The Neurophysiological Biomarker Toolbox for research on human brain function:

Introduction: Neuronal oscillations are generated at a many spatial and temporal scales of neuronal organization, and are thought to provide a mechanism for the coordination of spatio-temporally distributed brain activity. Because of the multi-scale property of neuronal oscillations (time, space and frequency) there is a need to apply multiple biomarker algorithms for an adequate understanding of changes in the brain caused by disease, experimental manipulations, or genetic variability. Such biomarkers are being developed around the world, but currently there is no software that allows for a user-friendly application and integration of biomarker algorithms.
The Neurophysiological Biomarker Toolbox (NBT) is an open-source MATLAB-based toolbox providing a systematic, efficient, and exhaustive characterization of neuronal oscillations. The oscillations have typically been measured during resting states in healthy human subjects or patients using EEG. The NBT is being developed by the Neuronal Oscillations and Cognition Group at the Center for Neurogenomics and Cognitive Research (CNCR). Currently, the NBT is a pre-alpha version, but has already with success been used by students during courses on human neurophysiology. We expect to soon roll-out an NBT alpha version within the Neuroscience Campus Amsterdam. The NBT is complemented by an NBT wiki, an online Wikipedia-like documentation, which is meant to provide a community driven up-to-date documentation of possibilities and procedures, and facilitate collaboration among researchers.

Aim: To develop the NBT and the NBT wiki into a Public Beta version that allow users around the world to make better sense of their brain data. This requires:
– Testing and upgrading existing features.
– Developing new functions for data characterization, statistical tests and visualization.
– Improving the NBT wiki.

Methods: You will work with MATLAB, Bazaar version control, and the NBT wiki. EEG data are available. You will interact with a handful of NBT users.

Your profile: We are looking for a motivated and ambitious internship student with:
– Some programming experience and the interest to become proficient in MATLAB.
– Willingness to work considerably independent.
– Good collaboration skills.
– Good writing skills in English.
– Interest in signal processing and how the brain works.

You will learn how to:
– Develop advanced analysis functions in MATLAB/NBT.
– Work in a team to develop a complex software package.
– Create high-quality documentation in wiki format.
– and you will learn about brain activity and cognition!

Supervision: The project is supervised by Simon-Shlomo Poil and Klaus Linkenkaer-Hansen from the Neuronal Oscillations and Cognition Group. For more information, please don’t hesitate to contact:

Start: Any time

Duration: A minimum of 5 months

Klaus Linkenkaer-Hansen
E-mail: klaus.linkenkaer@cncr.vu.nl
Phone: 0031 (020) 5986479