Fwd:] PhD opportunity

PhD Candidate: Organizing Principles of the Motor System The motor system of the human brain not only controls our movements, but also plays a fundamental role in many aspects of our cognition. Surprisingly, how this system is organized largely remains a mystery. Traditional models suggest an organization according to effectors (arm, leg, fingers), but recent models suggest a more ecologically valid organization scheme based on clustering by movement categories (e.g. reaching to grasp something, climbing, etc). In this project we aim to solve this controversy by using a variety of brain imaging methods to investigate the anatomy and function of the primate motor system. You will conduct MRI-based investigations of the anatomical organization of the human and non-human parietal and premotor cortex. This work involves, among others, comparative diffusion MRI tractography work and has a strong computational focus. In addition, you will use non-invasive brain stimulation methods to investigate the functional interactions between areas of the extended motor system during grasping behaviour in humans. The project will be embedded in one of the research programmes of the Donders Institute for Brain, Cognition and Behaviour at the Radboud University in Nijmegen (Netherlands). You will be supervised by Dr Rogier Mars and Prof Pieter Medendorp. You will be based at Donders Institute, but you will also make research visits to our collaborators at the University of Oxford. For more information, including how to apply, please refer to:http://www.ru.nl/overons/werken-radboud/details-0/details_vacature_0/?recid=551239