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.
The Sumbre lab at the Ecole Normale Superieure, Paris, France is 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 (audition/vocalization, taste, lateral line, somatosensory and olfaction) between the surface and cavefish, to shed light on principles underlying the evolution of sensory systems.
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 neuroscience.
For more information you can contact Germán Sumbre sumbre@ens.fr