Brief description of research
Evolution and neuroecology of spatial memory, behavioral
endocrinology, energy management and starvation-predation trade-off.


My current research has been particularly focused on neuroecology and evolution of spatial memory. In order to understand memory and how it can affect fitness we need to understand the interactions between environment, memory and its underlying mechanisms. For most of my research, I use food-caching birds as a model. Food-caching birds represent an extremely tractable system for several reasons. They have remarkably accurate memories for the locations of hidden caches and these memories are dependent on the hippocampus. The cache-recovery behavior of these birds capitalizes on the ecological and evolutionary validity of a natural memory-based behavior that can be productively studied in both field and laboratory settings; it can be easily manipulated and studied in captive birds and is therefore amenable to the benefits of rigorous laboratory control. Overall, food-caching birds represent an excellent model for studying how ecological and environmental pressures might have shaped the evolution of brain and memory.
My laboratory is equipped for conducting behavioral tests and for the brain and hormone analyses.
My recent research addressed the following questions:
(1) Evolution of spatial memory and the hippocampus in food-caching birds
(2) Relationship between migratory behavior, memory and the hippocampus
(5) Effects of hormones on food-caching behavior, memory and the hippocampus
Currently, my laboratory is working on three projects:
(1) The relationship between reliance on food caching, spatial memory and the hippocampus - an intraspecific comparison (supported by NSF)
(2) Effect of social environment on memory, hippocampal structure and neurogenesis (supported by NIH R01)
(3) Hippocampal neurogenesis and memory (supported by NIH R21)
Collaborators:
Dr. Anders Brodin; Department of Theoretical Ecology; University of Lund, Sweden.
I collaborate with Anders Brodin on my research on evolution of spatial memory and the hippocampus in food-caching birds,
and, in particular, on comparing hippocampal and brain size between Eurasian and North American species.







