| Martijn Meeter, M.A. (mmeeter@fmg.uva.nl)
Educational background:
1998: M.A. in psychology, University of Amsterdam
1992-1994: Introductory degrees (specific to the Netherlands) in mathematical economy, philosophy and psychology, University of Amsterdam.
Research:
In my short career in science, my research has had just one topic. During
my master’s study at the University of Amsterdam, as well as during a
one-and-a-half year stint as research assistant at the University of Maryland,
I did experimental work on human memory. On entering the doctoral program
of the University of Amsterdam I have switched to computational neuroscience,
but with a continuing focus on memory.
A large part of my work has been concerned with developing computational
models of episodic memory, with as a second track the empirical testing
of these models.On entering graduate school, I started working with TraceLink,
a neural network model at the systems level of memory, amnesia and consolidation.
My doctoral adviser Jaap Murre proposed it as a conceptual theory nearly
a decade ago. With his help I implemented it as a neural network, and
used it to simulate several afflictions of memory (e.g., correlated retrograde
and anterograde amnesia, focal retrograde amnesia, recovery from retrograde
amnesia, semantic dementia).
To test predictions generated by the TraceLink
model, I have developed a set of four retrograde amnesia tests, designed
for clinical and experimental use. Three of these tests are currently
being validated in Alzheimer patient populations, and will be used to
investigate Ribot gradients in amnesia and other issues pertaining to
amnesia. The fourth test, which works via internet (www.memory.uva.nl),
is currently being used to investigate retrograde amnesia for short periods
after electroconvulsive therapy.
In collaborative work with Lucia Talamini
at the University of Amsterdam, I developed a detailed model of hippocampal-entorhinal
interactions and the role of acetylcholine in medial temporal lobe functioning,
and a more abstract computational model of cue integration in the medial
temporal lobe. This last model has been applied to understanding memory
deficits in schizophrenia, in a collaboration with researchers from the
National Institutes of Health (NIH) in Bethesda (USA).
Future work with
dr. Mark Gluck at Rutgers, Newark campus will involve investigating the
role of the basal ganglia in memory, and reconciling models of the role
of the hippocampus in memory that work on very different time scales (and
make very different claims on how the hippocampus functions).
Asides
Teaching is fun. At the University of Amsterdam, I taught a course on
experimental psychology, and one on neural networks. At the University
of Pristina (Kosovo), I taught a course on research methods for the social
sciences.
I have even more fun evaluating teaching. I was secretary to
a graduate school evaluation committee in 1998, organized student evaluations
at the Pristina Summer University 2001 and 2002, and evaluated the organization
of the same summer university in 2002.
I have most fun just sitting in
bars with friends, reading newspapers, and traveling through weird countries.
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