Neural mechanisms of social preferences

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Both animals and humans are capable not only of taking in sensory information but also attributing some value to those sensory stimuli, and a critical question in neuroscience is how the brain encodes such information about the salience or significance of a stimulus. One area where the parameters affecting behavioural preferences have been intensively well studied is mate choice. In many species, females show preferences for males based on particular features. However, the neural mechanisms underlying these preferences and mate choice decisions are largely unexplored. Songbirds are an excellent model system in which to study the neural basis of behavioural preferences. For example, in songbirds females often assess the quality of potential mates based on their song. Moreover, a number of higher-level auditory areas show changes in gene expression with the presentation of salient or preferred songs. Thus, the long-term aim of my research is to study female songbirds to elucidate the neural basis of female preferences and mate choice. My work will use a combination of neurophysiological, neurochemical and immunohistochemical methods to investigate the neural mechanisms underlying song perception and preferences in female zebra finches, the neural circuitry involved in transforming preferences into mating decisions and the role of social and sensory experiences in shaping the neural circuitry underlying preferences and mating selection. In the near term I will begin to address these broader questions by investigating how the brain encodes preferences for courtship song and how experiences early in development as well as in adulthood shape both the behavioural preferences and their neural substrate. Ultimately,by combining studies of natural behavioural preferences with detailed analysis of the activity of single neurons as well as the activity of neural circuits, my research program will enhance our understanding of general processes of sensory physiology as well as lend insight into the neural basis of perception and decision-making.