Research

How behaviour emerges from brain processes and the various factors that modulate its expression remain only partially understood. At the proximate level, both external influences, such as the social environment, and internal conditions, including hormonal states and gut microbiota composition, play complex and still poorly understood roles in shaping behavioural responses. At the ultimate level, the evolutionary implications of behavioural plasticity, and its impact on the diversification and adaptation of behavioural traits, continue to be debated. Using fish as model organisms, our lab investigates a range of behaviours, including aggression, reproduction, and stress responses, to unravel the neural, physiological, genomic and ecological mechanisms underlying behavioural variation and evolution.