Research interest:

My name is Benjamin Drukarch and currently I am an active member of the team Education & Innovation of the department of Anatomy and Neurosciences where I hold a tenured appointment as Associate Professor. Next to teaching medical pharmacology and neuroscience in various graduate- and post-graduate courses both within and outside Amsterdam UMC, location VUmc, as a registered experimental pharmacologist and neuroscientist I have a long standing interest and experience in researching these fields. Within this latter context, my work has focused primarily on studying pathophysiological pathways underlying neurodegeneration and inflammation in brain diseases, in particular Parkinson’s- and Alzheimer’s disease and Multiple Sclerosis, and identification and characterization of novel therapeutic targets for drug treatment of such diseases. In recent years I have, moreover, developed an active interest in pursuing primarily conceptual research into Understanding and Explaining (in) Neuroscience(s). Within this context, the question of how explanatory understanding of phenomena in the neurosciences is achieved is the focus of attention and is addressed from three directions: (1) mechanistic and non-mechanistic explanation in neuroscience, (2) causation in neuroscience, and (3) the “language” of brain cells. More in particular, my efforts in this area of philosophical and historical investigation are currently directed at conceptual analysis of the history and validity of the animal electricity paradigm as the foundation of the (neuro)scientific explanation and understanding of signal (information) conduction and transmission in neurons and information processing as the main task of the brain. This research is pursued in cooperation with a team of philosophers of science and experimental (neuro)scientists both in The Netherlands and abroad.

Key words:

Neurodegenerative disorders, Philosophy of Neuroscience, History of Neuroscience.

Techniques:

Brain cell culture; (immuno)histo- and cytochemistry; neurochemistry; cellular neuropharmacology; conceptual analysis.