So, here’s the story. The BRAVO! committee and my current lab, Neural Systems Memory and Aging, thought it would be a good idea to send me to the Netherlands to do research. But, they didn’t want to send me to just any old city or any old lab; they wanted me to go to Amsterdam to work in the blossoming behavioral neuroscience lab of Dr. Cyriel Pennartz. Now, before I tell you about how amazing the city is, I should tell you about what I spent most of my time doing there: working!

The behavioral neuroscience lab, located at University of Amsterdam, focuses on the higher cognitive functions of the brain such as learning, memory and attention. For the project that I worked on we were primarily concerned with the learning and remembering of contextual and discrete cue information.

A good deal of research has gone into asking questions about learning and memory because they are not only philosophically interesting but they can have a huge impact on treatments for degenerative diseases like Alzheimer’s or Parkinson’s. This wealth of research data has pointed to a couple of brain structures, which seem to play an important role in memory and learning: the hippocampus and the amygdala. Now, there are a bunch of theories, which attempt to explain the roles of these structures in the above-mentioned cognitive functions, but there is one hypothesis that seems to be very popular. Dr. Pennartz and colleagues like to call this theory the “Modal hypothesis” because it claims that each structure deals with only a certain type of information. Explicitly, the hypothesis states that the hippocampus is responsible for learning contextual cue information and that the amygdala is responsible for learning discrete cue information. What this means is that the hippocampus learns that being in a certain environment means a reward will be received and the amygdala learns that a certain discrete cue, like a small light turning on, means the animal will get a reward. There has been plenty of evidence to support this hypothesis but a small amount of counter evidence has also been reported. This counter evidence makes the Modal hypothesis seem a bit tenuous. So, what we want to answer is what are the hippocampus and amygdala actually doing?

But wait, it gets better!

It turns out that these two structures have neural connections into a structure called the nucleus accumbens (NAc). The NAc is a part of the basil ganglia and is known for being a type of reward center in the brain. Recent studies have shown that the NAc may be important in learning as well. Another interesting thing about the NAc is that it has neural connections to motor areas of the brain. Because of the input connections from the hippocampus and the amygdala and the output connection to the motor areas, studying the NAc could lead to a better understanding of how learned information is used to execute behavior.

To investigate these questions, we used an apparatus known as the Y-maze. This maze is particularly interesting because it contains three identical rooms meaning that discrete cue and contextual cues were the same in each room. The animal, a rat in this case, will only get a reward in one of the three rooms so it must rely on external cues given by us, of course, to find where that room will be. What we found was that three out of four rats learned contextual cues and discrete cues, so they knew exactly where the rewarded room was and that a small light coming on in that room would distribute a reward, but it was unclear whether they were using the external cues to find the rewarded room or if they were learning from simply receiving the reward in the one room. It was concluded from our analysis that the only way to be certain of the rat’s behavior was to change the task the animal was asked to perform.

Although it might seem disappointing to work on a project for three months and then have to change the procedure, it was actually very beneficial. We were able to identify what could and could not be done to understand the questions we were asking, and we learned a lot about what sort of statistics we must do in order to determine if the animals were truly learning. It also reminded me how difficult it is to do biological research. The amount of knowledge and creativity needed to tease apart such complicated processes in living subjects is incredible, and it is no wonder that this sort of research happens very slowly.

The city of Amsterdam, however, is anything but slow!

But, before I launch into tour guide mode, I would like to tell you a little bit about the Dutch culture because it made a strong impression on me. First of all, these are people who value honesty and personal freedom to the extent that it does not harm others. But don’t be confused; relaxed policies on prostitution and marijuana are merely the tip of the iceberg with regard to personal freedom and choice. One of the main things that the people I worked with in the lab taught me was that the Dutch society is not a competitive one (unless we’re talking about soccer!). What they meant was that there wasn’t a lot of pressure to get the best grade or make the most money or have the most respectable job. What was important, and they stressed this, was personal happiness, personal choice and the enjoyment of life, and how you attained this was for you to decide. It was an amazing experience for me to be in a culture that was only concerned with my being happy in what I was doing. And as long as I’m doing neuroscience, I’m happy!

OK, now for the best of Amsterdam: the art, the museums and the clubs. Amsterdam has art from Rembrandt to Van Gogh and even some of the most amazing modern art shows I have ever seen. In case you plan on visiting I strongly recommend not only the Van Gogh museum but also a small modern photography gallery called Foam. You won’t be disappointed. Also, keep your eyes out for small galleries located all around the city; these local artists know what they are doing. You shouldn’t miss the Anne Frank House either because it adds a tangible dimension to what you learned in high school history class. Speaking of history class, the Rijks museum also recounts the amazing and tragic story of the Dutch East India Company and it really shouldn’t be missed.

Finally, the clubs in Amsterdam are awesome. If you wanted to see a famous DJ in the States and s/he wasn’t playing anywhere, it was because they were in Amsterdam playing one of the five million raves that they hold in their athletic stadiums. These things are huge! I had the opportunity to see some DJs play at the MelkWeg (Milkyway) and I was not let down. In addition, if you like jazz, the North Sea Jazz Festival is held annually in the Netherlands. Rumor has it that Miles Davis never missed a performance there.

All in all, I had a phenomenal time. I was reminded of the difficulties of science, I learned about an amazing culture, and I made some true friends. If anyone is considering applying to BRAVO! I whole-heartedly encourage you to do so; my experience in the beautiful country of the Netherlands was priceless.

Amanda Casale, UBRPer in Dr. Bruce McNaughton’s lab, Neural Systems, Memory & Aging