We bring field biology to the laboratory
We take a reductionist approach to understanding the cellular mechanisms that underlie naturalistic behavior. Mice display complex social organization and, as a model organism of neuroscience, provide an opportunity to understand behavior at the molecular level. Our group and others have uncovered a previously under appreciated component of mouse social behavior: thermoregulation. We study various strains of mice in a setting where they are free to behave according to their own rules, while holding environmental conditions constant. Rigorously quantifying behaviors such as huddling, locomotion, and thermal comfort seeking serves as a point of entry for manipulation-based experiments and neural recordings to identify mechanisms underlying these behaviors central to animal homeostasis..
Behavioral paradigms to understand the organization of behavior
Our analysis of hundreds of 48-hour homecage recordings revealed that mice exhibit two huddling substates: active and quiescent huddling, each with a distinct thermal profile.
Neural anatomy & recording to identify circuits relevant to behavior
We are mapping the connectivity, molecular identity, and activity patterns of circuits in the brain that are important for huddling and thermoregulatory behaviors.
Manipulation-based experiments to identify functional circuitry
We use molecular tools that can activate and inhibit neurons. We are using these tools to understand the precise function of genetically-defined neural populations.