Laboratory of Neurobiology and Behavior

Research in the Laboratory for Neurobiology and Behavior examines the interactions between sensory and motor systems that are used to generate and control animal behavior. Experiments in the lab focus on two main questions: how sensory representations of movement are encoded by sensory systems and translated into motor commands, and how pairs of animals integrate social cues in the control of cooperative behaviors. We use methodologies that encompass varying levels of biological organization, from the computational consequences of transmembrane molecules to the behavior of multispecies flocks. Our work includes field studies of natural behavior in Amazon basin habitats, highly controlled behavioral studies in the laboratory, and a variety of neurophysiological approaches to central nervous system neurons in animals, pharmacological studies and mathematical modeling.