The brain consists of billions of neurons which mediate complex cognitive processes such as memory, attention, decision-making and consciousness. How can it be that such ´mental´ operations are implemented by the electrical activity of networks of communicating neurons? How can this collective network activity be explained from electrochemical processes that direct neuronal communication at the cellular and molecular level?

In the CSN-group these general questions are elaborated in the following specific
themes of research:

• Memory consolidation, sleep and memory retrieval
• Neural coding and circuitry for motivational control, attention and decision-making
• Multimodal sensory integration and neural representation of space and context

The group uses a wide array of techniques to approach these questions, ranging from patch-clamp techniques in brain slices to ensemble recordings and functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI). In this multi-level approach we study how groups of neurons within the brain behave during learning tasks and are able to ´replay´ their experience-specific patterns of electrical activity during subsequent sleep. Using human brain imaging and transcranial magnetic stimulation we investigate which brain structures take part in encoding, consolidation and retrieval of memories. We study how cell assemblies in the hippocampus, a structure crucial for memory of daily-life events, communicate with assemblies in ventral striatum and prefrontal cortex to exert control over formation of emotional memory and decision making.

The wiring and neurochemical modulation of these structures is investigated by patch clamp techniques and studies of transmitter release. The research lines on sensory integration and spatial representation rely on two-photon microscopy, ensemble recordings and computational modelling and focuses on the hippocampal formation and sensory neocortex. Malfunctioning of the brain structures under investigation has been implied in brain disorders such as schizophrenia, drug addiction, Alzheimer´s and Parkinson´s disease.

Internships

• Moving through hippocampal space    more info

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• Reward after a hard day´s work – the mechanisms behind economic decision-making    more info

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• Lost in consolidation : Neural correlates of short-term to long-term memory transformation    more info

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• Sweet dreams: the secret life of memories in the sleeping brain    more info

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• Viewing neurons at work : two-photon imaging of the visual cortex    more info

Media and news

NWO grant received april 2010
NWO grant received march 2010
	Live Dutch Radio		Selection of newspapers
	http://noorderlicht.vpro.nl/		http://www.repubblica.it/sezioni
	http://www.teleac.nl/		http://www.volkskrant.nl/wetenschap/ 14-1-2009
	http://www.bnr.nl/		http://www.washingtonpost.com/
			http://www.volkskrant.nl/wetenschap/ 5-7-2008

Key publications

• Tobias Kalenscher, Carien S. Lansink, Jan V. Lankelma and Cyriel M. A. Pennartz (2010)
  Reward-Associated gamma oscillations in ventral striatum are regionally
  differentiated and modulate local firing activity
  J Neurophysiol 103: 1658-1672, 2010     abstract/PDF

• Cyriel M.A. Pennartz (2009)
  Identification and integration of sensory modalities : Neural basis and relation to consciousness
  Consciousness and Cognition 18 (2009) 718–739

• Esther van Duuren, Geoffrey van der Plasse, Jan Lankelma, Ruud N. J. M. A. Joosten,
  Matthijs G.P. Feenstra and C.M.A. Pennartz (2009)
  Single-Cell and Population Coding of Expected Reward Probability in the Orbitofrontal Cortex of the Rat
  Journal of Neuroscience, vol 29(28) : 8965-8976     abstract/PDF

• Lansink CS, Goltstein PM, Lankelma JV, McNaughton BL, Pennartz CMA (2009)
  Hippocampus Leads Ventral Striatum in Replay of Place-Reward Information
  PLoS Biol 7(8): e1000173. doi:10.1371/journal.pbio.1000173      abstract/PDF

• Peyrache A, Khamassi M, Benchenane K, Wiener S, Battaglia F (2009)
  Replay of rule-learning related neural patterns in the prefrontal cortex during sleep
  Nature Neuroscience, online: 31 May 2009 | doi:10.1038/nn.2337     abstract/PDF

• Huijbers W, Pennartz CMA, Cabeza R, Daselaar SM (2009)
  When learning and remembering compete : A functional MRI Study,
  PLoS Biology 2009 Jan 13; 7(issue 1) e(1000011) page 1-7      abstract      PDF-small      PDF-large

• van Duuren E, Lankelma J, Pennartz CMA (2008)
  Population coding of reward magnitude in the orbitofrontal cortex of the rat
  Journal of Neuroscience, vol 28 : 8590–8603          abstract/PDF

• Lansink CS, Goltstein PM, Lankelma J, Joosten RN, McNaughton B, Pennartz CMA (2008)
  Preferential reactivation of motivationally relevant information in the ventral striatum
  Journal of Neuroscience vol 28 : 6372-6382          abstract/PDF

• T Kalenscher, CMA Pennartz, is a bird in the hand worth two in the future? (2008)
  The neuroeconomics of intertemporal decision-making
  Progress in Neurobiology 84, 284–315

• Van Duuren E, Nieto Escámez FA, Joosten RNJMA, Visser R, Mulder AB and Pennartz CMA (2007)
  Neural coding of reward magnitude in the orbitofrontal cortex of the rat during a five-odour olfactory discrimination task.
  Learning and Memory 14: 446-456           abstract/PDF

• Taverna S, Van Dongen, Y, Groenewegen, HJ, and Pennartz CMA (2004)
  Direct physiological evidence for synaptic connectivity between medium-sized spiny neurons in rat nucleus accumbens in situ.
  Journal of Neurophysiology (91) : 1111-1121           abstract/PDF

• Voorn P, Vanderschuren LJMJ, Groenewegen HJ, Robbins TW and Pennartz CMA (2004)
  Putting a spin on the dorsal-ventral divide of the striatum
  Trends in Neuroscience 27 : 468-474.

• Pennartz CMA, Lee E, Verheul J, Lipa P, Barnes CA and McNaughton BL (2004)
  The ventral striatum in off-line processing: ensemble reactivation during sleep and modulation by hippocampal ripples
  Journal of Neuroscience vol 24 : 6446-6456           abstract/PDF

• Pennartz CMA, De Jeu MTG, Bos NPA, Schaap J and Geurtsen AMS (2002)
  Diurnal modulation of pacemaker potentials and calcium current in the mammalian circadian clock.
  Nature 416 : 286-290           abstract/PDF