CAREER: Mammalian Models for Teaching and Research in Neuroethology

Vanderbilt University, Nashville TN

Investigators

Abstract

Important advances in understanding nervous-system function have been made by exploring animal species with particularly well-developed senses. This project on the neurobiology and behavior of some highly specialized small-mammal species aims to reveal general principles of nervous-system organization, function, and plasticity. Star-nosed moles have an exceptional sense of touch in their ornate noses, including mechanosensory organs that are used to make rapid discriminations based on nearly microscopic textures. Analyses of foraging behavior, prey selection and brain specializations for high-resolution and high-speed tactile sensations are done in combination with computer simulations of mechanoreceptor function and investigation of parallel processing of touch information in the neocortex. Similar comparative approaches to neuroethology will utilize naked mole-rats, unique among mammals in having a caste system like some social insects, including smaller workers and larger queens, to study naturally occurring adult brain plasticity that may accompany the physical transformation of workers to queens. Finally, elephant shrews have a specialized olfactory system that may provide novel insights about olfactory localization in mammals. These comparative studies are particularly valuable for teaching because the questions take the investigators and students through a journey of discovery that ranges from the animal in its natural environment at one extreme to the anatomy and physiology of single cells at the other. Results will have an impact throughout many levels of neurobiology, as well as in animal behavior and natural history. As a CAREER project, this work incorporates a variety of disciplinary approaches and opportunities for graduate and undergraduate students, including laboratory and field work, and also involves undergraduate course development and public outreach.