Gonny Smit
As a Marketing Communication Specialist, I get to read, write, and learn a lot about behavioral neuroscience. I spend my days creating anything from videos and blog posts to website and leaflet content. Outside of the office, I love spending time with my horse, working out, and traveling.
What gait can tell: 3 blogs that will help you understand
The usefulness of gait is well established in research on spinal cord injury, ataxia, and arthritis. But in fact, research on all disorders that influence gait in any way, can benefit from gait and footfall analysis.
Brain waves and behavior: sleep to learn
To find out more about human and animal learning and memory, we might just have to go to sleep. Ahem – research on sleep, I mean.
How to find an animal model for obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD)
We all show some form of compulsive behavior. I triple check to make sure I locked my car, knowing that it’s locked but still feeling the need. But what if compulsions, rituals, and repetition rule your everyday live?
Can a food preservative increase symptoms of autism?
Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) has a strong genetic component – a well-known fact. However, recent studies suggest that environmental factors, such as dietary ingredients, can cause exacerbation of the symptoms.
How to know if an animal is nauseated
Nausea is a prominent factor influencing the quality of life for patients undergoing chemotherapy. That is why it is useful to study the nauseating side effects of therapies or the anti-nauseating potential of drugs.
Three ways to test hallucinogens on zebrafish
Hallucinogenic drugs (psychedelics) have a growing significance in biopsychiatric research. Zebrafish are a popular animal model and seem highly sensitive to various drugs of abuse.
Three examples of swimming rats in traumatic brain injury research (TBI)
The Morris water maze and EthoVision, a validated solution to investigate learning and memory in rats and mice.
Horses: behavioral research, physiology and biomechanics
Besides the study of the relation between humans and popular pets such as cats and dogs, human-horse interaction is an increasingly popular subject of science.
Observing social behavior and communication in wild elephants
A trunk-to-mouth greeting ritual. Yes. We are talking about elephants here.
Learning to use animal models for psychiatric disorders
Recently Lucas Noldus was interviewed for a technology feature in Nature; “Inside the minds of mice and men” by Monya Baker.