Check out the full program and speakers below, or sign up immediately.
Theme
The theme of the Annual Meeting 2026 is: The Future of Cognitive Neuroscience – Technology and the Human Brain
With technology on the rise and the wonders of the human brain being studied in more depth, it is fascinating to consider how our knowledge of cognition is evolving over time. What is human cognition? How can we study human intelligence? And in which ways is technology able to mimic, or perhaps even extend, the functions of the human brain?
Together, we will explore the evolution of the brain and its core functions, and discuss how emerging technologies are already shaping or enhancing cognitive features in health and disease. Regarding the latter, we will highlight how technology is finding its way into neuroscience in clinical practice, for example, as a tool for treating individual patients.
Program
- 08:30 - 09:00 Registration
09:00 - 09:30 Word of welcome
- Amsterdam Neuroscience directors Guus Smit, Yolande Pijnenburg and Marten Smidt
09:30 - 10:45 What is human cognition?
- Angelica Vanini (Amsterdam UMC) - Genes and cognition: Evolutionary genetics of human cognition
- Natalia Goriounova (Vrije Universiteit) - Cells and cognition: What can our neurons tell us about our intelligence?
- Linda Douw (Amsterdam UMC) – Networks and cognition: Rethinking cognitive deficits through the lens of multiscale networkneuroscience
- Claire Stevenson (University of Amsterdam) AI and cognition: The future of AI for studying human cognition and its development
- 10:45 - 11:15 Coffee break
11:15 - 12:15 Research reports by Young Amsterdam Neuroscientists
- Laura Han (Amsterdam UMC) - Understanding biological aging: the key towards healthier and happier lives
- Willem de Haan (Amsterdam UMC) - In Silico Neurodegeneration: testbench of the future?
- Iris Groen (University of Amsterdam) - The brain in time: Temporal integration of neural responses in human visual cortex and deep neural networks
- 12:15 - 12:25 ONWAR Graduate School for neuroscience
12:25 - 12:45 Valorization in neuroscience: From knowledge to impact
- Wouter Potters (Trianect) - EEG controlled triage in the ambulance
- 12:45 - 15:00 Lunch and poster market
15:00 - 16:30 Non-invasive brain stimulation in psychiatry and neurology
- Odile van den Heuvel and team (Amsterdam UMC, Psychiatry Amsterdam): Ysbrand van der Werf, Tjardo Postma, Sophie Fitzsimmons, Coen Coomans, Hidde Woerdman, Eric van Exel, Tim van Balkom and Sander Verfaillie
- 16:30 - 17:15 Poster presentations and award ceremony
- 17:15 - 17:30 Closing remarks and vote of thanks
- 17:30 - 19:00 Drinks and networking
Poster market
Master’s students, PhD candidates, junior researchers, and postdocs are invited to present a poster of their research project at the Annual Meeting. Researchers who wish to present a poster are required to indicate their interest by submitting an abstract through the designated registration form. All submitted abstracts will be reviewed by the research program leaders on scientific and methodological quality, scientific and societal relevance, innovative character, and suitability to the Amsterdam Neuroscience research program. Based on this assessment, the program leaders will determine which participants are invited to present a poster on January 16.
Please note that submission of an abstract does not guarantee acceptance for poster presentation.
The deadline for the abstract submission is extended to November 21, 10:00 AM. Ultimately December 1 you will be informed whether your abstract is accepted and you can present a poster during the poster sessions.
Speakers
What is human cognition?
Angelica Vanini - PhD student, University of Amsterdam
Genes and cognition - Evolutionary genetics of human cognition
How did the human brain evolve its remarkable cognitive abilities? This talk examines the genomic innovations that distinguish our species, from the emergence of human-specific genes to modifications in regulatory networks. Based on insights from comparative genomics and evolutionary biology, we explore how these genomic changes contributed to the development of the human cortex and the origins of human-specialized cognitive traits.
Natalia Goriounova - Associate Professor, Center for Neurogenomics and Cognitive Research, Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam
Cells and cognition: What can our neurons tell us about our intelligence?
Humans have unique cognitive abilities, expressed through language, arts and science that clearly are unparalleled in the animal kingdom. The fascinating question is what explains this large gap in cognition between humans and other species. In my talk I will argue that the answer to this question lies in the function of our neurons. As human cortex expanded during evolution, neurons inevitably had to adapt to this bigger, more connected and slower brain and might have evolved features that help them process information faster and more efficiently. Because of difficult access to living human neurons, their function in supporting cognition remains largely unexplored. Goriounova will show how the use of neurosurgical resections from epilepsy and tumor surgeries can help us advance our understanding of cellular basis of cognition.
Linda Douw - Associate Professor, Anatomy & Neuroscience, Amsterdam UMC
Networks and cognition: Rethinking cognitive deficits through the lens of multiscale network neuroscience
Despite the long-standing dominance of localizationist thinking in neuropsychology, cognitive deficits in patients with focal brain lesions such as tumors often defy clear anatomical explanations. In this talk, Linda Douw will argue that cognition cannot be fully understood in terms of isolated regions,but rather emerges from interactions across multiple spatial and temporal scales. Drawing on insights from multiscale network neuroscience, she will illustrate how disruptions in cellular communication can cascade into large-scale network dysfunctions that shape cognitive outcomes and daily functioning. She will show how embracing a network perspective moves us beyond the notion of “where” cognition resides toward understanding “how” it arises from dynamic system-level interactions. This shift not only reframes classical neuropsychological models but also opens new translational paths for personalized treatment and rehabilitation.
Claire Stevenson - Assistant Professor, Psychological Methods, University of Amsterdam
AI and cognition: The future of AI for studying human cognition and its development
How can advances in artificial intelligence deepen our understanding of human intelligence and its development—and vice versa? In this talk, I will explore the reciprocal relationship between AI and human cognition through the lens of fluid reasoning. I first outline how fluid reasoning develops in humans and what this reveals about how AI-models solve such tasks. I then turn to the reverse direction: how training and analyzing AI models on such tasks, using mechanistic interpretability and representational analyses, provides new perspectives on human cognitive development and the alignment of human and artificial neurocognition. I conclude by considering the future of this interdisciplinary dialogue: how AI-models may -or may not- serve as both models and methodological tools for studying human intelligence and its development.
Research Reports by Young Amsterdam Neuroscientists
Laura Han - Assistant Professor, Psychiatry, Amsterdam UMC
Understanding biological aging: the key towards healthier and happier lives
Willem de Haan - Neurologist and Senior researcher, Alzheimer Center Amsterdam, Amsterdam UMC
In Silico Neurodegeneration: testbench of the future?
Iris Groen - Assistant Professor, Informatics Institute, University of Amsterdam
The brain in time: Temporal integration of neural responses in human visual cortex and deep neural networks.
Valorization in neuroscience
Wouter Potters - MedTech entrepreneur, TrianecT
From knowledge to impact: EEG controlled triage in the ambulance
Non-invasive brain stimulation in psychiatry and neurology
Odile van den Heuvel - Professor in Neuropsychiatry, Amsterdam UMC
Non-invasive brain stimulation, e.g. by repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS), is increasingly influencing the treatment landscape in psychiatry and neurology. In this session we focus on the use of rTMS as adjuvant therapy to boost the effects of exposure therapy in obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD). This will be illustrated by the personal experience of two persons who participated in the combined rTMS-exposure therapy. Odile van den Heuvel and her team members from Psychiatry Amsterdam will discuss the factors influencing the individual variation in rTMS-induced effects, and how we can use individual brain information to personalize the application of rTMS. To give an impression of the broader use of rTMS in Amsterdam AMC, we present ongoing trials in depression, Parkinson’s disease and long COVID.
Registration
This event is exclusively for researchers affiliated with Amsterdam Neuroscience or Neuroscience Master students from Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam and University of Amsterdam.