Project No.2253

Primary Supervisor

Prof Kevin Staras- University of Sussex

Co-Supervisor(s)

Dr Arjuna Ratnayaka – University of Southampton

Prof George Kemenes – University of Sussex

Summary

Understanding how animals make critical decisions to maximize their suvival changes is a major topic in neuroscience.

By exploiting new imaging, electrophysiological and cutting-edge behavioural analysis techniques it is now possible to examine this question at the level of key circuits in the CNS that compute these decisions.

This project will use the well-understood invertebrate system, Lymnaea, whose principal behaviours have been extensively characterised down to the level of the individual identified neurons that control them. This provides the opportunity to monitor the key survival-linked decision-making events ‘online’ as the system processes information about its internal and external state.

The planned work program will focus on the open question of how animals compute responses when faced with conflicting threats e.g. predation and starvation. With increased hunger, a re-prioritization of behaviours towards food-finding must be balanced against other elevated risks. The behavioural and neural mechanisms responsible are fascinating but largely uncharacterized. This project will examine how both actions and the underlying associated brain circuits responsible are modulated depending on motivational state and the nature of the input cues.

The research will be engaging, challenging and varied and the student will develop cutting-edge skills in electrophysiological recording, and machine-learning based behavioural quantification. A key objective will be to establish new optical imaging methods based on voltage-sensitive dyes allowing remote readout of circuits across the brain. This expertise is highly translatable and compatible with a future career in a broad range of neuroscience research disciplines.