We are looking for a postdoctoral researcher with expertise in neuroimaging and an interest in higher order cognitive function associated with dopamine, such as working memory gating. The goal of this project is to advance our understanding of the brain mechanisms by which we select what information from the world around us enters working memory and what information from working memory guides action and attention. This input and output gating of working memory is known to depend on brain dopamine. This project aims to test specific hypotheses about how this happens, grounded in knowledge about the anatomy of feedforward and feedback flow of information between different cortical layers and about the layer specificity of dopamine receptor distributions.

Psychopharmacology will be combined with ultrahigh-resolution fMRI for measuring effects of dopamine drugs at submillimeter scale, distinguishing neuronal activity within the different layers of the prefrontal cortex in humans. You will be involved in designing critical experiments to isolate computations related to the gating and control of working memory and modulated by dopaminergic drug administration. You will also be involved in collection and, most notably, analysis of 7T fMRI data at laminar resolution to examine layer-specific neural activity modulation.

Tasks and responsibilities

• Design experiments to unravel working memory gating operations.
• Collection of laminar fMRI data.
• Analysis of laminar fMRI data.
• Supervise a PhD student to conduct pharmacological (highfield) fMRI.

You are a PhD in cognitive neuroscience or related discipline with experience with advanced functional magnetic resonance imaging, including MRI data analysis. Affinity with neuroimaging at high field strength (7T) is useful. Furthermore you have strong programming skills.

Fixed-term contract: 3 years.

Starting date as soon as possible, but at the latest 1 March 2022. Working at Radboud university medical center means that you are ahead of the curve and working together on the healthcare of the future. And there is more. Our secondary terms of employment are impressive. These are fully tailored to you thanks to our Employment Conditions Selection Model. At Radboud university medical center, you will be given trust, and you will take the responsibility to handle everything together. We provide annual courses, both professional and personal.

• In addition to your monthly salary and an annual vacation allowance of 8%, you will receive an end-of-year bonus of 8.3%.
• If you work irregular hours, you will receive an allowance.
• As a full-time employee (36 hours per week), you are entitled to approximately 168 vacation hours (over 23 days) per year.
• Radboud university medical center pays 70% of the pension premium. You pay the rest of the premium with your gross salary.
• You get a discount on health insurance as well: you can take advantage of two group health insurance plans. UMC Zorgverzekering and CZ collectief.

In addition to our terms of employment, we also offer employees various other attractive facilities, such as childcare and sports facilities. Want to learn more? Take a look at the CAO UMC.

Radboudumc

A position is available within the Motivational and Cognitive Control Lab, which is based at the Donders Centre for Cognitive Neuroimaging, part of the Donders Institute for Brain, Cognition and Behaviour. The appointment will be at the Department of Psychiatry of the Radboudumc.

Donders Institute
The Donders Institute for Brain, Cognition and Behaviour is a world-class interfaculty research centre that houses more than 700 researchers devoted to understanding the mechanistic underpinnings of the human brain. Excellent, state-of-the-art research facilities are available for the broad range of neuroscience research that is being conducted at the Donders Institute. The Donders Institute fosters a collaborative, multidisciplinary, supportive research environment with a diverse international staff. English is the lingua franca at the Institute.

Motivational and Cognitive Control Lab
The lab is headed by Prof. Roshan Cools. Our aim is to elucidate the mental processes, computations, and neural mechanisms that enable and motivate us to act in accordance with our goals. We approach this question by combining psychopharmacology, functional MRI, neurochemical PET and computational cognitive modeling of behavior of human volunteers with and without neuropsychiatric problems.

Donders Centre for Cognitive Neuroimaging
The mission of the Donders Centre for Cognitive Neuroimaging (DCCN) is to conduct cutting-edge fundamental research in cognitive neuroscience. Our internationally renowned centre currently hosts more than 100 PhD candidates and postdoctoral researchers from more than 25 countries, offering a stimulating and multidisciplinary research environment. The centre is equipped with four MRI scanners (7T, 3x 3T), a 275-channel MEG system, an EEG-TMS laboratory, several (MR-compatible) EEG systems, and high-performance computational facilities.

Radboudumc
Radboud university medical center is a university medical center for patient care, scientific research, and education in Nijmegen. Radboud university medical center strives to be at the forefront of shaping the healthcare of the future. We do this in a person-centered and innovative way, and in close collaboration with our network. We want to have a significant impact on healthcare. We want to improve with each passing day, continuously working towards better healthcare, research, and education. And gaining a better understanding of how diseases arise and how we can prevent, treat, and cure them, day in and day out. This way, every patient always receives the best healthcare, now and in the future. Because that is why we do what we do.

Read more about our strategy and what working at Radboud university medical center means. Our colleagues would be happy to tell you about it. #weareradboudumc