Blog

Since the start of the pandemic, we’ve been washing our hands more than ever. While the process involves several steps, we simply do it without much thought. But how does our nervous system allow us to carry out such behavioural sequences, while also allowing flexibility? In this Q&A, Dr Kevin Cury discusses what constitutes a behavioural sequence, what prompted him to study them and his key observations so far.

When we are walking to a given location, but then are told to navigate to a new location, we can flexibly change our course and redirect our steps. How does the brain allow us to do this? In the second of this year’s Emerging Neuroscientists Seminar Series, Dr. Shin Kira shared his work on flexible decision-making during navigation.

In a recent SWC Virtual Seminar, Dr Cristopher Niell highlighted the need for studying ethologically relevant goal-directed behaviours in light of his research. In this Q&A, he expands on the use of prey capture in mice, as well as the octopus as a promising model organism, to answer such questions.

In a recent SWC Virtual Seminar, Dr Katharina Schmack discussed her research exploring hallucination-like perceptions in humans and mice. In this Q&A, she elaborates on why it has traditionally been difficult to study disturbances in perception and her drive to find mechanistic treatment targets for psychotic disorders.

In a recent SWC Virtual Seminar, Dr John Krakauer shared his work exploring intelligent reflexes, as well as first- and second-level explainers for the cognitive-motor interface. In this Q&A he highlights how motor planning has been historically defined and how such definitions are undergoing a makeover.

How does the brain handle the trade-off between energy usage and information processing during food scarcity? In the first of this year’s Emerging Neuroscientists Seminar Series, Dr Zahid Padamsey discussed his work on how energy and information processing is regulated in the brain when food is limited.

Our understanding of animal behaviour has traditionally relied upon the results of artificial laboratory tasks. But increasingly, research groups around the world are recognising the need for more naturalistic studies of animals in ethologically-relevant contexts. In a recent SWC Virtual Seminar, Dr Ben Hayden shared his work on elucidating the neural basis of decision-making in these more complex settings.