Vasco Rauh

I recently graduated from the Vrije Universiteit with a master’s degree in Neuroscience. During my study, I also engaged in a variety of neurophilosophical courses, which has made me skilled at evaluating the conceptual foundations of neuroscientific research. During my first neuroscientific internship I studied the network configuration of alcohol seeking under motivational conflict in rats, in which I obtained experience with histochemistry, microscopy, and network-analysis. During the second internship I expanded my experience in network analysis by studying dynamic whole-brain connectivity in patients with MS. I worked with data from the Amsterdam MS cohort and I applied a novel methodology to investigate ‘dynamic connectivity states’, which are recurrent configurations of network activity. This project yielded very exciting results and convinced me of the enormous potential of network-analyses in neuroscience.

By working as a research assistant in the MULTINET team I get the amazing opportunity to combine my experience in the lab with network-analysis. I will specifically focus on how micro-level findings relate to macro-level connectivity in patients with Parkinson, Alzheimer, and glioma. I’m interested in findings ways to study ‘micro-connectomics’ by applying 3D microscopy and relating these findings to  whole-brain connectivity patterns. I’m very excited to join this interdisciplinary team and to be able to cooperate with people from a diverse range of different backgrounds. I strongly believe that by combining different areas of expertise we can substantially further our understanding of the brain and how it is impacted in a range of diseases.