Sleep, dreams, emotions and memory

The ‘Sleep and Memory’ lab (UvA) is looking for one or more interns to work on several projects investigating the relationships between sleep-related neural activity, memory, consciousness and emotions.

Project

Our lab developed a unique technique for reading and predicting brain activity in real time, called closed-loop neurostimulation (Cox et al. 2014, PLoS One). Closed-loop neurostimulation can be used to boost deep sleep oscillations and make sleep deeper, but also to alter memories during sleep. The effects on consciousness during sleep (i.e. dreams), and on emotional regulation are yet unknown. These different projects will address how manipulating sleep oscillations can influence dreams, memory consolidation and emotions.

An internship in our lab offers students the possibility to become acquainted with some of the most advanced EEG techniques available today and to get familiar with sleep research and its applications.

Your work will consist of:

·      Performing whole night high-density EEG polysomnographic recordings (together with another student or investigator)

·      Data-analysis (the type and complexity of these analyses will depend on your background and the length of the internship)

·      Critically reviewing the existing literature

·      Writing a research report

Requirements

Experience with EEG recording and analysis, signal analysis, programming (especially in Matlab), sleep studies, IT and electrotechnical engineering will all come in handy in our lab.

Research internships in our lab tend to be technically, theoretically and logistically quite demanding and require working out of office hours, including at night. We expect applications from highly motivated students.

Applying

To apply or ask more information, email Elsa Juan ([staat bij de werkgever]), and cc Joao Patriota ([staat bij de werkgever]) and Lucia Talamini ([staat bij de werkgever]). With your motivation letter, please include your CV, a list of your academic courses and grades and, if applicable, a description of previous research (internship) experience.