Staff Profile

Background

Tom Smulders was born near Antwerp, Belgium and grew up in Brecht, Belgium. 

Qualifications

2003-2005 Post-Graduate Certificate in Academic Practice, Newcastle University, UK

1992-1998 Ph.D. in Biopsychology at Cornell University, USA. (Supervisor: Prof. Timothy J. DeVoogd)

1990-1992 MSc in Zoology at Antwerp University, Belgium

1988-1990 BSc in Biology at Antwerp University, Belgium

Roles and Responsibilities

2024-present Director of Education, School of Psychology

2018-2023 Coordinator of the ChickenStress European Training Network

2019-2022 Deputy Theme Lead for the Behavioural Science and Psychology Theme

2016-2019 Chair of the Equality and Diversity Committee of the Institute of Neuroscience

2014-2022 Director of the Centre for Behaviour and Evolution

2008-2015 Chair of the Seminar Committee of the Institute of Neuroscience

Esteem Indicators

2023-2024: Guest Editor of an Article Collection on "Telencephalic Control of the Stress Response" in Brain, Behavior and Evolution

2018: Plenary speaker at the Swedish Animal Welfare meeting

2017: Keynote address at the UFAW International Animal Welfare Symposium

2016-2017: Guest Editor of a Special Issue on "The Hippocampus: Questions of Homology" in Brain, Behaviour and Evolution

2016: Keynote address at the 50th meeting of the International Society for Applied Ethology

2012-2014: Grant panel member of the FWO (Flanders, Belgium)-Biodiversity & Ecology (Bio3)

2010-present: Editorial Board of Brain, Behaviour & Evolution

2008-present: Reviewing Editor of Frontiers in Behavioral Neuroscience

2008-2009 Guest Editor of a Special Issue on “Integrating Ecology, Psychology, and Neurobiology Within a Food-hoarding Paradigm” in Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B

2008-2009 Guest Editor of a Special Feature on “Brain Evolution” in Biology Letters

2008-2013 Editorial Board of Biology Letters (Royal Society of London)

2007 Invited participant in the INCF Workshop on Neuroanatomical Nomenclature and Taxonomy

2006-present Fellow of the Higher Education Academy

1992-1993 Philips Fellow of the Belgian American Educational Foundation (BAEF)

Previous Positions

2000-2002 Post-doctoral researcher, Department of Neurobiology, Duke University Medical Center, USA (Supervisor: Prof. Erich D. Jarvis)

1998-2000 Post-doctoral researcher, Department of Physiology and Pharmacology, Wake Forest University School of Medicine, USA (Supervisor: Prof. Robert E. Hampson)

Memberships

Association for the Study of Animal Behaviour

British Neuroscience Association

Experimental Psychology Society

International Society for Neuroethology

J.B. Johnston Club (Comparative Vertebrate Neuroanatomy)

Natural History Society of Northumbria

Languages

Fluent in spoken and written Dutch

Fluent in spoken and written English

Fluent in spoken and written French

Reading and conversational skills in German

Notions of Italian and Latin

Google Scholar: Click here.

Informal Interests

Ballroom Dancing; Science Fiction and Fantasy

Research Interests

I am interested in how evolution modifies the brain (or particular brain areas), and how this relates to the behaviours in which these areas are involved. We study this at two levels: macro-evolutionary and micro-evolutionary.

On the macro-evolutionary level, we are interested in how brain areas conserve their function (or converge on similar functions) over deep evolutionary time. In particular, we study the hippocampal formation of birds and mammals, and investigate how two very differently-organized structures (at least at first glance) perform such similar functions. We are also applying what we learn about these similarities to developing novel animal welfare measures.

On a more micro-evolutionary level, we are interested in how brain structures change in closely related species with the evolution of novel behaviours. For this, we compare food-hoarding birds to closely-related non-hoarding birds. We are interested in two aspects of this brain/behaviour system: how did hoarding behaviour evolve and how did spatial memory mechanisms adapt to a food-hoarding life style.

Undergraduate Teaching

PSY2007 Biological Psychology: Sex, Drugs, Rhythms and Blues

PSY3049 Evolution of Brain and Behaviour

PSY3097 Undergraduate Research Projects in Psychology

Postgraduate Teaching

MMB8003 The Biological Study of Behaviour

• Articles

  • Foka K, Hunt H, Constantinescu S, Choudhury T, Walker TJ, Black-Dominique A, Lai D, Bhoopathy R, Sanderson O, Wray L, McAllister-Williams RH, Gallagher P, Smulders TV. Identifying the nature of episodic memory deficits in Major Depressive Disorder using a Real-World What-Where-When task. Memory 2024, 32(7), 924-934.
  • Smulders TV, Douglas LJ, Reza D, Male LH, Prysce A, Alix A, de Guzman Dodd A, Read JCA. Hoarding titmice predominantly use Familiarity, and not Recollection, when remembering cache locations. Animal Cognition 2023, 26, 1929-1943.
  • Dumontier L, Janczak AM, Smulders TV, Nordgreen J. Effects of the rearing environment complexity on laying hens’ spatial cognition: a holeboard test approach. Applied Animal Behaviour Science 2023, 260, 105878.
  • Armstrong EA, Richards-Rios P, Addison L, Sandilands V, Guy JH, Wigley P, Boswell T, Smulders TV. Poor body condition is associated with lower hippocampal plasticity and higher gut methanogen abundance in adult laying hens from two housing systems. Scientific Reports 2022, 12(1), 15505.
  • Dumontier L, Janczak AM, Smulders TV, Moe RO, Vas J, Nordgreen J. Early life environment and adult enrichment: Effects on fearfulness in laying hens. Applied Animal Behaviour Science 2022, 256, 105750.
  • Lange H, Walker L, Orell M, Smulders TV. Seasonal changes in the hippocampal formation of hoarding and non-hoarding tits. Learning & Behavior 2021, 50, 113-124.
  • Armstrong EA, Rufener C, Toscano MJ, Eastham JE, Guy JH, Sandilands V, Boswell T, Smulders TV. Keel bone fractures induce a depressive-like state in laying hens. Scientific Reports 2020, 10, 3007.
  • Henderson LJ, Smulders TV, Roughan JV. Identifying obstacles preventing the uptake of tunnel handling methods for laboratory mice: An international thematic survey. PLOS One 2020, 15(4), e0231454.
  • Armstrong EA, Voelkl B, Voegeli S, Gebhardt-Henrich SG, Guy JH, Sandilands V, Boswell T, Toscano MJ, Smulders TV. Cell proliferation in the adult chicken hippocampus correlates with individual differences in time spent in outdoor areas and tonic immobility. Frontiers in Veterinary Science 2020, 7, 587.
  • Henderson LJ, Dani B, Serrano EMN, Smulders TV, Roughan JV. Benefits of tunnel handling persist after repeated restraint, injection and anaesthesia. Scientific Reports 2020, 10(1), 14562.
  • Poirier C, Bateson M, Gualtieri F, Armstrong EA, Laws GC, Boswell T, Smulders TV. Validation of hippocampal biomarkers of cumulative affective experience. Neuroscience and Biobehavioral Reviews 2019, 101, 113-121.
  • Gualtieri F, Armstrong EA, Longmoor GK, D'Eath RB, Sandilands V, Boswell T, Smulders TV. Unpredictable Chronic Mild Stress Suppresses the Incorporation of New Neurons at the Caudal Pole of the Chicken Hippocampal Formation. Scientific Reports 2019, 9, 7129.
  • Smulders TV. Smarter through group living?. Learning and Behavior 2019, 47(4), 275-276.
  • Smulders TV, Boswell T, Henderson LJ. “How Foraging Works”: Let's not forget the physiological mechanisms of energy balance. Behavioral and Brain Sciences 2019, 42, e51.
  • Henderson LJ, Cockcroft RC, Kaiya H, Boswell T, Smulders TV. Peripherally injected ghrelin and leptin reduce food hoarding and mass gain in the coal tit (Periparus ater). Proceedings of the Royal Society B 2018, 285(1879), 20180417.
  • Robertson BA, Rathbone L, Cirillo G, D'Eath RB, Bateson M, Boswell T, Wilson PW, Dunn IC, Smulders TV. Food restriction reduces neurogenesis in the avian hippocampal formation. PLoS ONE 2017, 12(12), e0189158.
  • Gualtieri F, Brégère C, Laws GC, Armstrong EA, Wylie NJ, Moxham TT, Guzman R, Boswell T, Smulders TV. Effects of Environmental Enrichment on Doublecortin and BDNF Expression along the Dorso-Ventral Axis of the Dentate Gyrus. Frontiers in Neuroscience 2017, 11, 488.
  • Atkinson BM, Smulders TV, Wallenberg JC. An Endocrine Basis for Tomboy Identity: the second-to-fourth digit ratio (2D:4D) in "tomboys". Psychoneuroendocrinology 2017, 79, 9-12.
  • Smulders TV, Black-Dominique A, Choudhury TS, Constantinescu SE, Foka K, Walker TJ, Dick K, Bradwell S, McAllister-Williams RH, Gallagher P. A Real-world What-Where-When memory test. Journal of Visualized Experiments 2017, (123), e55646.
  • Dheerendra P, Lynch NM, Crutwell J, Cunningham MO, Smulders TV. In vitro characterization of gamma oscillations in the hippocampal formation of the domestic chick. European Journal of Neuroscience 2017, 48(8), 2807-2815.
  • Read J, Godfrey A, Bohr I, Simonotto J, Galna B, Smulders T. Viewing 3D TV over two months produces no discernible effects on balance, coordination or eyesight. Ergonomics 2016, 59(8), 1073-1088.
  • Craig M, Butterworth K, Nilsson J, Hamilton CJ, Gallagher P, Smulders TV. How Does Intentionality of Encoding Affect Memory for Episodic Information?. Learning and Memory 2016, 23(11), 648-659.
  • Longmoor GK, Lange CH, Darvell H, Walker L, Rytkönen S, Vatka E, Hohtola E, Orell M, Smulders TV. Different seasonal patterns in song system volume in willow tits and great tits. Brain, Behavior and Evolution 2016, 87(4), 265-274.
  • Hands P, Smulders TV, Read JCA. Stereoscopic 3-D content appears relatively veridical when viewed from an oblique angle. Journal of Vision 2015, 15(5), 6.
  • Smulders TV. Interpreting measurements of heritability: comment on Croston et al. Behavioral Ecology 2015, 26(6), 1461-1462.
  • Mazurek A, Bhoopathy R, Read JCA, Gallagher P, Smulders TV. Effects of age on a real-world What-Where-When memory task. Frontiers in Aging Neuroscience 2015, 7, 74.
  • Martin-Ordas G, Smulders TV. Commentary: Merging of long-term memories in an insect. Frontiers in Comparative Psychology 2015, 6, 826.
  • Read JCA, Simonotto J, Bohr I, Godfrey A, Galna B, Rochester L, Smulders TV. Balance and coordination after viewing stereoscopic 3D television. Royal Society Open Science 2015, 2, 140522.
  • Kareklas K, Nettle D, Smulders TV. Water-induced finger wrinkles improve handling of wet objects. Biology Letters 2013, 9(2), 20120999.
  • Dunn IC, Wilson PW, Smulders TV, Sandilands V, D'Eath RB, Boswell T. Hypothalamic Agouti-Related Protein Expression Is Affected by Both Acute and Chronic Experience of Food Restriction and Re-Feeding in Chickens. Journal of Neuroendocrinology 2013, 25(10), 920-928.
  • Smulders TV, Jarvis ED. Different mechanisms are responsible for dishabituation of electrophysiological auditory responses to a change in acoustic identity than to a change in stimulus location. Neurobiology of Learning and Memory 2013, 106, 163-176.
  • Feenders G, Smulders TV. Magpies can use local cues to retrieve their food caches. Animal Cognition 2011, 14(2), 235-243.
  • Holland SM, Smulders TV. Do humans use episodic memory to solve a What-Where-When memory task?. Animal Cognition 2011, 14(1), 95-102.
  • Smulders TV, Gould KL, Leaver LA. Using ecology to guide the study of cognitive and neural mechanisms of different aspects of spatial memory in food-hoarding animals. Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences 2010, 365(1542), 883-900.
  • Roth TC, Brodin A, Smulders TV, LaDage LD, Pravosudov VV. Is bigger always better? A critical appraisal of the use of volumetric analysis in the study of the hippocampus. Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences 2010, 365(1542), 915-931.
  • Pravosudov VV, Smulders TV. Integrating ecology, psychology and neurobiology within a food-hoarding paradigm. Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences 2010, 365(1542), 859-867.
  • Smulders TV. Darwin Celebrations Highlight Brain Evolution. Brain, Behavior and Evolution 2010, 75(1), 8.
  • Echtermeyer C, Smulders TV, Smith VA. Causal pattern recovery from neural spike train data using the Snap Shot Score. Journal of Computational Neuroscience 2010, 29(1-2), 231-252.
  • Smulders TV. The relevance of brain evolution for the biomedical sciences. Biology Letters 2009, 5(1), 138-140.
  • Smulders TV. Darwin 200: Special Feature on Brain Evolution Introduction. Biology Letters 2009, 5(1), 105-107.
  • Zinkivskay A, Nazir F, Smulders TV. What-Where-When memory in magpies (Pica pica). Animal Cognition 2009, 12(1), 119-125.
  • Male L, Smulders T. Hyper-dispersed cache distributions reduce pilferage: a laboratory study. Journal of Avian Biology 2008, 39(2), 170-177.
  • Male LH, Smulders TV. Memory for food caches: Not just for retrieval. Behavioral Ecology 2007, 18(2), 456-459.
  • Male LH, Smulders TV. Memory decay and cache site preferences in hoarding coal tits - A laboratory study. Behaviour 2007, 144(6), 693-710.
  • Male LH, Smulders TV. Hyperdispersed cache distributions reduce pilferage: a field study. Animal Behaviour 2007, 73(4), 717-726.
  • Ferreira ARJ, Smulders TV, Sameshima K, Mello CV, Jarvis ED. Vocalizations and associated behaviors of the sombre hummingbird (Aphantochroa cirrhochloris) and the rufous-breasted hermit (Glaucis hirsutus). Auk 2006, 123(4), 1129-1148.
  • Smulders TV, Lisi MD, Tricomi E, Otter KA, Chruszcz B, Ratcliffe LM, DeVoogd TJ. Failure to detect seasonal changes in the song system nuclei of the black-capped chickadee (Poecile atricapillus). Journal of Neurobiology 2006, 66(9), 991-1001.
  • Smith VA, Yu J, Smulders TV, Hartemink AJ, Jarvis ED. Computational inference of neural information flow networks. PLoS Computational Biology 2006, 2(11), 1436-1449.
  • Reiner A, Perkel DJ, Bruce LL, Butler AB, Csillag A, Kuenzel W, Medina L, Paxinos G, Shimizu T, Striedter G, Wild M, Ball GF, Durand S, Guturkun O, Lee DW, Mello CV, Powers A, White SA, Hough G, Kubikova L, Smulders TV, Wada K, Dugas-Ford J, Husband S, Yamamoto K, Yu J, Siang C, Jarvis ED. Revised Nomenclature for Avian Telencephalon and Some Related Brainstem Nuclei. Journal of Comparative Neurology 2004, 473(3), 377-414.
  • Reiner A, Perkel DJ, Bruce LL, Butler AB, Csillag A, Kuenzel W, Medina L, Paxinos G, Shimizu T, Striedter G, Wild M, Ball GF, Durand S, Guturkun O, Lee DW, Mello CV, Powers A, White SA, Hough G, Kubikova L, Smulders TV, Wada K, Dugas-Ford J, Husband S, Yamamoto K, Yu J, Siang C, Jarvis ED. Revised nomenclature for avian telencephalon and some related brainstem nuclei. Journal of Comparative Neurology 2004, 473(3), 337-414.
  • Shiflett MW, Smulders TV, Benedict L, DeVoogd TJ. Reversible inactivation of the hippocampal formation in food-storing black-capped chickadees (Poecile atricapillus). Hippocampus 2003, 13(4), 437-444.
  • Shiflett MW, Gould KL, Smulders TV, DeVoogd TJ. Septum volume and food-storing behavior are related in parids. Journal of Neurobiology 2002, 51(3), 215-222.
  • Smulders TV. Natural Breeding Conditions and Artificial Increases in Testosterone Have Opposite Effects on the Brains of Adult Male Songbirds: A Meta-analysis. Hormones and Behavior 2002, 41(2), 156-169.
  • Jarvis ED, Smith VA, Wada K, McElroy M, Smulders TV, Rivas MV, Carninci P, Hayashisaki Y, Dietrich F, Wu X, Yu J, Wang PP, Hartemink AJ. A framework for integrating the songbird brain. Journal of Comparative Physiology A 2002, 188(11-12), 961-980.
  • Smulders TV, Shiflett MW, Sperling AJ, DeVoogd TJ. Seasonal changes in neuron numbers in the hippocampal formation of a food-hoarding bird: The black-capped chickadee. Journal of Neurobiology 2000, 44(4), 414-422.
  • Smulders TV, DeVoogd TJ. Expression of immediate early genes in the hippocampal formation of the black-capped chickadee (Poecile atricapillus) during a food-hoarding task. Behavioural Brain Research 2000, 114(1-2), 39-49.
  • Smulders TV, Casto JM, Nolan V, Ketterson ED, DeVoogd TJ. Effects of captivity and testosterone on the volumes of four brain regions in the dark-eyed junco (Junco hyemalis). Journal of Neurobiology 2000, 43(3), 244-253.
  • Van der Linden A, Verhoye M, Vanaudekerke J, Peeters R, Eens M, Newman SW, Smulders TV, Balthazart J, DeVoogd TJ. Non invasive in vivo anatomical studies of the oscine brain by high resolution mri microscopy. Journal of Neuroscience Methods 1998, 81(1-2), 45-52.
  • Smulders TV. A game theoretical model of the evolution of food hoarding: Applications to the Paridae. American Naturalist 1998, 151(4), 356-366.
  • Smulders TV, Sasson AD, Devoogd TJ. Seasonal variation in hippocampal volume in a food-storing bird, the black-capped chickadee. Journal of Neurobiology 1995, 27(1), 15-25.

• Book Chapters

  • Feenders G, Smulders T. Episodic-like memory in food-hoarding birds. In: Dere, E; Easton, A; Nade, L; Huston, JP, ed. Handbook of Episodic Memory. London: Elsevier Science, 2008, pp.197-216.
  • Smulders TV, DeVoogd TJ. The avian hippocampal formation and the memory for hoarded food: Spatial learning out in the real world. In: Bolhuis, JJ, ed. Brain, Perception, Memory. Advances in Cognitive Neuroscience. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2000, pp.127-148.

• Conference Proceedings (inc. Abstracts)

  • Henderson LJ, Cockcroft RC, Kaiya H, Boswell T, Smulders TV. Peripherally injected ghrelin and leptin reduce food hoarding and mass gain in the coal tit (Periparus ater). In: SICB Annual Meeting 2016. 2016, Portland, Oregon: Oxford University Press.
  • Smith LS, Austin J, Baker S, Borisyuk R, Eglen S, Feng J, Gurney K, Jackson T, Kaiser M, Overton P, Panzeri S, Quian Quiroga R, Schultz SR, Sernagor E, Smith VA, Smulders TV, Stuart L, Whittington M, Ingram C. The CARMEN e-Science pilot project: Neuroinformatics work packages. In: Proceedings of the UK e-Science All Hands Meeting. 2007, Nottingham, UK: National e-Science Centre.

• Notes

  • Smulders TV, Read JCA. Different memory systems in food-hoarding birds: A response to Pravosudov. Learning and Behavior 2024, epub ahead of print.
  • Darlington RB, Smulders TV. Problems with residual analysis. Animal Behaviour 2001, 62(3), 599-602.
  • Smulders TV, Dhondt AA. How much memory do tits need?. Trends in Ecology & Evolution 1997, 12(11), 417-418.

• Reviews

  • Madison FA, Bingman VP, Smulders TV, Lattin CR. A bird's eye view of the hippocampus beyond space: Behavioral, neuroanatomical, and neuroendocrine perspectives. Hormones and Behavior 2024, 157, 105451.
  • Smulders TV. Telencephalic regulation of the HPA axis in birds. Neurobiology of Stress 2021, 15, 100351.
  • Smulders TV. How to obtain satisfying explanations of brain evolution. Trends in Ecology and Evolution 2021, 36(10), 883-884.
  • Smulders TV. Evolution Driven by Organismal Behaviour – A Unifying View of Life, Function, Form, Mismatches, and Trends, by Rui Diogo [Book review]. Journal of Anatomy 2018, 232(2), 356-357.
  • Smulders TV. The avian hippocampal formation and the stress response. Brain Behavior and Evolution 2017, 90, 81-91.
  • Smulders TV. A multi-disciplinary approach to understanding hippocampal function in food-hoarding birds. Reviews in the Neurosciences 2006, 17(1-2), 53-69.
  • Jarvis ED, Güntürkün O, Bruce LL, Csillag A, Karten HJ, Kuenzel W, Medina L, Paxinos G, Perkel DJ, Shimizu T, Striedter GF, Wild JM, Ball GF, Dugas-Ford J, Durand S, Hough G, Husband S, Kubikova L, Lee DW, Mello CV, Powers A, Siang C, Smulders TV, Wada K, White SA, Yamamoto K, Yu J, Reiner A, Butler AB. Avian brains and a new understanding of vertebrate brain evolution. Nature Reviews Neuroscience 2005, 6(2), 151-159.
  • Smulders TV. [Book review] Neurobiology of Spatial Behaviour; Jeffery, KJ (ed.). Animal Behaviour 2004, 86(2), 433-434.
  • Smulders TV, Hampson RE. Beyond the cognitive map: from place cells to episodic memory; Redish, AD [book review]. Quarterly Review of Biology 2000, 75(4), 491-492.