Robin  Broersen

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Dr. Robin Broersen

Biography

Dr. Broersen is an assistant professor in the Department of Neuroscience of the Erasmus University Medical Center, Rotterdam, The Netherlands. His research is focused on the physiology and function of the connections between two major brain areas, the cerebellum and the superior colliculus. His research aim is to uncover the organization and physiology of these cerebellotectal connections and to determine their functional role in sensorimotor behavior. His expertise involves in vivo intracellular and extracellular electrophysiology, viral injections, optogenetics, behavioral paradigms and immunohistochemistry. He previously worked as a postdoctoral fellow in Prof. Greg Stuart’s lab at the Eccles Institute of Neuroscience, John Curtin School of Medical Research, Australian National University, Australia. Here, he worked on binocular integration in the superior colliculus. He was trained at the Netherlands Institute for Neuroscience, Amsterdam, where he focused on cerebellar physiology in health and disease.

Research Interests

  1. Binocular integration of synaptic inputs in superior colliculus neurons.
  2. Membrane potential dynamics of cerebellar nuclei neurons during Pavlovian eye blink conditioning.
  3. Action perception and motor timing in patients with spinocerebellar ataxia type 6 (SCA6) and elite athletes.
  4. The role of perineuronal nets in cerebellar learning and memory.
  5. Sensorimotor transformations and input organization in the posterior parietal cortex.
  6. In vivo electrophysiological recording and morphology in awake behaving rodents.

Education

2019

Doctor of Philosophy

in Netherlands Institute for Neuroscience/Erasmus MC

2013

Master of Science (cum laude)

in University of Amsterdam

2011

Bachelor of Science

in University of Amsterdam

Positions

2022

Assistant professor

in Erasmus MC

2019

Postdoctoral fellow

in Australian National University

2014

PhD candidate

in Netherlands Institute for Neuroscience/Erasmus MC

2013

Research technician

in Netherlands Institute for Neuroscience

Honors & Awards

2020

Brain Award for Collaborative Excellence

Netherlands Institute for Neuroscience

2016

Brain Award for Collaborative Excellence

Netherlands Institute for Neuroscience

Publications

1. Keeping track of time: An interaction of mossy fibers and climbing fibers.

2. Disynaptic inhibitory cerebellar control over caudal medial accessory olive.

3. Plasticity mechanisms of genetically distinct Purkinje cells.

in BioEssays : news and reviews in molecular, cellular and developmental biology 2024

4. Cerebellar nuclei: Associative motor learning in zebrafish.

Broersen R, Canto CB, De Zeeuw CI
in Current biology : CB 2023

5. Synaptic mechanisms for associative learning in the cerebellar nuclei.

Broersen R, Albergaria C, Carulli D, Carey MR, Canto CB, De Zeeuw CI
in Nature communications 2023

6. Cerebellar plasticity and associative memories are controlled by perineuronal nets.

Carulli D, Broersen R, de Winter F, Muir EM, Mešković M, de Waal M, de Vries S, Boele HJ, Canto CB, De Zeeuw CI, Verhaagen J
in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America 2020

7. Action perception recruits the cerebellum and is impaired in patients with spinocerebellar ataxia.

Abdelgabar AR, Suttrup J, Broersen R, Bhandari R, Picard S, Keysers C, De Zeeuw CI, Gazzola V
in Brain : a journal of neurology 2019

8. Early Trajectory Prediction in Elite Athletes.

Owens CB, de Boer C, Gennari G, Broersen R, Pel JJ, Miller B, Clapp W, van der Werf YD, De Zeeuw CI
in Cerebellum (London, England) 2018

9. Intrinsic excitement in cerebellar nuclei neurons during learning.

Canto CB, Broersen R, De Zeeuw CI
in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America 2018

10. An expandable embryonic stem cell-derived Purkinje neuron progenitor population that exhibits in vivo maturation in the adult mouse cerebellum.

Higuera GA, Iaffaldano G, Bedar M, Shpak G, Broersen R, Munshi ST, Dupont C, Gribnau J, de Vrij FMS, Kushner SA, De Zeeuw CI
in Scientific reports 2017
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