Thermal constraints on cognition in a poikilothermic brain

Behaviors and cognitive processes, and their underlying brain circuits, must evolve to perform reliably if their operation is affected by fluctuating environmental conditions. How evolutionary change can act in vertebrate brains to compensate for environmental perturbations and to maintain optimal function remains poorly understood. I will present ongoing work to understand how the poikilothermic brain of the Australian bearded dragon (Pogona vitticeps) can function across a range of temperatures, when its cell types and molecular devices likely all have different temperature reaction rates. This work entails developing new approaches to rigorously quantify behavioral and cognitive traits in this novel model system, tools to measure and manipulate brain temperature, and ultimately electrophysiological in vivo and ex vivo recordings to understand the underlying neural dynamics. Together, this work attempts to shed light on evolutionary adaptations that sustain optimal behavior and brain function in the context of ongoing environmental change.