Neuroscience Firm Hires Facebook's Nieuwenhuis

In the Netherlands, consumer neuroscience company Alpha.One has hired former Facebook/Nielsen exec Ingrid Nieuwenhuis as Head of Science, responsible for its product roadmap.

Founded in Rotterdam in 2016, Alpha.One uses neuroscientific research and optimization tools - including EEG, fMRI and eye tracking - to answer questions about motivation, emotion and perception, and measures brain activity to predict human behavior. Uses range from testing commercials and improving web sites to helping people quit smoking.

Nieuwenhuis (pictured) joins from Facebook, where as Quantitative Researcher and Neuroscientist, she worked on deepening the understanding of how consumers form and update beliefs regarding brands, and how advertising can be used to connect with those consumers. Earlier at Facebook, she worked in the Center for Marketing Science Innovation, which focuses on understanding the physiology of communications in order to evaluate both advertising and new Facebook products. Prior to this, Nieuwenhuis was a director at Nielsen Consumer Neuroscience, working with CPT companies to incorporate the use of consumer neuroscience methodologies.

In addition to her new scientific role, Nieuwenhuis is charged with developing a platform that quantifies brand value generated by marketing, to help determine ads' strengths and weaknesses using machine learning. CEO and co-founder Coen Olde Olthof comments: 'We have always opted for an uncommon and innovative route. Predicting human responses in a scalable model. That was not always easy, especially at the beginning. Now we are getting traction, it is wonderful that someone with Nieuwenhuis's track record has decided to join our company'.

Web site: www.alpha.one .