Neural Circuits of Kinship Behaviour

The research goals of this PhD project would involve study of the circuits underlying natural social behaviours with a focus on behaviour that is ethologically relevant for the animal. We have a particular interest in kinship behaviour, mate choice and mechanisms of kin recognition, attachment, and social learning in developmental time points. Techniques would involve a combination of in vivo and in vitro electrophysiology, imaging as well as circuit mapping and behavioural analyses. Projects aim to understand the neural mechanisms that support social behaviour in the healthy brain which would lay a foundation for study in disease.