Cyriel Marie Antoine Pennartz (born October 7, 1963) is a Dutch neuroscientist serving as professor and head of the Department of Cognitive and Systems Neuroscience at the

University of Amsterdam The University of Amsterdam (abbreviated as UvA, nl, Universiteit van Amsterdam) is a public research university located in Amsterdam, Netherlands. The UvA is one of two large, publicly funded research universities in the city, the other being ...

the Netherlands ) , anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau") , image_map = , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands , established_title = Before independence , established_date = Spanish Netherl ...

. He is known for his research on

memory Memory is the faculty of the mind by which data or information is encoded, stored, and retrieved when needed. It is the retention of information over time for the purpose of influencing future action. If past events could not be remembered, ...

motivation Motivation is the reason for which humans and other animals initiate, continue, or terminate a behavior at a given time. Motivational states are commonly understood as forces acting within the agent that create a disposition to engage in goal-dire ...

circadian rhythm A circadian rhythm (), or circadian cycle, is a natural, internal process that regulates the sleep–wake cycle and repeats roughly every 24 hours. It can refer to any process that originates within an organism (i.e., Endogeny (biology), endogeno ...

perception Perception () is the organization, identification, and interpretation of sensory information in order to represent and understand the presented information or environment. All perception involves signals that go through the nervous system ...

and

consciousness Consciousness, at its simplest, is sentience and awareness of internal and external existence. However, the lack of definitions has led to millennia of analyses, explanations and debates by philosophers, theologians, linguisticians, and scien ...

. Pennartz’ work uses a

multidisciplinary Interdisciplinarity or interdisciplinary studies involves the combination of multiple academic disciplines into one activity (e.g., a research project). It draws knowledge from several other fields like sociology, anthropology, psychology, ec ...

combination of techniques to understand the relationships between distributed neural activity and cognition, including ''in vivo''

electrophysiology Electrophysiology (from Greek , ''ēlektron'', "amber" etymology of "electron"">Electron#Etymology">etymology of "electron" , ''physis'', "nature, origin"; and , '' -logia'') is the branch of physiology that studies the electrical properties of b ...

and

optical imaging Medical optical imaging is the use of light as an investigational :wikt:imaging, imaging technique for medical applications. Examples include optical microscopy, spectroscopy, endoscopy, scanning laser ophthalmoscopy, laser Doppler imaging, and opti ...

animal behavior Ethology is the scientific study of animal behaviour, usually with a focus on behaviour under natural conditions, and viewing behaviour as an evolutionarily adaptive trait. Behaviourism as a term also describes the scientific and objective ...

and

computational modelling Computer simulation is the process of mathematical modelling, performed on a computer, which is designed to predict the behaviour of, or the outcome of, a real-world or physical system. The reliability of some mathematical models can be deter ...

Career

Pennartz studied biology at

Radboud University Nijmegen Radboud University (abbreviated as RU, nl, Radboud Universiteit , formerly ''Katholieke Universiteit Nijmegen'') is a public research university located in Nijmegen, the Netherlands. The university bears the name of Saint Radboud, a 9th century D ...

and

with specializations in

neurobiology Neuroscience is the scientific study of the nervous system (the brain, spinal cord, and peripheral nervous system), its functions and disorders. It is a multidisciplinary science that combines physiology, anatomy, molecular biology, development ...

philosophy Philosophy (from , ) is the systematized study of general and fundamental questions, such as those about existence, reason, knowledge, values, mind, and language. Such questions are often posed as problems to be studied or resolved. Some ...

and

computational neuroscience Computational neuroscience (also known as theoretical neuroscience or mathematical neuroscience) is a branch of neuroscience which employs mathematical models, computer simulations, theoretical analysis and abstractions of the brain to u ...

. He obtained his PhD degree in Neuroscience ''cum laude'' at the University of Amsterdam under the supervision of Fernando Lopes da Silva and Henk Groenewegen. His PhD project and follow-up research examined the

physiology Physiology (; ) is the scientific study of functions and mechanisms in a living system. As a sub-discipline of biology, physiology focuses on how organisms, organ systems, individual organs, cells, and biomolecules carry out the chemical ...

and

plasticity Plasticity may refer to: Science * Plasticity (physics), in engineering and physics, the propensity of a solid material to undergo permanent deformation under load * Neuroplasticity, in neuroscience, how entire brain structures, and the brain it ...

brain circuits A neural circuit is a population of neurons interconnected by synapses to carry out a specific function when activated. Neural circuits interconnect to one another to form large scale brain networks. Biological neural networks have inspired the ...

involved in

and

, focusing on the

hippocampus The hippocampus (via Latin from Greek , 'seahorse') is a major component of the brain of humans and other vertebrates. Humans and other mammals have two hippocampi, one in each side of the brain. The hippocampus is part of the limbic system, a ...

and

ventral striatum The striatum, or corpus striatum (also called the striate nucleus), is a nucleus (a cluster of neurons) in the subcortical basal ganglia of the forebrain. The striatum is a critical component of the motor and reward systems; receives glutamate ...

. He proceeded to work on computational models of reinforcement learning as a postdoctoral fellow in Computational Neuroscience at the Department of Physics of Computation of the California Institute of Technology with

John Hopfield John Joseph Hopfield (born July 15, 1933) is an American scientist most widely known for his invention of an associative neural network in 1982. It is now more commonly known as the Hopfield network. Biography Hopfield was born in 1933 to Pol ...

. In 1994 he initiated research on the cellular electrophysiology of the brain's circadian clock as tenured group leader at the Netherlands Institute for Brain Research. He uncovered replay of reward information in the ventral striatum during sleep, using in vivo ensemble recordings made with tetrode arrays, a technique he introduced to the Netherlands in collaboration with

Bruce McNaughton Peter Bruce L. McNaughton is a Canadian neuroscientist and Distinguished Professor at the University of California, Irvine (UC Irvine), as well as a Professor of Neuroscience and director of the Polaris Brain Dynamics research group at The Canad ...

and

Carol Barnes Carol Lesley Barnes (13 September 1944 – 8 March 2008) was a British television newsreader and broadcaster. She worked for ITN from 1975 to 2004. Early life Barnes was born in Norwich, and attended St Martin-in-the-Fields High School for ...

at the University of Arizona (Tucson, U.S.A.) In 2003 he was appointed professor in Cognitive and Systems Neuroscience at the University of Amsterdam, where he currently leads a group of ~35 people. His main goal is to advance our understanding of multisensory perception, learning and memory and consciousness by integrating experimental, theoretical and computational approaches to neuroscience. To achieve this, the group develops novel techniques for multi-area electrophysiology, computer simulations of brain processes, analytical tools and causal interventions. Pennartz published a theory on consciousness known as Neurorepresentationalism. Using predictive processing principles, this theory characterizes conscious experience as a multimodally rich, spatially encompassing representation of one's world, including one's own body. Recently his work has been ramifying into the clinical domain, studying disorders of consciousness and memory, and into neurotechnology, developing new methods to combat consequences of stroke.

Leadership in science and education; honors and awards

At the University of Amsterdam, he co-develops curriculi and courses in Psychobiology (Bachelor), Biomedical Sciences (Bachelor), Brain and Cognitive Sciences (Master) and founded the Master track Cognitive Neurobiology and Clinical Neurophysiology. At the national level, he served for instance as co-leader of the National Science Agenda section on Brain, Behavior & Cognition (Neurolab.nl) with veline Croneand ndrea Evers Since 2015, he joined the EU

FET The field-effect transistor (FET) is a type of transistor that uses an electric field to control the flow of current in a semiconductor. FETs (JFETs or MOSFETs) are devices with three terminals: ''source'', ''gate'', and ''drain''. FETs contr ...

Flagship Human Brain Project (HBP) through an open call, and continues to lead HBP's Systems and Cognitive Neuroscience Research. Representing these disciplines, he was elected member of the main governing body of HBP, the Scientific and Infrastructure Board. Pennartz received various awards, grants and honours, for example: *Unilever Research Prize (1986) *Postdoctoral Fellowship, Human Frontier Science Program Organization (1993) *Program Grant, Human Frontier Science Program Organization (2001) *VICI grant from the Netherlands Organization for Scientific Research (NWO, 2004) *Program Grant, Senter-Novem (Ministry of Economic Affairs) "Mouse Phenomics" (2004) *Project Grant, Foundation for Technical Sciences (TTW) for novel neurotechnology (2007) *Human Brain Project grant, FET Flagship Project, Systems and Cognitive Neuroscience Open Call (2015) and grants in subsequent grant agreements (2017, 2020).

Bibliography

*Pennartz, C. M. A. (2015) The Brain's Representational Power - On Consciousness and the Integration of Modalities. MIT press (382pp.). ISBN 9780262029315 *Pennartz, C. M. A. (2021) The Code of Consciousness. How the Brain Shapes Our Reality. (''Dutch: De code van het bewustzijn. Hoe de hersenen onze werkelijkheid vormgeven''). Prometheus (349 pp.). ISBN 9789044631913

References

External links

VICI (2003)HBPEBRAINSNeurolab.nlMIT Press - Praise for ''The Brain's Representational Power'' (2015)
* ttps://www.templetonworldcharity.org/projects-database/pilot-studies-adversarial-testing-predictive-processing-and-integrated/ Templeton World Charity Foundation (2021)br>Interview relating to ''The Code of Consciousness''
on

NPO Radio 1 NPO Radio 1 is a public-service radio channel in the Netherlands, broadcasting mainly news and sport. It is part of the Netherlands Public Broadcasting system, NPO. History The channel originated in 1947 as "Hilversum 2", and transmitted using ...

(Dutch public radio station)
Interview relating to ''The Code of Consciousness''
on

BNR Nieuwsradio BNR Newsradio (Dutch: ''BNR Nieuwsradio'' and pronounced like "BNR News-radio") is an all-news radio station in Netherlands. The station provides domestic, regional and international news with live news bulletins News broadcasting is the ...

(Dutch language international radio station) {{DEFAULTSORT:Pennartz, Cyriel Dutch neurosurgeons Dutch neuroscientists University of Amsterdam alumni 1963 births Living people