Dr Martin Vreugdenhil

Martin Vreugdenhil

Senior Lecturer in Human Physiology

Email:
Martin.Vreugdenhil@bcu.ac.uk
Phone:
0121 313 7046

Martin studied Biomedical Science at the University of Leiden (The Netherlands) and developed a strong interest in neuroscience, especially in epilepsy. He did his PhD in Neuroscience at the University of Amsterdam (focus on changes in cell physiology in a rat model of epilepsy). After a post-doctoral research position at the University of Amsterdam (focus on the effects of antiepileptic drugs on cell physiology in rat and epilepsy patients) he took a research position at the University of Birmingham (focus on network oscillations in epilepsy and models of fast oscillations).

Martin became a lecturer at the University of Birmingham where he developed a research line focusing on fast network oscillations, studying; 1) the mechanisms underlying them, 2) their role in normal behaviour, 3) how they are changed in brain diseases like Alzheimer’s disease, epilepsy and normal ageing, and 4) how they are affected by psycho-active substances, like caffeine, alcohol, nicotine, ketamine and PCP.

In 2015 Martin took a senior lectureship position at the BCU, mainly teaching human physiology in a wide variety of health-related courses. His interest in neurophysiology is now expressed in research in 1) quantifying facial mimicry assessed by facial EMG, 2) the role of fast oscillations in chronic pain perception and tolerance in humans (In collaboration with the Aston Brain Centre) and 3) the role of the serotonin receptors in gut peristalsis in the earthworm.

Martin is Visiting Professor in Xinxiang Medical University (China) where the animal-based research line in fast network oscillations is continued, studying the role of opiates in fast oscillations and the changes in fast oscillations in response to disease and medication.

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