Research

Neurobiology of Navigation

Navigation is a key behavior for animals and humans. It is a cognitively-demanding, complex behavior – which requires planning, strategy-shifting, and ongoing integration of sensory information with memory. We investigate the neural basis of navigation, spatial memory, and spatial learning – and we ask: What are the neural codes that underlie real-world navigation? In particular, we study the neural codes for 3D space, 1-kilometer distances, and complex navigation.

Social Neuroscience

Social behaviors are crucial for animals and humans. We study social neuroscience – and we ask: What are the neural codes that underlie sociality? To investigate this, we capitalize on the extreme sociality of bats. We perform experiments in pairs of bats, as well as in groups of socially-interacting bats – both males and females.

Neuroscience in the Wild

Natural behaviors are performed outdoors – in the real world. Our most recent adventure is to take Neuroscience into the Wild – and to ask: What are the neural bases of navigation and other natural behaviors outdoors, in the real world? To this end, we record place-cells and head-direction cells in bats navigating outdoors on a remote oceanic island in Tanzania – off the coast of Zanzibar.