Brain Evolution, Communication, and the Diversification of Behavior

在这个项目中，圣路易斯华盛顿大学的研究人员将与世界各地几个机构的研究人员合作，以确定自然选择如何塑造物种之间的行为变异，以及物种在感官知觉和交流方面的差异如何与神经系统的潜在变化相关。密切相关的物种在行为上可能会有很大的差异，但人们对这些差异产生的原因以及它们是如何由大脑解剖学和生理学的变化引起的知之甚少。该项目的目标是确定行为差异如何使生物体适应不同的环境，并确定这种适应的神经生物学基础。非洲电鱼有200多种，它们独特的电通信信号特征使大脑和行为之间建立直接联系成为可能。使用电生理学，神经元成像，分子遗传分析和行为研究的组合，研究人员将表征感官知觉和交流的物种多样性，并确定知觉变化如何与神经回路和社会行为的差异相关。这项研究将证明广泛适用于提供一个综合的，机械的理解如何行为变异之间出现的个人和物种。电鱼非常适合神经科学和行为学的公共宣传。作为外来动物，它们吸引了广泛的观众。此外，它们还提供了一个独特的机会，可以在一个完整的、自由行为的动物身上轻松地进行神经生理学实验。研究人员将扩大正在进行的外展活动，以制作并免费提供一个正式的实验室模块，该模块使用弱电鱼让中学生接触假设驱动的科学，并教他们关于电在神经系统中的作用。为教师提供在课堂上进行假设驱动实验所需的工具，将确保这些活动具有广泛和持久的影响。

In this project, researchers from Washington University in St. Louis will collaborate with researchers at several institutions around the world to determine how natural selection shapes behavioral variation among species, and how species differences in sensory perception and communication relate to underlying changes in the nervous system. Closely related species can differ dramatically in their behavior, but little is known about why these differences arise and how they result from changes in brain anatomy and physiology. The goals of this project are to determine how behavioral differences allow organisms to adapt to diverse environments, and to identify a neurobiological basis for this adaptation. There are over 200 species of African electric fishes, and the unique characteristics of their electric communication signals make it possible to establish direct links between brain and behavior. Using a combination of electrophysiology, neuronal imaging, molecular genetic analysis, and behavioral studies, the researchers will characterize species diversity in sensory perception and communication, and determine how perceptual variation relates to differences in neural circuitry and social behavior. This research will prove broadly applicable by providing an integrated, mechanistic understanding of how behavioral variation arises among individuals and species. Electric fish are ideally suited for public outreach in neuroscience and behavior. As exotic animals, they attract a wide audience. In addition, they provide a unique opportunity to easily perform neurophysiology experiments in an intact, freely behaving animal. The researchers will expand ongoing outreach activities to produce and make freely available a formal lab module that uses weakly electric fish to expose middle and high school students to hypothesis-driven science and teach them about the role of electricity in the nervous system. Providing teachers with the tools needed to perform hypothesis-driven experiments in the classroom will ensure that these activities have an extended and enduring impact.