Behavioral Research Blog - Video Tracking

Imagine you are dropped in the center of a wide open field. Would you explore the entire area? Or hunker down around the edges, fearing predators and other unknowns?

We sleep a large portion of our lives. And now researchers have proven that it can heal the brain.

Serotonin is a busy neurotransmitter, influencing processes as memory, mood, emotion, appetite, and sexuality. A prime role for this neurotransmitter is social behavior, across a variety of species; humans, rodents, primates.

Why is it that when people drink, only small subsets of individuals develop an alcohol addiction? Steven Tran from the Gerlai Lab tells us why zebrafish are very helpful in the search for the answer to this question.

In one of my previous blog posts, I wrote about the success of insecticide treated bed nets in preventing malaria. In the past five years, mortality from malaria has dropped with 60%.

We are all very familiar with zebrafish as a model species in neuroscience research. Today, let's talk about another fish, the Japanese medaka.

This week we have a guest post by Iris Hovens. She has done some really interesting research into the consequences of surgery in terms of reduced memory and concentration problems.

Sexual selection can lead to fascinating phenomena. We are all familiar with the fabulous color display of male peacocks to attract females. Less well known, but definitely not less interesting, are stalk-eyed flies.

Bed nets treated with insecticide (ITNs) greatly decrease malaria illness and mortality. ITNs can decrease infant mortality from all causes by more than 20%.