Behavioral Neuroscience seminars

Chaoyi Zhang presents a method for observing distributed social-brain networks in awake marmosets during natural social interaction. Prefrontal, cingulate, striatal, thalamic and amygdala circuits are implicated in autism and other neuropsychiatric conditions, but have rarely been measured together during genuine primate social behavior. The platform replaces part of the skull with an acoustically transparent implant, enabling volumetric functional ultrasound measurements of cortical and subcortical activity at approximately 150-micrometre resolution. A whole-brain vascular reference and automated registration permit comparisons across roughly 50 atlas-defined regions, sessions and animals. Experiments show that a live social partner produces stronger and more extensive activity than video of the same partner. The talk considers applying this approach to genetically tractable, transgenic marmoset models of autism risk genes to identify altered network signatures and evaluate their potential as circuit-level biomarkers.

Rainer Friedrich presents closed-loop, high-resolution virtual reality for head-fixed adult zebrafish, linking spatial cognition to telencephalic circuits. Behavioural training, two-photon imaging and circuit-level methods reveal how functional neuron types represent virtual environments and how experience refines those representations. Virtual-environment manipulations test cognitive inference and prediction, connecting internal models used in navigation and planning to neural organisation.

Scott J. Russo presents cross-species research on how immune cells outside the brain influence neural circuits implicated in anxiety and depression. The session examines stress-related disruption of neuroimmune communication, including inflammation and increased monocyte abundance. It connects these mechanisms with translational efforts to develop targeted interventions for major depression and post-traumatic stress disorder.

Kuan Hong Wang examines how dopaminergic, cannabinoid, and neuroimmune signaling regulate circuit plasticity across development, experience, and disease, and how cross-species work may inform selective therapies.

Nicole Provenza discusses deep brain stimulation for people with severe obsessive-compulsive disorder whose symptoms persist despite available treatments. Recordings from implanted devices allow researchers to examine neural activity associated with symptom changes, responses to stimulation and recovery. The talk connects these measurements with the longer-term goal of developing more precise, personalised treatments, using real-world recordings to understand how neuromodulation affects brain activity and behaviour.

Amy Bastian examines why rehabilitation responses differ so widely among people with neurological injuries. Drawing on discoveries about movement control and motor learning, she connects differences in brain damage with variation in therapeutic benefit. The session traces the clinical questions that led from physical therapy to neuroscience and considers how research on the human motor system can inform more individualized rehabilitation.