Jeroen Goossens
Name
H.H.L.M. Goossens, PhD
Address
Donders Institute for Brain, Cognition and Behaviour
Department of Cognitive Neuroscience, Section Biophysics
Radboud University Nijmegen Medical Centre
BEG 231, Room –1.20
NL 6525 EZ Nijmegen
Phone
+31 243 613 699
Fax
+31 243 541 435
Go
to:
What
we study
In our Visuomotor Lab we investigate how the primate brain transforms sensory information into conscious percepts and voluntary motor acts. Our studies involve experiments with human subjects and with macaque monkeys that are trained to perform visuomotor tasks against positive rewards. Human participants are tested with the use of psychophysical and neuroimaging techniques. In macaques we also use neurophysiological techniques such as single-unit recordings, electrical microstimulation and local inactivation, that cannot be applied in human. Our goal is to understand exactly how the brain works. We are firmly convinced that only with this knowledge we can truly help patients suffering from the many disorders of perception, awareness and movement caused by debilitating brain diseases. Current projects focus on executive control mechanisms for action and perception in the frontoparietal cortex, optic-flow processing in extra-striate visual cortex, and on the neural underpinnings of saccadic search behaviour in exploring visual scenes.
Responsible
animal research improves the lives of humans
Basic research advances
scientific knowledge and medical innovation by expanding understanding of the
structure and function of molecules, genes, cells, systems, and complex
behaviors. Clinical researchers exploit these findings and identify new
applications that lead to medical treatments. Continued investment in basic
research is essential to ensuring discoveries that will inspire scientific
pursuit and medical progress for future generations.
· Read the Basel Declaration of Nov. 2010, signed by European scientists on how to conduct and communicate responsible animal research.
·
Read about Brain
Research Success Stories. They are designed to inform the public and
elected officials about the recent successes and future potential of
neuroscience.
·
Research and Discoveries: Read
about advances in fundamental research that are creating
promise for the treatment of neurological and psychiatric disorders.
·
The need for non-human primates in neuroscience
research. A short overview can be found in the brochure
Primates
in Medical Research. For more details, read the Weatherall report (UK) and the SCHER
report (EU).
·
Are you
also tired of the false and misleading information spread by animal activists? This site shows
how experiments with non-human primates are really carried out in Neuroscience
labs around the world (from the Tübingen Max Plank Institute for Brain
Research, Germany).
·
An example of
monkey neuroscience research: Neuro-prosthetics
in the Pittsburgh Motor Lab (on Multimedia, click on their videos!)
· Standing up for science. See why Pro-Test, Americans for Medical Progress (AMP) and Speaking of Research think animal experiments are necessary in biomedical research. These public organizations aim to dispel the irrational myths promoted by anti-vivisectionists and to encourage people to stand up for science and human progress.
·
Animal
Research.Info
provides reliable information from scientists worldwide about the contribution
of animal research to medical advances. Look at this article to see why there is a need for
non-human primates in cognitive neuroscience.
In Nederland
worden per jaar ca 600 duizend proefdieren gebruikt. Met andere woorden, er wordt
per jaar één proefdier (typisch een muis of rat) gebruikt om ruim 25
Nederlanders uiteindelijk betere medische zorg te bieden. Het belang van
fundamenteel onderzoek kan daarbij eigenlijk niet worden overschat. Wil je meer
feitelijke achtergrondinformatie over dierproeven? Kijk dan op de website van
de Stichting Informatie
Dierproeven.
Hersenscans een alternatief voor proeven
op apen? Helaas is dat een fabeltje. Lees bijvoorbeeld hier
waarom.
Curriculum Vitae
· 1987- 1993: Student at the University of Utrecht, NL. Degrees in Medical Biology and Biophysics. Research projects on human arm-muscle coordination and electrophysiology of sound localization in fish. Graduated with honor.
· 1993-1997: Ph.D. student at the Department of Medical Physics and Biophysics, University of Nijmegen, NL. Research involved a series of electrophysiological (monkey Superior Colliculus) and behavioral (monkey and human) studies on saccade generation, eye-head movements and sound localization. Ph.D. thesis: 'Sensorimotor transformations and feedback signals involved in gaze control'. Cum laude promotion.
·
1998-2000: Postdoctoral student at the Department of Physiology, University of
Rotterdam, NL. Research on the role of cerebellar Long-Term Depression (LTD) in
visual and vestibular stabilization reflexes involving eye movement and
Purkinje cell recordings from alert transgenic mice.
·
2000-Present: Assistant professor at the Department of Biophysics UMC, Donders Institute for Brain, Cognition and
Behaviour. NL. Neurophysiology and neuroimaging in primates. Long-term
research aims are to explore how the brain transforms sensory information into
perceptual representations and motor acts, and how different perceptual
representations interact with different motor pathways.
