From biology.ucsd.edu
"My lab is interested in the flexibility of animal behavior, and understanding how nervous systems can adapt to different environmental, internal, and social contexts. We focus on the neurobiology of global brain states in individuals and collective decision making in groups, leveraging the unique advantages of two model systems – the juvenile zebrafish (Danio rerio) and adult glassfish (Danionella translucida).
We investigate internal states in juvenile zebrafish, by observing the behavior of these small transparent vertebrates across different internal states: sleepy vs. alert, hungry vs. sated, stressed vs. calm, etc. We use cellular-level optical imaging and manipulation of neural dynamics and biochemical signaling across the entire brain of these animals during state-dependent behaviors, in order to understand how multiple cellular changes across the brain produce global internal states, with a focus on neuromodulatory signaling pathways.
We also investigate group behaviors in the micro glassfish (Danionella translucida) – a species that remains small and transparent as adults and are capable of robust collective social behaviors. We engage these fish in interactive multi-agent virtual reality environments in order to understand how multiple individual brains collaborate to perform collective behaviors, with a focus on information sharing during anti-predator adaptations and consensus decision-making."