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
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