and
medical science that are expected to become more
important from 2015 onwards.
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B C N N E W S L E T T E R 93 | M A R C H 2 014
>> CO N T I N UAT I O N O F T H E H U M A N B R A I N P R OJ E C T: LO S T I N DY N A M I C N E T W O R K I N G
• Given that this is an ICT project, there was also a talk
on high-performance computing. This was the most
entertaining talk of the afternoon, and one word
stuck: “Jungle-computing”. It was a description of
how to best combine very many different computing
resources (cell-phones to large exa-scale (10^18;
www.exascale.org) clusters) for large-scale projects
(Hmmmm, or maybe it does describe how the brain
computes?).
Re -introducing a new staf f writer :
>>AN N I K A LUCK MAN N
Will the project succeed? As one of the presenters
concluded: “It’s a dream”. One can interpret this
negatively, as in “In your dreams”, or positively, as in
“Science is all about posing seemingly impossible
questions and dreaming that one day we will know the
answer”.
During the tea break, we discussed whether it would
be useful to set-up a “Groningen Brain Project”
which would keep interested researchers informed,
follow developments in the big HBP, and maybe
even mobilize local resources. This seems particularly
important because one of the main messages of NWO
this afternoon was that an important strategy for
becoming part of HBP is making sure that your research
is indispensable for them, and making sure that they
know. Interested researchers can send an email to:
Michiel Hooiveld, [email protected]
■■ FRANS CORNELISSEN
■■ N ATA S H A M AU R I T S
■■ MONICQUE LORIST
■■ MARIEKE VAN VUGT
While completing my Behavioural and Cognitive Neuroscience research
master’s, I decided to become a writer for the BCN newsletter. I really
enjoyed writing and conducting interviews, but after a while wanted to
focus on my studies. So I left the newsletter in December 2012.
Last September I started my PhD at the UMCG under the supervision
of Deniz Baskent and Jacob Jolij. I am working on auditory perception
and, more specifically, on the use of neurofeedback as a training tool
for cochlear implant patients. After having been absent for the last
four newsletters, I felt like all the interesting meetings and symposia I
have been to in the last couple of months would make great articles. I
therefore decided to join the newsletter team again and luckily the team
once again welcomed me with open arms and I am very excited to be
back.
■■ NICOLAI PETKOV
■■ P H O TO BY K AT H R I N LU C K M A N N D E LO P E Z
16 | 32
B C N N E W S L E T T E R 93 | M A R C H 2 014
After work: André Aleman
Although we may be spending as much time with
our colleagues as with our family, quite often we
know relatively little about what they are up to after
work. What do our colleagues do in order to relax,
release the tension, and charge up the batteries for
another day in the lab? We decided to get personal
in the hope to surprise and inspire you! In this issue,
we are glad to have Professor André Aleman talking
about his life after work with us.
such as hallucinations in schizophrenia, is internationally
renowned. His current research focuses on the cognitive and
neural bases of apathy and was awarded an ERC grant for his
project ‘Apathy in schizophrenia: time for a DRASTIC (Dual
Routes to Apathy in Schizophrenia: Treatment, Imaging,
Cognition) study’.
Who is André?
André after work
As a professor, you must have much work to deal with
every day. What would you do after work to relax? What
are your tips to balance life and work?
André Aleman (1975) is a professor of Cognitive Neuropsychiatry
at the Department of Neurosciences of the UMCG and the
Department of Psychology of the University of Groningen.
Shortly after having gained his PhD cum laude, he was awarded
a VIDI grant by NWO to conduct research into emotional disorders
in schizophrenia. In 2006 he was awarded a European Young
Investigator Award by the European Science Foundation for
research into decreased illness awareness in psychotic
disorders. His research into psychiatric disorders of perception,
First, I usually ride home by bike which is 25 minutes of mental
relaxation. Then I enjoy dinner with my family. Early evening
I get our youngest two children to bed and have a chat with
them about their day. I might listen to music or make music and I
usually work one or two hours on my laptop in the living room. To
balance life and work I think you should spend time with family
and friends and do some sports activity every week. I spend very
little time watching TV, so that saves time for more interesting
activities. And I don’t work on Sundays.
Andre as a scientist
Andre with two sons on the beach
I heard that you are interested in kungfu (A surprise for
me). How long have you been interested in that? What’s
the most amazing thing of kungfu for you? Do you have
any kungfu idols?
Yes, I practice martial arts: karate and jiu-jitsu. Karate is Japanese,
but was developed from Chinese Kungfu. I started at the age of 13.
The most amazing thing is that you learn how to coordinate complex movement patterns with your body, it also involves focus and
concentration (and a kind of mindfulness) and at the same time it can
be used for self-defense! I don’t have any particular idols, but famous
people like Bruce Lee and the old Japanese masters can be inspiring.
You have five kids, right? That’s a huge family, cool! What
is your favourite way of spending time with them?
I like to go to the beach with them, like last year when we went
to Spain. They also like me to join them by bike to the city on a
Saturday and then end up at McDonalds…
■■ BY LIWEN ZHANG
■■ PHOTOS BY ANDRÉ ALEMAN
Andre as karateka
17 | 32
B C N Participation
N E W S L E T TinEboth
R 9 3parts
| M is
A Rplanned
C H 2 0at
1 4once, so you know well in advance when
the course is going to take place.
By Frans Cornelissen and Natasha Maurits
[Illustrations:]
The Project Management Course revisited
> How do I realistically plan a project?
> How do I keep an overview over my project?
> How can I get other people to do their tasks?
> How do I deal with unexpected extra tasks?
Project
part II:
Project Management
Management Course
Course part
As of Spring 2014, the PMC will be taught in a new way. To get you
jump-started on your project, you will participate in the first part
(PMC I) already within the first three months of starting your PhD.
In PMC I you will learn – largely hands-on – what the requirements
are to obtain a PhD degree, basic project management and
planning skills, principles of time-management, prioritizing and
some communication skills.
Project Management Course part II
>H
ow do I prioritize writing and publishing
finished experiments over starting new ones?
These are just some of the questions participants in previous
project-management courses had. For most PhD students, at
least some of these questions will be only too familiar. If not,
you probably have only just started your project, you have not
allowed yourself to think about these issues (yet), or you are the
exceptional super researcher (rare, but not impossible).
The Project Management Course (PMC) is one of those obligatory
BCN courses. It costs you a lot of time (at least 2.5 days!) that you
cannot spend on your actual thesis work. Is it worth your time?
Let’s see what participants wrote afterwards:
>“Did not expect much of the course, but actually learned many
useful things”.
>“It’s good to take time to think about your project and
planning”.
>“We got a lot of individual attention for our project and needs”.
>“I learned a lot about the views and experiences of other PhD
students”.
>“Very useful course, wish I had done it sooner”.
By the end of your first year, you will participate in the second
part (PMC II). Here, you will discuss the progress in your project,
make a detailed plan for the next few months, and a plan for the
remaining years of your project, Moreover, we will offer a number
of additional tools and exercises to think about your project, your
collaborators, and your own role in your project. On an individual
basis, tutors will remain available for feedback for the remainder
of your PhD project.
Please contact Janine Wieringa (BNC office; janine.wieringa@
umcg.nl) to get more information, and to enroll in the course (if
you have not yet received an invitation). Participation in both
parts is planned at once, so you know well in advance when the
course is going to take place.
■■ BY FRANS CORNELISSEN AND
N ATA S H A M AU R I T S
Project Management Course part II:
18 | 32
2014 BCN New Year’s meeting
This year’s BCN New Year’s meeting took place on February 6. The
now traditional forum discussion was organized, a large number of
posters were presented, and the BCN New Year’s Lecture was held
by Gáspár Jékely from the Max Planck Institute at the University of
Tübingen. Last but not least, the following prizes were awarded:
Winner of the BCN Dissertation Award
The winner of the BCN Dissertation Award 2012-2013 was Koen Haak. His dissertation,
entitled “Computational neuroimaging of visual field loss” was chosen as the best of
the 11 nominated theses. Koen was a PhD student at the Ophthalmology Department.
There was an honourable mention for Jacolien van Rij, Reinhard Rössler, and Elise
Verhagen, whose theses were also on the jury’s shortlist of the best dissertations that
were defended during Academic Year 2011/2012.
Winner of the BCN Summary Award
Esther Opmeer, former PhD student at the NeuroImaging Center, was the winner
of the BCN Summary Award 2012-2013. Her summary was chosen as the best of the
submitted summaries. The title of her dissertation is “Linking depression. Longitudinal
and neuroimaging genetic studies in major depressive disorder”. All nominations are
printed in the booklet “To the Point”. Please contact me if you would like to receive a
copy.
Winners of the BCN Poster Awards
Nienke Meulman (1st place), Selma Papegaaij (2nd place), and Menno Nijboer (3rd
place) won the BCN Poster Prizes. The poster by Mandy Koopman was selected as the
best master student poster that was presented during the day.
Congratulations!
■■ BY DIANA KOOPMANS
■■ PHOTOS BY SANDER MARTENS AND MICHIEL HOOIVELD
B C N N E W S L E T T E R 93 | M A R C H 2 014
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>> CO N T I N UAT I O N O F T H E 2014 B C N N E W Y E A R ’ S M E E T I N G
B C N N E W S L E T T E R 93 | M A R C H 2 014
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>> CO N T I N UAT I O N O F T H E 2014 B C N N E W Y E A R ’ S M E E T I N G
B C N N E W S L E T T E R 93 | M A R C H 2 014
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>>G R AN D STU FF
University Amsterdam) and Prof. Oliver Tucha
(RUG), awarded the € 1.000 prize to Robin for
his master thesis titled “ Extending Biologicallyinspired Computer Vision: A Study on Applying
Computer Graphics and Higher-order Statistics
in HMAX”. Along with this prize, he was invited
to publish a paper in the journal “Psyche and
Brein” (“Mind and Brain”), and will get assistance
in preparing a manuscript on his work for the
journal “Scientific American”.
Robin graduated summa cum laude in the
BCN Research Master programme of 2011-2013,
and is currently continuing his research in the
Department of Experimental Psychology.
Honorary Doctorate
As we announced in the previous issue of the
BCN Newsletter, Prof. Paul Luiten received an
honorary doctorate from Semmelwies University
in Budapest on November 15th 2013. Prof.
Luiten has done several BCN research projects in
collaboration with Hungarian colleagues.
He retired last year.
Staff writer wins national MSc Thesis
award
We are proud to report that our BCN Newsletter
staff writer Robin Mills has won the national
MSc Thesis Award for Cognitive Neurosciences!
The jury, consisting of Prof Albert Postma
(University of Utrecht), Prof. Astrid Kappers (Free
Cochlear implant research
stimulated by EU…
The European FP7 programmes is
supporting the project “Mental and Auditory
Representations of Speech in Cochlear Implants
(CI)“(short MARCI). This Marie Curie fellowship
has been awarded to Dr. Anita Wagner and is
hosted by Prof. Deniz Başkent. MARCI will study
how speech processing by CI users fits into the
architecture of models of speech perception
and lexical access. The aim is to investigate
sources of individual variability in CI users by
relating the findings to what is known about
native versus non-native perception of speech.
This project combines psycholinguistic methods
with the engineering and medical expertise at
the KNO Department of the UMCG. Also see the
interactive double interview on page 2 of this
Newsletter.
…and by cochlear implant
manufacturer
Advanced Bionics GmbH and the Graduate
School of Medical Sciences will share the
funding of a “2+2” PhD project led by Dr. Etienne
Gaudrain and Prof. Deniz Başkent. Advanced
Bionics is the second most important cochlear
implant manufacturer in the world. The aim of
the project is to investigate and develop new
methods to optimize the settings of cochlear
implants in order to facilitate voice identification
and enhance speech perception in noisy
situations. The project will mostly take place
within the ENT department of the UMCG, in close
collaboration with the Cochlear Implant team
Noord Nederland (CiNN, http://www.ci.umcg.nl).
The company will also be directly involved as
research will also take place at Advanced Bionics’
European Research Centre in Hanover.
More information
Dr. Etienne Gaudrain, UMCG KNO
http://www.rug.nl/staff/e.p.c.gaudrain/
Also see the interactive double interview on
page 2 of this Newsletter.
Have you recently received any grants, prizes, or
remarkable media coverage? Please let us know
([email protected]) and we will try to
cover it here!
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>>PH D AN D OTH E R N EWS
Hora Finita
BCN expects that all PhD students and
promotors have logged in to Hora Finita to
check if the information is correct. If there are
mistakes, contact the HR department or BCN
Office.
BCN advises the PhD students to fill in all
the educational activities except for courses
organized by BCN.
Agenda BCN Activities
March 10-14, 2014
Brain Awareness week!
March 12, 2014
BCN Publieksmiddag “Brein in Beweging”
March 20 & 21, 2014
BCN Retreat: Changed dates
March 27, 2014
BCN Investigators meeting
June 18/19 & 24/25, 2014
BCN Statistics Course
Credits
Maximum1
Seminars/Journal clubs
0.1/seminar or JC
2 EC
Presenting data at international conferences (orally and poster)
0.5/conf
0.5/conf
0.5/prize
Workshops/Master classes /Summer school
Invited lecture outside institute Prize for best abstract/poster/presentation
6 EC
< 10,000 Euro
0.5 EC
10,000 <> 30,000 Euro
1 EC
> 30,000 Euro
2 EC
Supervised reviewing of manuscripts (2)
1 EC/2 ms
3 EC
Research stay abroad (minimum 2 weeks)
4 EC
Depending on time invested (28 hrs per EC)
4 EC
Is granted only in very special occasions.
Prior to the visit to the Dutch lab, the supervisor and PhD student
must - with arguments - appeal for granting with the PhD
education committee of the Research institute.
Stay in Dutch lab
Other academic activities
GSMS PhD council
GSMS educational committee
Research Institute’s PhD councils
1 EC/yr
1 EC/yr
6 EC
1 EC/conf
Depending on time invested and agreements within Research
Institutes
Organisation of scientific meeting (symposium/ conference)
Teaching/Student supervision
Tutor/mentor
Please add: Are you on Facebook? Then expect
an invitation to the new BCN Community Group
in the near future!
Lecture
[email protected]
Depending on time and literature (28 hrs per EC)
Granted project proposal – 1st author:
Check the website for detailed information.
■■ BY DIANA KOOPMANS
remarks
Depending on time Medical Education
Medical Sciences invested
Coach scientific master thesis
Definitions:
1 Maximum EC for full time 4 years PhD students, 3 and 2 years students accordingly less
2 Teaching can be for medical as well as other students at university level
4 EC
According to Institute for Multiplier
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>>PROMOTIO NS
The traumatized brain. Gray and
white matter morphology in
dissociative identity disorder and
posttraumatic stress disorder
P R O M O V E N D U S
S. Chalavi
P R O E F S C H R I F T
The traumatized brain. Gray and white matter
morphology in dissociative identity disorder and
posttraumatic stress disorder
Trauma veroorzaakt dissociatieve
identiteitsstoornis
De hersenen van mensen met een dissocia­
tieve identiteitsstoornis (DIS, eerder: meer­
voudige persoonlijkheidsstoornis) of een
posttraumatische stressstoornis zien er anders
uit dan die van mensen zonder zo’n stoornis.
De verhouding tussen grijze en witte stof is
afwijkend in bepaalde gebieden, waaronder de
hippocampus. Dat concludeert Sima Chalavi in
haar promotieonderzoek.
P R O M O T O R E S
Prof.dr. A. Aleman
Prof.dr. D.J. Veltman
C O - P R O M O T O R
Dr. A.T.T.S. Reinders
Er bestaan twee visies op het ontstaan van DIS.
Sommige wetenschappers stellen dat deze
wordt veroorzaakt door een ernstig trauma in de
jeugd, anderen menen dat patiënten – bewust
of onbewust – hun andere identiteitsstaat
simuleren. Neurowetenschappelijk bewijs
voor de eerste stelling was er niet. Chalavi
vergeleek daarom met behulp van MRI-scans
de verhouding tussen witte en grijze stof in
de hersenen van mensen met DIS, met een
posttraumatische stressstoornis en die van een
gezonde controlegroep.
Op basis van de scans concludeert Chalavi
dat mensen met DIS of een posttraumatische
stressstoornis een aantal afwijkingen vertonen
in de grijze stof van de frontale, temporale
en insulaire cortex en de hippocampus. Ook
ontdekte ze dat een aantal belangrijke bundels
van vezels, betrokken bij het reguleren van
emoties, bij deze twee groepen een lagere
witte stof integriteit laten zien, en dat de
afwijkingen aan de hippocampus een correlatie
vertonen met jeugdtrauma. Deze bevindingen
ondersteunen de stelling dat DIS door een
trauma veroorzaakt wordt.
Sima Chalavi (Iran, 1981) studeerde
Biomedical Engineering aan de Amir Kabir
University of Technology, Teheran, Iran.
Zij verrichtte haar promotieonderzoek bij
de afdeling Neurowetenschappen van het
Universitair Medisch Centrum Groningen
en het Institute of Psychiatry, King’s College,
Londen. Het onderzoek maakt deel uit van het
onderzoeksproject ‘Neuroimaging Dissociative
Identity Disorder’ en werd gefinancierd door
■■ PHOTO BY SANDER MARTENS
NWO en de International Society for the
Study of Trauma and Dissociation (ISSTD). Zij
promoveerde op 28 oktober 2013.
The treatment of panic disorder.
Psychotherapy, pharmacotherapy,
or the two combined?
P R O M O V E N D U S
F.J. van Apeldoorn
P R O E F S C H R I F T
The treatment of panic disorder. Psychotherapy,
pharmacotherapy, or the two combined?
P R O M O T O R
Prof.dr. J.A. den Boer
C O - P R O M O T O R
Dr. W.J.P.J. van Hout
Dr. P.P.A. Mersch
De behandeling van paniekstoornis:
Psychotherapie, Farmacotherapie of de
combinatie van beide?
Het doel van het onderzoek beschreven in
dit proefschrift is een bijdrage leveren aan
het optimaliseren van de behandeling van
paniekstoornis met of zonder agorafobie.
Het ondergaan van een paniekaanval is een
bijzonder nare ervaring. Plotseling, zonder
duidelijke aanleiding, treedt er angst op
waarna de angst snel oploopt en een piek
bereikt. Lichamelijke sensaties die optreden
zijn bijvoorbeeld hartkloppingen, trillen,
duizeligheid, een versnelde ademhaling en
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>> CO N T I N UAT I O N P R O M O T I O N S
een druk op de borst. Tijdens een paniekaanval
worden deze sensaties doorgaans als gevaarlijk
geïnterpreteerd. Mensen kunnen bijvoorbeeld
denken dat ze stikken, een hartaanval krijgen,
flauwvallen, de controle verliezen of gek
worden. Niet iedereen die wel eens een
paniekaanval heeft ervaren, ontwikkelt een
paniekstoornis. Mensen met een paniekstoornis
zijn ook tussen aanvallen door bijna
voortdurend bang voor volgende aanvallen of
bezorgd over de gevolgen van aanvallen. Als er
daarnaast sprake is van vermijding van situaties
of plaatsen waar een volgende aanval zou
kunnen optreden spreken we van agorafobie.
Paniekstoornis kan dus zowel met als zonder
agorafobie voorkomen. Paniekstoornis
wordt behandeld met psychofarmaca of met
psychotherapie en soms ook met beide. Als er
gekozen wordt voor farmacotherapie is een
behandeling met een SSRI eerste keus; een
antidepressivum wat bij zowel depressie als
angst wordt voorgeschreven (SSRI staat voor
‘selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor’. In het
Nederlands: ‘selectieve serotonine heropname
remmer’). Wat psychotherapie betreft is
cognitieve gedragstherapie (CGT) eerste keus.
Franske van Apeldoorn (Groningen, 1973). Zij
promoveerde op 4 november 2013.
Individual differences in working
memory capacity: storage and
strategy
P R O M O V E N D U S
J.T. Mall
P R O E F S C H R I F T
Individual differences in working memory
capacity: storage and strategy
P R O M O T O R
Prof.dr. A. Johnson
C O - P R O M O T O R
Dr. C.C. Morey
Verschillen in geheugencapaciteit onderzocht
Jonathan Mall onderzocht de verschillen in
geheugencapaciteit van mensen. Sommige
mensen hebben een groter werkgeheugen dan
andere. Mall onderzocht of zij dan ook beter
presteren onder verschillende omstandigheden.
Dat bleek niet per definitie zo te zijn. Het lijkt
er op dat mensen een kleiner werkgeheugen
met verschillende strategieën compenseren,
bijvoorbeeld door zich beter te concentreren.
Mensen met een groter werkgeheugen kunnen
wel meer gericht hun langetermijngeheugen
doorzoeken.
Jonathan Mall (1983) deed zijn promotie­
onderzoek bij de afdeling Experimentele
en Arbeids­psychologie van de RUG, onder­
zoekschool BCN. Het werd gefinancierd door
NWO. Hij promoveerde op 7 november 2013.
■■ PHOTO BY BJÖRN KREFFT
The Groningen LCPUFA study.
Associations between neonatal and
early postnatal fatty acid status and
developmental outcome at 9 years
P R O M O V E N D U S
C. de Jong
P R O E F S C H R I F T
The Groningen LCPUFA study. Associations
between neonatal and early postnatal fatty acid
status and developmental outcome at 9 years
P R O M O T O R
Prof.dr. M. Hadders-Algra
Toevoeging vetzuren aan eerste flesvoeding
niet per se goed voor gezondheid
Of een kind zich in de schoolleeftijd
goed ontwikkelt, hangt niet zozeer af van
toegevoegde vetzuren aan flesvoeding
gedurende de eerste twee maanden, maar
van het dieet van de moeder voor en tijdens
de zwangerschap. Wanneer dit dieet rijk is
aan het omega-3 vetzuur docosahexaeenzuur
(DHA) laten kinderen op negenjarige leeftijd
een betere motorische ontwikkeling zien.
Dat concludeert Corina de Jong in haar
promotieonderzoek. Zij bestudeerde het effect
van twee groepen toegevoegde vetzuren (DHA
en arachidonzuur, AA) in flesvoeding op de
latere ontwikkeling van het kind.
Wetenschappers veronderstellen dat de
toevoeging van DHA en AA aan de eerste
flesvoeding een positief effect heeft op de
vroege ontwikkeling van het kind. De Jong
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>> CO N T I N UAT I O N P R O M O T I O N S
onderzocht de effecten van de toegevoegde
vetzuren op de ontwikkeling van negenjarigen.
Ze keek daarvoor naar hun motorische,
cognitieve en emotionele ontwikkeling, en naar
lengte, gewicht, hoofdomtrek, bloeddruk en
hartslag.
Core stability in soccer: it’s a matter
of control!
P R O M O V E N D U S
A.J. Borghuis
P R O E F S C H R I F T
Core stability in soccer: it’s a matter of control!
De promovenda concludeert dat de
toevoeging van DHA en AA aan flesvoeding
geen eenduidig voordeel oplevert voor de
ontwikkeling. De vetzuren bleken alleen nuttig
voor de kinderen van moeders die tijdens
de zwangerschap rookten. Het nadeel dat
kinderen ervaren door het roken van hun
moeder tijdens de zwangerschap leek door
het toevoegen van de vetzuren grotendeels
gecompenseerd te worden. Belangrijker dan
de toevoeging van DHA aan flesvoeding is
volgens de promovenda de voeding van de
moeder voor de geboorte van haar kind. Ze
concludeert dat op basis van het DHA-niveau in
de navelstreng. Het onderzoek bevestigt tot slot
dat borstvoeding een klein positief effect laat
zien op de ontwikkeling van de hersenen en het
cardiovasculair systeem.
Corina de Jong (Heerenveen, 1980) studeerde
psychologie aan de Rijksuniversiteit Groningen.
Zij verrichtte haar promotieonderzoek bij de
afdeling Ontwikkelingsneurologie van het
Universitair Medisch Centrum Groningen. Het
onderzoek werd gefinancierd door de EU. De
Jong werkt als postdoc onderzoeker in het
UMCG. Zij promoveerde op 13 november 2013.
■■ PHOTO BY GERDA DE VOOGD
P R O M O T O R E S
Prof.dr. K.A.P.M. Lemmink
Prof.dr. C. Visscher
C O - P R O M O T O R
Dr. A.L. Hof
Amateurvoetballers reageren sneller op
verstoring van balans dan niet-sporters
De rompspieren van amateurvoetballers
reageren sneller op een plotselinge
verstoring van de balans dan de rompspieren
van niet-sporters. Met een specifiek
trainingsprogramma is het bovendien mogelijk
om de balanshandhaving en wendbaarheid van
veelbelovende jonge voetballers te vergroten.
Dat zijn twee van de conclusies van het
promotieonderzoek van Jan Borghuis.
Het begrip core stability (rompstabiliteit) wordt
volgens Borghuis vaak verschillend gebruikt en
geïnterpreteerd. In het eerste deel van zijn proefschrift bracht hij daarom in kaart wat er onder
core stability wordt verstaan en doet hij een
voorstel voor een universeel bruikbare definitie.
Vervolgens ontwikkelde hij een methode om
rompstabiliteit te meten. Tijdens een zitbalanstest, die werd afgenomen terwijl de proefpersonen op een instabiele balansstoel zaten, werd
de balans in meerdere richtingen verstoord om
spierreactietijden en bewegingsdata te kunnen
onderzoeken. De rompspieren van tien voetballers bleken sneller te reageren dan die van elf
minder actieve, niet-voetballers.
Op basis van de resultaten van deze en een
volgende test ontwikkelde Borghuis een
meetmethode waarmee het effect wordt
gemeten van oefeningen op de vaardigheid
om de romp te stabiliseren. Hij concludeert
dat een speciaal trainingsprogramma positieve
effecten laat zien, maar dat er geen significante
verschillen aangetoond werden tussen de
groep die het programma volgde en een
controlegroep (samen negentig jeugdige
profvoetballers). Verder onderzoek kan volgens
hem bijdragen aan het ontwikkelen van
effectieve trainingsprogramma’s voor betere
prestaties en minder blessures.
Jan Borghuis (Kampen, 1985) studeerde
Bewegingswetenschappen aan de
Rijksuniversiteit Groningen. Hij verrichtte
zijn promotieonderzoek bij het Interfacultair
Centrum voor Bewegingswetenschappen
van het Universitair Medisch Centrum
Groningen. Het onderzoek werd gefinancierd
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>> CO N T I N UAT I O N P R O M O T I O N S
als MD/PhD-traject van de Junior Scientific
Masterclass (UMCG). Borghuis werkt als
inspanningsfysioloog/fysiek trainer bij
voetbalclub FC Twente. Hij promoveerde op
13 november 2013.
■■ PHOTO BY BERT OTTEN
Growth of preterm-born children
P R O M O V E N D U S
I.F.A. Bocca-Tjeertes
P R O E F S C H R I F T
Growth of preterm-born children
P R O M O T O R E S
Prof.dr. A.F. Bos
Prof.dr. S.A. Reijneveld
C O - P R O M O T O R
Bocca-Tjeertes ontwikkelde, samen met haar
collega’s en op basis van een omvangrijk
gegevensbestand, groeidiagrammen voor
mild en ernstig vroeggeboren kinderen. Haar
conclusie: die groei verloopt echt anders dan die
van op tijd geborenen.
Weliswaar vindt er inhaalgroei plaats, maar die
is beperkt tot het eerste jaar na de geboorte
en kan de gevolgen van vroeggeboorte
niet helemaal compenseren. Dat geldt
voor te vroeg geboren kinderen met en
zonder groeivertraging bij de geboorte.
Wel zorgt groeivertraging bij de geboorte
voor een twee keer hoger risico op een
ontwikkelingsachterstand. Om de groei goed
te monitoren, pleit Bocca-Tjeertes ervoor om
aangepaste groeidiagrammen te gebruiken
en om de groei steeds te verbinden met de
individuele geboortegegevens.
Dr. A.F. de Winter
Groei van vroeggeboren kinderen verloopt
anders dan die van op tijd geborenen
Kinderen die te vroeg geboren zijn (voor de
37ste zwangerschapsweek) groeien volgens
een ander patroon dan kinderen die op tijd
zijn geboren. Ze moeten daarom niet, zoals
de Wereld Gezondheidsorganisatie WHO wil,
beschouwd worden als op tijd geborenen.
Dat concludeert Inger Bocca-Tjeertes in haar
promotieonderzoek.
De vooruitzichten van kinderen die te vroeg
of veel te vroeg (voor de 32 ste week) geboren
worden, zijn door verbeterde neonatale zorg
steeds beter. Hoewel vroeggeboortes steeds
vaker voorkomen, zijn er weinig gegevens over
de groei van premature baby´s beschikbaar.
Inger Bocca-Tjeertes (Hilversum,
1979) studeerde Geneeskunde aan de
Universiteit Maastricht. Zij verrichtte
haar promotieonderzoek bij de afdeling
Neonatologie (Beatrix kinderziekenhuis)
van het Universitair Medisch Centrum
Groningen. De studie maakt deel uit
van een samenwerkingsverband tussen
de UMCG-afdelingen Neonatologie en
Sociale Geneeskunde. Het onderzoek werd
gefinancierd door het Beatrix kinderziekenhuis,
de afdeling Sociale Geneeskunde, Friso
Kindervoeding b.v., Pfizer Europe b.v.,
FrieslandCampina, de Cornelia Stichting, de
Nederlandse Hersenstichting en het A. Bulk
JGZ-onderzoeksfonds. Bocca-Tjeertes is in
opleiding tot kinderarts in het UMCG. Zij
promoveerde op 20 november 2013.
Dawn, light at night and the
clock. Impact on human alertness,
performance and physiology
P R O M O V E N D U S
M. van de Werken
P R O E F S C H R I F T
Dawn, light at night and the clock. Impact on
human alertness, performance and physiology
P R O M O T O R
Prof.dr. D.G.M. Beersma
C O - P R O M O T O R
Dr. M.C.M. Gordijn
Geel licht gezonder tijdens nachtdienst
In onze huidige 24 uur maatschappij zijn er
steeds meer mensen wakker op tijdstippen
waarop ons lichaam liever zou willen slapen.
Werken tijdens de nacht, laat opblijven
’s nachts voor een feest, vroeg opstaan in de
ochtend voor werk, of door tijdzones vliegen,
is veelvoorkomend gedrag dat in conflict staat
met onze lichamelijke voorkeur voor slaap/waak
verdeling over de 24 uur. Onze biologische
klok in de hersenen, op tijd gezet door
lichtinformatie van met name de zon, regelt
onze 24 uurs ritmiek in fysiologie en gedrag.
Het kan dus zijn dat je lichaam gereed gemaakt
wordt om te slapen, maar het midden op de
dag is omdat je net van Amsterdam naar New
York gevlogen bent. Individuele verschillen in
afstemming en periode van de biologische klok
zorgen er voor dat mensen verschillen in de tijd
dat zij het liefst slapen of opstaan. Dit maakt
bepaalde mensen minder of meer geschikt
voor werk op bepaalde tijdstippen van de dag.
Niet iedereen zal werken in nachtdienst of in de
vroege ochtend kunnen verdragen. Hierdoor
zullen veel mensen kiezen voor werk dat
uitgevoerd wordt op tijdstippen die het beste
passen bij hun voorkeur voor de tijdstippen
waarop zij wakker willen zijn.
Desalniettemin zijn er veel mensen die in
nachtdiensten werken of doordeweeks vroeger
op moeten staan dan zij zouden willen. Wakker
zijn op momenten waarop men liever zou slapen
kan gevolgen hebben voor de alertheid, iets wat
de kans op fouten en op ongelukken verhoogt.
Met behulp van licht kan de alertheid worden
verhoogd. Met name blauw licht, licht met een
korte golflengte, is effectief in het verhogen van
een gevoel van activatie en het verminderen
van slaperigheid. Vooral tijdens werken in de
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>> CO N T I N UAT I O N P R O M O T I O N S
nacht kan licht een belangrijke rol spelen in het
wakker en alert houden van mensen. Hierdoor
kan de productiviteit hoger komen te liggen
en vermindert de kans op ongelukken/fouten
veroorzaakt door vermoeidheid.
Maan van de Werken (1978) verrichte haar
onderzoek bij de afdeling Chronobiologie. Zij
promoveerde op 6 december 2013.
■■ PHOTO BY MIRRE SIMONS
Sexual coloration and aging
P R O M O V E N D U S
M.J.P. Simons
P R O E F S C H R I F T
Sexual coloration and aging
P R O M O T O R E S
Prof.dr. S. Verhulst
Prof.dr. A.G.G. Groothuis
Te sexy rode snavel of buik versnelt
veroudering
Mirre Simons deed onderzoek naar de relatie
tussen seksuele signalen, reproductieeigenschappen en verouderingssnelheid
bij zebravinken en stekelbaarzen. De door
carotenen rood gekleurde snavels van zebra­
vinken en buiken van stekelbaarsmannetjes
hebben een seksuele aantrekkingskracht. Men
kan het zien als ‘blosjes van gezondheid’, die
goede vooruitzichten bieden op een succesvolle
voortplanting (conceptie, nest- en broedzorg).
Zebravinken met een minder rode snavel dan
gemiddeld bleken inderdaad minder lang te
leven dan die met een ‘normaal’ aantrekkelijk
uiterlijk. Overdrijving kan echter fataal zijn.
Simons toont aan dat ook zebravinken met een
rodere snavel dan gemiddeld eerder sterven.
En een stekelbaarsmannetje dat voortdurend
bezig moet met het repareren van zijn nest – dat
steeds vernield wordt door de onderzoeker –
spaart zijn krachten door zich minder druk te
maken om zijn uiterlijk en de kleur van zijn buik
te laten vervalen.
De overlap in de hypotheses over de kosten
van reproductie, seksuele signalen en de
oorzaken van veroudering suggereert dat door
het bestuderen van één van deze aspecten,
vooruitgang geboekt kan worden in alle drie
de onderzoeksvelden. Om dit te bereiken
heeft Simons seksuele signalen bestudeerd
en manipulaties van reproductieve kosten
en carotenen uitgevoerd. De belangrijkste
voorspelling van de disposable soma (wegwerp
lichaam) theory, een evolutionair model van
veroudering, is dat verhoogde investering
in reproductie, veroudering versnelt. Bij
stekelbaarsmannetjes vond Simons inderdaad
dat testosteronverhoging en seksuele stimulatie,
de veroudering versnelt. De reden dat deze
effecten uitblijven tijdens een manipulatie
van nestbouw, kan zijn dat dit investering
van de stekelbaarsman in zijn seksuele
signaal verminderde. Zulke plasticiteit in het
herverdelen van kosten van reproductie kan een
reden zijn waarom deze niet altijd gevonden
worden.
Door middel van dierexperimenteel
onderzoek, comparatieve- en meta-analyse
vond Simons tevens bewijs voor kosten
van caroteenafhankelijke signalen, en voor
alternatieve fysiologische mechanismen
die ‘eerlijkheid’ van deze signalen kunnen
garanderen.
Over de veroudering van de rode buik
van de stekelbaars en snavelkleur van de
zebravink heeft hij mogelijk een universele
eigenschap van de demografie van veroudering
blootgelegd: een stabiliserende selectie op
de expressie van eigenschappen alvorens
veroudering inzet. Terminale effecten
in snavelkleur laten zien dat de snelheid
waarmee veroudering verloopt ineens sterk
kan versnellen: De snavel van een zebravink
bleek pas één jaar voor zijn dood te verbleken.
Deze en andere voorspellingen heeft Simons
getest door theoretische modellen van
veroudering toe te passen op twee metaanalyses uit de literatuur. Zoals het onderzoek
naar dieetrestrictie bij knaagdieren, die zorgt
voor een langer leven vanwege een langzamer
verouderingsproces.
Mirre Simons (1985) studeerde behavioural
and cognitive neurosciences aan de RUG, waar
hij zijn promotieonderzoek uitvoerde bij de
vakgroep Gedragsbiologie, van het Centre
for Behaviour and Neurosciences. Het werd
gefinancierd met een persoonlijke Toptalentbeurs van NWO. Inmiddels werkt hij als postdoc
bij de University of Sheffield (UK), in de groep
28 | 32
B C N N E W S L E T T E R 93 | M A R C H 2 014
>> CO N T I N UAT I O N P R O M O T I O N S
Fang Cui (Taiyuan, China, 1982) studeerde
Computer Wetenschappen aan de
Beijing Normal University. Zij voerde haar
promotieonderzoek uit bij het Neuroimaging
Center van het Universitair Medisch Centrum
Groningen (UMCG) en het Nederlands Instituut
voor Neurowetenschappen van de Koninklijke
Nederlandse Akademie van Wetenschappen
(KNAW). Het promotieonderzoek werd
gefinancierd door een VENI-beurs van de
NWO, een Marie Curie Excellence beurs van
de European Research Council en een beurs
van de Chinese Council for State Scholarships.
Na haar promotie gaat Cui als onderzoeker
werken bij het Institute of Affective and Scoial
Neuroscience aan de Shenzhen University in
China. Zij promoveerde op 9 december 2013.
Molecular Ecology, Department of Animal and
Plant Sciences. Hij promoveerde op 6 december
2013.
■■ PHOTO BY MIRRE SIMONS
Distinguishing and connecting self
and others. A social neuroscience
perspective
P R O M O V E N D U S
F. Cui
P R O E F S C H R I F T
Distinguishing and connecting self and others. A
social neuroscience perspective
P R O M O T O R
Prof.dr. C.M. Keysers
■■ PHOTO BY XINYUAN CUI
C O - P R O M O T O R
Dr. V. Gazzola
Hoe de hersenen ‘zelf’ en ‘ander’
onderscheiden
Het zien van de film “I am legend” met Will
Smith in de hoofdrol, laat toeschouwers
mogelijk heftige gevoelens van wanhoop en
eenzaamheid ervaren. De mens wordt geboren
als een sociaal dier. Daarom is het om te
overleven uiterst belangrijk om jezelf te kunnen
onderscheiden van anderen, maar ook om jezelf
met anderen te verbinden. “Hoe werkt het brein
wanneer we sociale functies uitvoeren?” Deze
vraag onderzoekt Fang Cui in haar proefschrift.
Cui gebruikte een combinatie van functionele
magnetische resonantie imaging (fMRI) en
elektro-encefalografie (EEG) technieken om te
onderzoeken hoe de hersenen onderscheid
Challenging the stability
of personality. Studies on
developmental plasticity in rodents
maken tussen zelf en de ander. Zij bestudeerde
bijvoorbeeld hoe ons brein onderscheid maakt
tussen actieve en passieve lichaamsbewegingen.
Ook legt ze uit hoe ze fMRI en EEG gebruikte om
uit te vinden hoe je de acties van anderen deelt,
waarom je pijn van anderen sterker ervaart
wanneer je volledig verantwoordelijk bent voor
hun lijden, dan wanneer je daar niet of slechts
deels verantwoordelijk voor bent, en waarom je
je beter voelt als je weet dat de lijdende persoon
een financiële compensatie heeft ontvangen
voor het lijden. Het proefschrift van Cui
ontrafelt een deel van het mysterie van onze
sociale aard.
P R O M O V E N D U S
G. Gracceva
P R O E F S C H R I F T
Challenging the stability of personality. Studies
on developmental plasticity in rodents
P R O M O T O R E S
Prof.dr. T.G.G. Groothuis
Prof.dr. J.M. Koolhaas
Stabiliteit persoonlijkheid en regulering
stresshormoon
Giulia Gracceva onderzocht bij knaagdieren hoe
vroeg in het leven persoonlijkheid verschijnt en
in hoeverre deze kan veranderen, bijvoorbeeld
als aanpassing aan omgevingscondities in
het begin van het leven. De laatste decennia
is duidelijk geworden dat ook dieren over
persoonlijkheid beschikken. Deze consistente
verschillen in gedrag tussen individuen gelijk
in geslacht en soort trekt veel aandacht van
gedragsecologen en evolutionair-biologen. Er
wordt vaak verondersteld dat de persoonlijkheid
relatief stabiel blijft tijdens het leven, maar
in hoeverre persoonlijkheid tijdens de
ontwikkeling kan veranderen is nog nauwelijks
bestudeerd.
Gracceva onderzocht bij wildtype ratten of
voeding, lichaam en hormonale toestand
van de moeder tijdens de zwangerschap
alsmede het aantal broers ten opzichte van
zusters, de persoonlijkheid van een jong
beïnvloeden. Daarnaast bestudeerde zij bij de
wilde veldmuis of deze in het vroege leven zijn
persoonlijkheid aanpast aan de wisseling van de
seizoenen. Tijden het voorjaar zijn er namelijk
29 | 32
B C N N E W S L E T T E R 93 | M A R C H 2 014
>> CO N T I N UAT I O N P R O M O T I O N S
sterke verschillen in de sociale omgeving en
voedselbeschikbaarheid voor een pasgeboren
dier.
Gracceva’s drie belangrijkste bevindingen
zijn: 1) In de wildtype-rat zijn belangrijke
gedragstrekken van persoonlijkheid – zoals
de mate van agressie en angst – relatief
ongevoelig voor de gemanipuleerde
omgevingsaspecten. Echter, een belangrijk
kenmerk van persoonlijkheid, de koppeling
tussen verschillende gedragingen (bijvoorbeeld:
agressieve dieren reageren anders op nietsociale stressoren dan niet-aggressieve dieren),
werd makkelijk verbroken door aspecifieke
omgevingsfactoren zoals het regelmatig
hanteren van de dieren. 2) In de veldmuis
was dit andersom, (wel effect op de expressie
van afzonderlijke gedragingen, maar niet
op de koppeling tussen deze gedragingen),
hetgeen het belang van vergelijkende studies
onderstreept, 3) Variatie in persoonlijkheid
is gerelateerd aan aan de regulering van het
stresshormoon corticosteron.
Giulia Gracceva (1981) studeerde biologie in
Rome, Italië en deed haar promotieonderzoek
aan de RUG, bij de vakgroep Behavioural
Physiology and Behavioural Biology van het
Center for Behaviour and Neurosciences (BCN).
Zij promoveerde op 13 december 2013.
The Bayley-III-NL special needs
addition. A suitable developmental
assessment instrument for young
children with special needs
P R O M O V E N D U S
L. Visser
■■ PHOTOS BY MAARTEN DE KOK
P R O E F S C H R I F T
The Bayley-III-NL special needs addition. A
suitable developmental assessment instrument
for young children with special needs
P R O M O T O R
Prof.dr. A.J.J.M. Ruijssenaars
C O - P R O M O T O R E S
Dr. M.E. Timmerman
Dr. S.A.J. Ruiter
Veelgebruikt instrument voor
ontwikkelingsdiagnostiek verbeterd
De meeste kinderen ontwikkelen zich in de
eerste jaren van hun leven volgens verwachting.
Bij een klein aantal is echter iets aan de
hand. In dat geval is het belangrijk dat goede
ontwikkelingsdiagnostiek plaatsvindt, zodat
de begeleiding van het kind kan aansluiten
bij de sterke en minder sterke punten in de
ontwikkeling.
Een veelgebruikt instrument voor
ontwikkelingsdiagnostiek is de Bayley-III-NL.
Deze blijkt echter niet voldoende geschikt
voor veel kinderen met een verstandelijke en/
of lichamelijke beperking. Het testmateriaal
is niet afgestemd op deze doelgroep en de
testresultaten leveren te weinig informatie op als
basis voor de begeleiding.
Linda Visser deed onderzoek naar de Special
30 | 32
B C N N E W S L E T T E R 93 | M A R C H 2 014
>> CO N T I N UAT I O N P R O M O T I O N S
Needs Addition (SNA) van de Bayley-III-NL. De
SNA komt tegemoet aan de beperkingen van de
Bayley-III-NL en bestaat uit de Low Motor/Vision
versie voor kinderen met een motorische en/
of visuele beperking, de Low Verbal versie voor
kinderen met een spraak-/taalbeperking en de
dynamische versie voor het vergroten van de
handelingsgerichtheid.
Images of healthy aging: functional
brain networks and selective
attention
interventies om ouderen langer aan het werk
te houden en goed te laten functioneren in de
dagelijkse omgeving.
P R O M O V E N D U S
Uit de resultaten blijkt dat de SNA-versie de
geschiktheid van de Bayley-III-NL voor kinderen
met specifieke beperkingen verbetert en het
instrument meer handelingsgericht maakt.
Op basis daarvan wordt de Bayley-III-NL-SNA
medio 2014 uitgegeven. Het instrument kan
dus daadwerkelijk in de praktijk gebruikt gaan
worden om de ontwikkeling van kinderen met
een verstandelijke en/of lichamelijke beperking
op een meer valide manier te onderzoeken dan
tot nu toe mogelijk was.
Linda Visser (Woerden, 1985) studeerde
Kinder- en Jeugdpsychologie aan de Universiteit
Utrecht en verrichtte haar promotieonderzoek
aan de RUG, onderzoeksschool BCN,
onderzoeksinstituut Pedok, afdeling
Orthopedagogiek. Het werd gefinancierd
door ZonMw. Ze blijft als universitair docent
werkzaam bij de afdeling Orthopedagogiek. Zij
promoveerde op 9 januari 2014.
P R O M O T O R E S
Linda Geerligs (Sneek, 1986) deed de Research
Master Behavioural and Cognitive Neurosciences
aan de Rijksuniversiteit Groningen en verrichtte
haar promotieonderzoek bij de afdeling
Experimentele Psychologie/Graduate School
voor Behavioral and Cognitive Neurosciences.
Dit onderzoek maakt deel uit van een bredere
lijn van onderzoek van haar promotors prof.
Monicque Lorist en prof. Natasha Maurits naar
gezond ouder worden (Healthy Ageing). Geerligs
is nu postdoc aan de Cognition and Brain
Sciences Unit van de Medical Research Council in
Cambridge, UK. Zij promoveerde cum laude op 9
januari 2014.
■■ P H O TO BY M AT H I E U VA N D E
WETERING
L. Geerligs
P R O E F S C H R I F T
Images of healthy aging: functional brain
networks and selective attention
Prof.dr. M.M. Lorist
Prof.dr. N.M. Maurits
Ouderen compenseren achteruitgang
hersenen
De samenwerking tussen verschillende
hersengebieden verandert als we ouder worden
en dit be?nvloedt het cognitief functioneren.
Linda Geerligs heeft deze veranderingen
onderzocht waarbij ze zich vooral heeft gericht
op de manier waarop we aandacht richten
op informatie uit onze omgeving die voor
ons belangrijk is, en onbelangrijke informatie
negeren zodat we daar niet door afgeleid
worden. De resultaten van dit onderzoek
laten zien dat het voor ouderen lastig is om
informatie te negeren die niet van belang is;
hoe ouder we worden hoe sterker we afgeleid
worden. Ouderen kunnen tot op zekere
hoogte achteruitgang in cognitief functioneren
voorkomen. Een goede voorbereiding op wat
komen gaat, bijvoorbeeld, kan helpen om
beter te presteren. Geerligs heeft gevonden
dat ouderen die goed presteren dat doen
door extra hersengebieden te activeren en
communicatie tussen specifieke hersengebieden
te versterken. Deze resultaten bieden nieuwe
aanknopingspunten voor het ontwikkelen van
31 | 32
B C N N E W S L E T T E R 93 | M A R C H 2 014
>> CO N T I N UAT I O N P R O M O T I O N S
Functional connectivity of the
primary somatosensory cortex and
its role during action observation
Valchev oppert dat wanneer we iemand
zien handelen, we blijkbaar niet alleen de
motoractiviteit simuleren, maar ook de sensaties
die met die handeling gepaard gaan.
P R O M O V E N D U S
N. Valchev
P R O E F S C H R I F T
Functional connectivity of the primary
somatosensory cortex and its role during action
observation
P R O M O T O R
Prof.dr. N.M. Maurits
Zien handelen activeert niet alleen
motoractiviteit lichaam, maar ook
bijpassende sensaties
Onze hersenen ontvangen niet alleen
informatie uit de wereld om ons heen, maar
beïnvloeden ook hoe we die omgeving
ervaren. Dat concludeert Nikola Valchev in zijn
promotieonderzoek. Hij ging na welke rol de
primaire sensibele cortex, een hersengebied
dat belangrijk is voor het verwerken van
gevoelsstimuli, speelt in de simulatie van
handelingen van anderen.
Valchev voerde verschillende gedrags­
experimenten uit om na te gaan hoe de
primaire sensibele cortex (SI) communiceert
met gebieden die betrokken zijn bij de mentale
simulatie van handelingen van anderen. Zo
liet hij proefpersonen het gewicht van een
doos schatten, terwijl ze toekeken hoe deze in
een filmpje door een hand werd opgetild. Na
magnetische onderdrukking van de activiteit
in SI waren deelnemers slechter in staat het
gewicht van de doos correct in te schatten.
Aanvullend bewijs voor deze stelling vond de
promovendus in een experiment waarin bleek
dat incomplete handelingen ons motorsysteem
direct beïnvloeden. Blijkbaar beïnvloeden
verwachtingen wat we zien. Vervolgonderzoek
kan volgens Valchev nieuw licht werpen op
filosofische vragen rondom “vrije wil” en
“onafhankelijke observatie”.
Nikola S. Valchev (Bulgarije, 1980) studeerde
Psychologie aan de universiteit van Lissabon
(Portugal) en Neurowetenschappen aan de
Rijksuniversiteit Groningen. Hij verrichtte zijn
promotieonderzoek bij het NeuroImaging
Centre (NIC) van het Universitair Medisch
Centrum Groningen en het Centre for studies
and research in Cognitive Neuroscience
(University of Bologna, Cesena, Italië). Het
onderzoek werd onder andere gefinancierd
door de Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation
(Portugal), de Portugese Foundation for Science
and Techology (FCT) en UMCG. Hij promoveerde
op 20 januari 2014.
■■ PHOTO BY SANDER MARTENS
■ ■ E V E LY N K U I P E R - D R E N T H , O P B A S I S
VAN PERSBERICHTEN VAN DE
RIJKSUNIVERSITEIT GRONINGEN
32 | 32
>>CH E E K Y TH EO R E MS
“A strong relationship and an understanding and supportive partner are essential
factors for professional success and personal happiness.”
>> Sima Chalavi
“Science is not about searching for an answer but rather about searching for the right
question.”
>> Nikola Valchev
“The most valuable thing you can learn from your supervisor is not knowledge and
techniques, but the attitudes towards science.”
>> Fang Cui
“There is no science without fancy and no art without fact.” – Vladimir Nabokov
>> Fang Cui
“Motherhood makes me realize that I am nothing more than a mammal and I do the
job as rats and voles.” – after Bon Iver: “I am my mother’s only one, it’s enough”.
>> Giulia Gracceva
“Wie niet sterk is, moet stabiel zijn!”
>> Jan Borghuis
“Melatonine is geen “slaaphormoon” en het zou verboden moeten worden om
melatonine als slaaphormoon aan te prijzen en te verkopen.”
>> Maan van de Werken
“Fatsoen staat vooruitgang in de weg, ook in de wetenschap.”
>> Mirre Simons
“Wees niet bevreesd langzaam vooruit te gaan, doch wel om stil te blijven staan.”
– Confucius, tevens motto van Wushu-vereniging Bao Trieu Blijd.
>> Corina de Jong
“Ook al is je to-do lijst oneindig, je leven is dat niet.”
>> Linda Geerligs
B C N N E W S L E T T E R 93 | M A R C H 2 014
> > C O­L O­P H O N
This newsletter is published by the School for Behavioural and Cognitive Neurosciences
Frequency
Christian Keysers, [email protected]
4 x a year
Diana Koopmans, [email protected]
Dave Langers, [email protected]
Publishing Office
Monicque Lorist, [email protected]
BCN Office (FA30), A. Deusinglaan 1, 9713 AV Groningen,
Natasha Maurits, [email protected]
050 363 4734
Nicolai Petkov, [email protected]
PhD council, [email protected]
Editorial Staff
Marieke van Vugt, [email protected]
Sander Martens, Editor-in-chief, [email protected]
Anita Wagner, [email protected]
Michiel Hooiveld, [email protected]
Martijn Wieling, [email protected]
Evelyn Kuiper-Drenth, Copy Editor, BCN Office, 050 3634734,
Romy Wichmann
e.t [email protected]
Kashmiri Stec, Copy Editor, [email protected]
Lay-out
Dorèl Extra Bold, [email protected]
Staff writers
Renske Bosman, [email protected]
Photos/illustrations
Sanne Brederoo, [email protected]
André Aleman, Deniz Baskent, Sanne Brederoo, Xinyuan Cui,
Léon Faber, [email protected]
Etienne Gaudrain, Valeria Gazzola, Iván Puga Gonzalez, Michiel
Annika Luckmann, [email protected]
Hooiveld, Maarten de Kok - http://www.maartendekok.nl,
Robin Mills, [email protected]
Björn Krefft, Dave Langers, Kathrin Luckmann de Lopez,
Riccarda Peters, [email protected]
Sander Martens - http://www.sandermartens.com, Barbara Nordhjem,
Anouschka Ramsteijn, [email protected]
Bert Otten, Rick Schoffelen, Mirre Simons, Linda Visser,
Florian Sense, [email protected]
Gerda de Voogd - http://www.fotodevoogd.nl, Anita Wagner,
Frederieke Vlieg, [email protected]
Mathieu van de Wetering, Martijn Wieling, www.phdcomics.com,
Charlotte Willems, [email protected]
Grace Zhou
Liwen Zhang, [email protected]
Cover photo
Contributors
Martijn Wieling
Frans Cornelissen, [email protected]
Etienne Gaudrain, [email protected]
Heleen Hoogeveen, [email protected]
Deadline for the next edition: 18 April 2014

BCN UTRECHT

Medische Publieksacademie UMCG Naam : R.H. (Rutger) Schepers

Routebeschrijving BCN Amsterdam

Daily Physical Activity in Stable Heart Failure Patients

Symposium richtlijn Schildkliercarcinoom Programma:

here - Rijksuniversiteit Groningen

Vergaderen à la carte

Cyranose® 320 is featured in multiple research papers

Uitnodiging BG 101 OEFENDAG - Flow

2014 - Sportgeneeskunde Groningen

Uitnodiging

F-DOPA statisch hersenonderzoek 20130726