With his specialization in the complex dynamics of neuronal oscillations and their implications for cognition in health and disease, Klaus Linkenkaer-Hansen has pursued a multidisciplinary research approach since 1998. In his inaugural lecture on 17 October 2025 at VU Amsterdam, he will explore how brains and other living systems maintain health and resilience as Professor of Critical Brain Dynamics in Health and Disease at the Center for Neurogenomics and Cognitive Research (CNCR), VU Amsterdam.
In the inaugural lecture, neuroscientist Klaus Linkenkaer-Hansen (Center for Neurogenomics and Cognitive Research) explains how brains and other living systems stay healthy and resilient.
After a century of dissecting the structure and function of brains, neuroscience now faces the challenge of bringing it all together. To explain our ability to perceive, feel, think, move and adapt, we need to understand how neurons form networks and communicate with each other.
Complexity and variability To investigate the dynamics of these interactions, Linkenkaer-Hansen was inspired by the theory of self-organized criticality, which explains why we see so much complexity and variability in nature. Linkenkaer-Hansen: “Remarkably, we discovered that networks of neurons produce similar patterns of activity to those observed in socio-economic and ecological systems.”
In his inaugural lecture, Linkenkaer-Hansen explains the theory behind these observations. How we use computer models to understand the cellular mechanisms that regulate network behavior and functions, and to develop tools for analyzing brain activity. Interestingly, links between balance, complexity, and resilience in ecosystems and brains are making us rethink how we diagnose and treat brain disorders.
About Klaus Linkenkaer-Hansen
Klaus Linkerkauer-Hansen received his MSc in Physics-biophysics from the Niels Bohr Institute (Copenhagen University, Denmark) in 1998. He received his Doctor of Science in Technology (PhD) from Helsinki University of Technology (Finland) in 2002. Following post-doctoral fellowships at the Netherlands Institute for Brain Research and CNCR, he became team leader of the Neuronal Oscillations and Cognition group in 2008. His research has been funded by 40+ awards from several European funding agencies, including the Nordic Research Academy, the Danish Research Academy, the Danish Research Agency, the Lundbeck Foundation, the Finnish Foundation of Technology, the VENI scholarship from the Netherlands Organisation for Health Research and Development (NWO/ZonMW), the Physical Sciences (NWO/EW), the Social Sciences (NWO/MaGW), and the Technology Foundation (NWO/STW) of the Netherlands Organization for Scientific Research (NWO).
The inaugural lecture ‘The Challenge of Balance”, exploring how brains and other living systems stay healthy and resilient, of Klaus Linkenkaer-Hansen, will take place today, October 17, 2025, from 15:45 at the Aula of the VU Amsterdam. It can be joined in person or watched via the livestream.