Neural Circuit Formation Laboratory
Department of Biology
24 Cummington Street, Boston, MA 02215
Principal Investigator: Tim Gardner
Visit the Neural Circuit Formation Laboratory website for more information.
This lab studies how neural circuits form in the development of animal behavior. We focus on vocal learning in songbirds—a subject that lends itself to quantitative approaches.
How do songbirds memorize the songs of other birds, and how do these memories influence their own vocal learning? Many songbirds sing fairly normally when reared in isolation, but in the right circumstances, they may also imitate external models. Song learning is therefore the result of innate programming that provides a basic outline for song, and an auditory-memory-based learning that builds on the innate program. The laboratory is currently investigating the process that builds and maintains the core sequence of the song behavior.
What growth mechanisms form the core structure of song, and what are the geometric properties of the resulting circuit? What features of the circuit govern the flexible ordering of song? What homeostatic mechanisms maintain the circuit, and what is the role of spontaneous neural activity in sleep? For genetically identical birds, how would song learning differ?
The lab is addressing these questions through tools including quantitative behavioral experiments and inbreeding, in-vivo imaging, electrophysiology, and functional perturbation of neural activity.
