Employer: Radboud University Nijmegen
Level: PhD
Scholarship Description: The focus of this PhD project is on the development of motor imagery (MI) capacity in young children (5-10 years). During the first phase, a longitudinal study will be performed to chart the developmental trajectories of MI and motor planning and execution in 5- to 10-year-olds in detail. EEG registration is used to scrutinize the concomitant age-related changes in brain activity, in particular with respect to the fronto-parietal coupling. While it is clear that cognitive, motor and brain development occur concurrently during childhood, much less is known about the direction of the relationships between them. Hence, during the second phase, experimental learning designs are implemented to investigate the effects of MI training on the development of motor control and to determine the age period most sensitive to intervention. Finally, the changes in brain activity induced by MI-training will be examined via the innovative trial-by-trial analysis of the EEG/ERP signal.
The project will result in a PhD thesis, comprising papers published in top scientific journals.
Requirements
You should have:
- a Master’s degree in psychology, pedagogy/remedial education, neuropsychology, rehabilitation psychology, cognitive or experimental psychology, human movement science, or a related field;
- excellent writing skills (in Dutch and English) and data-analysis skills preferably evidenced by authorship or co-authorship of published articles;
- experience with setting up longitudinal and experimental research, preferably on young children, and experience with data analysis in experimental designs is desirable;.
- good organization skills and experience with EEG/ERP registration and analysis are desirable;
Scholarship Application Deadline: 15 October 2010
Further Scholarship Information and Application:
http://www.ru.nl/vacatures/details/details_vacature_0?recid=500437
