Is Love Blind? Mating Proximity Gates Threat Perception

Host

Daniel Münch, PhD, Behaviour and Metabolism Lab

Venue

Seminar room

Abstract

When forced to choose between fundamental needs, making the wrong decision could prove fatal. However, it is currently unclear how alternative options are evaluated and appropriate actions are prioritised. To tackle this problem, we developed an experimental system to study the neural circuit mechanisms that integrate the benefit of imminent courtship success with the risk of predation in Drosophila. By combining our novel behavioural assay with neurogenetics, connectomics and live imaging, we identified the neural circuitry that establishes behavioural priority during this ‘life-death’ conflict. Crucially, we found that the probability of mating success defines the decision to reproduce or flee. Our work reveals how the brain weighs up antagonistic advantages and risks, and the probability of success, at a cellular-circuit level.

Biography

Born in Patagonia, Argentina, Carolina earned her Master's and Ph.D. in Biology from the University of Buenos Aires, with her doctoral research under Dr. Fernanda Ceriani focusing on neurodegeneration and circadian rhythms in Drosophila. Her post-doctoral research at the University of Oxford explored the genetic and neural mechanisms of sexual behaviours in Drosophila. As a BBSRC researcher co-investigator with Prof. Stephen Goodwin at Oxford, she studied how the fly brain differs between the sexes, and how these differences lead to distinct female and male behaviours. In 2018, Carolina was awarded a Birmingham Fellowship, enabling her to establish her independent research group at the University of Birmingham, UK. By 2021, she became an Associate Professor in Neurobiology. That same year, she was appointed as a Fellow member of the  FENS-Kavli Network of Excellence and then selected as a board member. Carolina's research has received support from a range of funding bodies, including the UK Research Council, Leverhulme Trust, British Council, The Royal Society, and the Wellcome Trust. 

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About CR Colloquia Series

Champalimaud Research (CR) Colloquia Series is a seminar programme organised by the Champalimaud Centre for the Unknown to promote the discussion about the most interesting and significant questions in neuroscience and physiology & cancer with appointed speakers by the CR Community.