Postdoc position at the Ecole normale superieure, Paris, France
The Mexican tetra, Astyanax mexicanus is a leading model for studying genetic mechanisms underlying trait evolution. A. mexicanus consists of a surface (river) and several cave populations that independently evolved in largely isolated caves, allowing for comparative approaches to identify genetic and neural variants associated with behavioral evolution. Cave populations of A. mexicanus exhibit prominent changes in sensory systems including loss of vision and expansion of smell, taste, mechanosensation and lateral line. Despite the robust changes in behavior and morphology, the shifts in processing sensory information within the brain have been unexplored.
We are looking for a postdoc to study the evolution of brain processes and computations. For this purpose, we are using transgenic fish expressing GCaMP in combination with light-sheet microscopy to monitor the activity of the whole brain, with single-neuron resolution in an intact, behaving larvae.
We are studying the differences in sensory processing, motor control and behavioral states between the surface and cavefish, to shed light on principles underlying the evolution of brain computations.
The lab is located at the Ecole normale supérieure, paris, France. www.ibens.ens.fr
*For the postdoc position, it is necessary to have good programming skills, and some background in computational neuroscience.
For more information you can contact Germán Sumbre sumbre@ens.fr
References
Uribe-Arias, A.,et al. 2023. Radial astrocyte synchronization modulates the visual system during behavioral-state transitions. Neuron S0896-6273(23)00709–2. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.neuron.2023.09.022
Lloyd, E., et al. 2022. Blind cavefish retain functional connectivity in the tectum despite loss of retinal input. Current Biology 32, 2021.09.28.461408. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cub.2022.07.015
Ponce-Alvarez, A., et al. 2018. Whole-Brain Neuronal Activity Displays Crackling Noise Dynamics. Neuron 100, 1446-1459.e6. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.neuron.2018.10.045
Pietri, T., et al. 2017. The Emergence of the Spatial Structure of Tectal Spontaneous Activity Is Independent of Visual Inputs.
Cell Reports 19, 939–948. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.celrep.2017.04.015
Romano, S.A., et al. 2015. Spontaneous neuronal network dynamics reveal circuit’s functional adaptations for behavior. Neuron 85, 1070–85. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.neuron.2015.01.027