Research
Evolution of courtship in insects
Nothing in biology makes sense except in the light of evolution.
Behaviors do not arise de novo, but evolve like any other biological trait. How changes in the genome effect changes in neural circuits that, in turn, generate new behavioral phenotypes is not known. I am interested in understanding how neural circuits change over evolution to generate new, adaptive behavioral strategies. Male fruit flies perform elaborate “song-and-dance” courtship rituals to attract mates. These courtship rituals exhibit remarkable interspecies variation and evolve rapidly. In my current research, I investigate how neural circuits evolved to produce these diverse species-specific behaviors.
Computational neuroethology
Nothing in neuroscience makes sense except in the light of behavior.
Brains generate behavior, which is the primary mechanism by which animals interact with the world. Thus, a thorough understanding of behavior is essential if we are to understand neural circuit function. In my research, I develop quantiative methods for understanding animal behavior. Through leveraging large behavioral datasets and applying both supervised and unsupervised machine learning methods, I try to understand how animals move through and consequently change their environment, and how the environment feeds back on animals to affect their future movements. I believe that neural circuits can only be properly understood when viewed in light of this complete closed sensorimotor loop.
Neural circuits for jaw movements
Nothing in neuroethology makes sense except in the light of behavioral evolution.
The evolution of jaws was critical for the radiation of vertebrates, improving respiration efficiency and faciliting the diversification of feeding stragies that opened up new ecological niches for fishes. Evolution has subsequently co-opted jaws for a variety of other behaviors, including communication, aggression and emotional expression. Despite the importance of jaws for vertebrate evolution, the neural circuits that control jaw movements are poorly characterized. I have identified a population of neurons in the reticular formation - an import brainstem region for movement control - that play a critical role in generating fast jaw movements in fish. I am in the process of writing up this research, which will be available as a preprint soon!
