Professor Chris de Zeeuw

In the Blink of an Eye: from Pavlovian Conditioning to Biomedical Engineering

Abstract

Over the past several decades, theories about the role of the cerebellum in Pavlovian conditioning have evolved. A relatively simple view that highlighted the contribution of one major form of heterosynaptic plasticity to associative learning has given way to a plethora of perspectives, which suggest that many different forms of synaptic and non-synaptic plasticity, acting at various cerebellar sites, can contribute to learning-dependent timing of both sensorimotor and cognitive processes. As a consequence, impairment of one or more of these forms of plasticity can lead to not only motor but also mental disorders. Using biomedical technologies, we can now readily reveal the aberrations in associative conditioning that can be linked to diseases such as autism and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder. In my lecture, I will highlight the development of recording technologies that started with eyeblink conditioning in mouse mutants up to the state-of-the-art BlinkLab App that allows for diagnosing mental health disorders in large populations around the world.