Professor Cognitive Neurobiology at the University of Amsterdam and Leiden University

Professional and academic career

Melly Oitzl studied psychology with specialization in neurophysiology and neurobiology at the University of Düsseldorf, Germany. In 1989 she received her PhD (Dr.rer.nat. magna cum laude) from the Faculty of Natural Sciences at the University of Düsseldorf. After a post-doctorate at the Rudolf Magnus Institute, Utrecht, she joined the Division of Medical Pharmacology (Prof. E.R. de Kloet) in Leiden, 1991. She received the NWO Aspasia-Award. In 2002 she was appointed as associate professor and is adjunct Professor Cognitive Neurobiology at the Swammerdam Institute for Life Sciences, Centre of Neuroscience at the University of Amsterdam. She has been (co-)promotor to seven PhD students at Leiden University (1999-2009). She is actively involved in scientific organizations, e.g. as a board member of the European Brain and Behavior Society.

Research  fields

Translational research on hormonal control of brain and behaviour, covering the influence of life events, like postnatal maternal deprivation, chronic stress on neuroendocrine and behavioural adaptation, emotion, learning and memory processes in rats and (mutant) mice, particularly with respect to the function of brain corticosteroid receptors. She discovered the differential but integrated function of mineralo- und glucocorticoid receptor for behaviour (Oitzl & de Kloet, Behavioral Neuroscience 1992). Her work is focused on the interaction of emotion, cognition and stress, favoring the integration of molecular with behavioral research from cellular systems and animal models to human pathologies. To promote the translational strength of her studies in animals, she became involved in human studies addressing the effect of stress on memory systems (collaboration with the Psychobiology group, Universities of Trier and Bochum, Germany).

Key publications:

• Schwabe L, Wolf OT and Oitzl MS (2010). Memory formation under stress: quantity and quality. Neurosci Biobehav Rev, 34:584-591
• Schwabe L, Schächinger H, de Kloet ER and Oitzl MS (2010). Corticosteroids operate as switch between memory systems. J Cogn Neurosci, 22(7):1373-1398
• Oitzl MS, Champagne DL, van der Veen R and de Kloet ER (2010). Brain development under stress: Hypotheses of glucocorticoid actions revisited. Neurosci Biobehav Rev, 34:853-866
• Brinks V, de Kloet ER and Oitzl MS (2009). Corticosterone facilitates extinction of fear memory in BALB/c mice but strengthens cue related fear in C57BL/6 mice. Experimental Neurology, 216,375-382
• Revsin Y, Rekers NV, Louwe MC, Saravia FE, De Nicola AF, de Kloet ER and Oitzl MS (2009). Glucocorticoid Receptor Blockade Normalizes Hippocampal Alterations and Cognitive Impairment in Streptozotocin-Induced Type 1 Diabetes Mice. Neuropsychopharmacology,  34: 747-758