Matthijs (Matt) van der Meer

Department of Biology and Centre for Theoretical Neuroscience

Cross-appointed (School of Computer Science) & (Systems Design Engineering)

Bachelor of Science (BSc) University College Utrecht Netherlands,
Master of Science (MSc), Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) University of Edinburgh UK
 

Email: mvdm@uwaterloo.ca

Telephone: (519) 888-4567 ext. 31151

Office: Biology 1 281

Lab: (519) 888-4567 ext. 31354

Website: van der Meer Lab

Research interests

There are different ways of making decisions: some are automatic and habitual, others are deliberate and planful. Planning is computationally challenging; how can the brain predict the consequences of different actions, and decide which one to choose? My lab records electrical signals from multiple brain structures in rats learning and performing decision tasks. With the help of statistical tools, such recordings can make visible the dynamics of planning processes, in ensembles of single neurons, “live” as subjects deliberate at decision points. The resulting rich data sets are used to inform computational models at the single neuron, network and agent levels.

Selected publications

• Malhotra, S., Cross, R.W. and van der Meer, M.A. (in press) Theta phase precession beyond the hippocampus. Reviews in the Neurosciences.
• van der Meer, M.A., Kurth-Nelson, Z. and Redish, A.D. (in press) Information processing in decision-making systems. The Neuroscientist.
• van der Meer, M.A. and Redish, A.D. (2011b) Ventral striatum: a critical look at models of learning and evaluation. Current Opinion in Neurobiology 21(3):387-92.
• van der Meer, M.A. and Redish, A.D. (2011a) Theta phase precession in rat ventral striatum links place and reward information. Journal of Neuroscience 31(8) :2843-2854.
• van der Meer, M.A., Johnson, A., Schmitzer-Torbert, N.C. and Redish, A.D. (2010). Triple dissociation of information processing in dorsal striatum, ventral striatum, and hippocampus on a learned spatial decision task. Neuron. 67(1), 25-32.
• Gupta, A.S., van der Meer, M.A., Touretzky, D.S. and Redish, A.D. (2010). Hippocampal replay is not a simple function of experience. Neuron. 65(5), 695-705.
• van der Meer, M.A. and Redish, A.D. (2010). Expectancies in decision making, reinforcement learning, and ventral striatum. Frontiers in Neuroscience.
• van der Meer, M.A., Kalenscher, T., Lansink, C.S., Pennartz, C.M., Berke. J.D. and Redish, A.D. (2010). Integrating early results on ventral striatal gamma oscillations in the rat. Frontiers in Neuroscience.
• van der Meer, M.A., Richmond, Z., Braga, R.M., Wood, E.R. and Dudchenko, P.A. (2010). Evidence for the use of an internal sense of direction in homing. Behavioral Neuroscience. 124(1), 164-69.
• van der Meer M.A. and Redish, A.D. (2009b). Low and high gamma oscillations in rat ventral striatum have distinct relationships to behavior, reward, and spike coherence on a learned spatial decision task. Frontiers in Integrative Neuroscience.
• van der Meer, M.A. and Redish, AD (2009a). Covert expectation-of-reward in rat ventral striatum at decision points. Frontiers in Integrative Neuroscience.
• van der Meer, M.A., Knierim, J.J., Doreswamy, Y., Wood, E.R. and van Rossum, M.C. (2007). Anticipation in the rodent head direction cell system can be explained by an interaction of head movements and vestibular firing properties. Journal of Neurophysiology. 98(4), 1883-97.