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Centre for Cognitive Neuroimaging

Recent technological developments make it possible to 'see' the brain in action, to watch it engaging in the cognitions and emotions that are such an essential part of our mental life.

New neuroimaging techniques help us understand how 10 to the power of 11 neurons and a multitude of connections between them- covering a distance totaling over 100,000 kilometers - cooperate to perceive, represent and act on the world. According to Professor Peter Hagoort, director of the Centre for Cognitive Neuroimaging, the brain operates as an orchestra without a conductor. To be able to produce the right cognitive melody, different neural 'players' have to coordinate their activities, each providing the right contribution at exactly the right time. It remains a puzzle for scientists to work out how - without a central coordinating agency - the brain is able to achieve such a feat.

These are the kind of questions that underlie the research program at the Centre for Cognitive Neuroimaging . We are a research centre of the Radboud University Nijmegen with participation of the Universities of Leiden, Maastricht, Twente, and the Max Planck Institute for Psycholinguistics in Nijmegen. 

As of 1 September 2008, the Centre for Cognitive Neuroimaging is part of the Donders Institute for Brain, Cognition and Behaviour. The Donders Institute for Brain, Cognition and Behaviour consists of the Centre for Cognition, the Centre for Cognitive Neuroimaging  and the Centre for Neuroscience.