PhD student - From brain circuits of threat to neurofeedback in humans

About this position

The Netherlands Institute for Neuroscience and Maastricht University Medical Center are looking for an enthusiastic and ambitious PhD student to join a collaborative translational neuroscience project investigating how the brain controls responses to threat and stress. The project is part of a new programme aimed at strengthening the connection between fundamental neuroscience and clinical psychiatry.

Maladaptive responses to threat are an important feature of psychiatric conditions such as anxiety disorders, PTSD and depression. In this project, we will identify brain regions that can regulate threat responses and investigate whether these regions can ultimately be targeted using real-time fMRI neurofeedback.

The project provides a unique opportunity to work across the boundary between fundamental systems neuroscience and human translational neuroscience.

What will you do

You will first work at the Netherlands Institute for Neuroscience (NIN) in Amsterdam, in the laboratory of Prof. Alexander Heimel. Using mouse models of innate defensive behavior, you will identify a brain region that can regulate defensive behavior. You will use state-of-the-art approaches including behavioral analysis of innate defensive responses, activity-dependent neuronal tagging using TRAP2, viral and monosynaptic rabies tracing, optogenetic manipulation of neural circuits, fiber photometry and quantitative analysis of neural and behavioral data.

In the second part of the project, you will work with Prof. David Linden and colleagues at Maastricht UMC+, translating the circuit identified in mice to humans. You will use 7T fMRI to translate the findings from the first part and develop a real-time fMRI neurofeedback paradigm through which participants learn to regulate the identified brain region.

The ultimate aim is to develop a biologically grounded approach to neurofeedback in which targets are selected because they have a demonstrated causal role in controlling threat circuitry. The work may provide a foundation for future neurofeedback interventions in patients with stress-related psychiatric disorders.

• What will you contribute
• We are looking for a candidate who:
• has, or will soon obtain, a master's degree in neuroscience, biomedical sciences, medicine, psychology, cognitive neuroscience, or a related discipline
• has a strong interest in how neural circuits generate behavior
• is enthusiastic about working at the interface between animal and human neuroscience
• is interested in learning a broad range of experimental and computational techniques
• enjoys quantitative analysis and has or is willing to develop data-analysis skills
• wants to interact with psychiatrists and clinical psychologists to develop new paradigms
• has good communication skills and enjoys working collaboratively
• has a good command of spoken and written English

Experience with animal behavior, optogenetics, viral approaches, microscopy, programming/data analysis, MRI or human experimental research would be an advantage, but we do not expect applicants to already have expertise in all these areas. More important is a strong scientific curiosity and willingness to learn techniques from both animal systems neuroscience and human neuroimaging.

Because part of the project involves experimental work with mice, the candidate should be comfortable working with laboratory animals.

What we offer

You will join two complementary and highly interactive research environments. At the Netherlands Institute for Neuroscience, you will receive training in causal circuit neuroscience and the neural mechanisms underlying innate behavior. At Maastricht UMC+, you will gain expertise in human neuroimaging, high-field 7T MRI and real-time neurofeedback within a clinical neuroscience environment.

The project includes regular interaction with both research groups and joint supervision throughout the PhD.

The project is funded for four years. The first two years will primarily focus on circuit discovery and causal experiments in mice, followed by human circuit validation and neurofeedback experiments during years three and four. Some travel or/and movement allowance is budgeted for making the collaboration between Amsterdam and Maastricht smooth.

You will have opportunities to present your work at international conferences, collaborate with researchers across neuroscience, psychiatry and neuroimaging, and develop a profile as a genuinely cross-species translational neuroscientist.

Research environment

The project is a collaboration between the group of Prof. Alexander Heimel at the Netherlands Institute for Neuroscience in Amsterdam and the group of Prof. David Linden at Maastricht UMC.

The Heimel group investigates the neural circuits that transform sensory information and internal state into behavior, with particular expertise in visual and innate behaviors, circuit tracing and causal manipulation in mice.

The Maastricht team has extensive expertise in fMRI neurofeedback, high-field imaging and clinical neuroscience, including subcortical neurofeedback targets. The project will also involve interaction with researchers experienced in real-time and 7T fMRI.

Information

For questions about the position, please contact Alexander Heimel (a.heimel@nin.knaw.nl) or David Linden (david.linden@maastrichtuniversity.nl). There is no deadline for the application, the vacancy will be closed if a suitable candidate has been found.

• Application
• You can apply via the Apply Now button, please submit:
• A motivation letter explaining why this project interests you
• A detailed CV, including a grade list
• Contact details of two academic referees, who can be contacted

About the Netherlands Institute for Neuroscience

The Netherlands Institute for Neuroscience is a leading fundamental neuroscience research institute, in the international and progressive city of Amsterdam. It provides a critical mass of scientists (spanning more than 27 nationalities) and neuroscience fac