The science of individuality:

biology, research & treatment

We proudly present this year’s edition of Amsterdam Neuroscience MAGAZINE! As 2022 is a remarkable year given the change of our Board of Directors, we would like to take this opportunity to express our deepest gratitude to both Arjen Brussaard and Diederik van de Beek for their unwavering commitment over the past six years. They certainly leave some big shoes to fill for our new directors – Guus Smit, Yolande Pijnenburg and Marten Smidt – with whom we are incredibly excited to work together to continue building a strong institute for the future. It’s a journey we know they are more than capable of steering with success. 

And it is the researchers that work daily on the future of neuroscience that are showcased in this, the fourth, edition of our magazine. Each of them explores the potential of individuality in science in their own way, be it directly or indirectly. 

Individuality has become a point of current interest in neuroscience. Studying individuality can happen in many ways – from the fields of personalized or precision medicine, to individual differences in the field of genetics or optimizing/reducing individual variance in fundamental research. Despite this inspiring development, however, there are still many questions that arise… Where exactly are we in the research field of individuality? How do researchers prioritize individual differences in their studies and how do you study them in fundamental or clinical research? And what does the future of individuality look like? 

We hope the interviews featured in this issue help answer some of those questions to a degree. After all, who better than a team of passionate researchers to guide (and inspire) you in the wonderful world of the science of individuality. 

The Amsterdam Neuroscience team