Neural Mechanisms of Social Adaptations in Parrots and Galliformes

Objective

Understanding how conserved brain circuits generate diverse social behaviours is a key challenge in evolutionary neuroscience, with important implications for animal welfare, conservation, and human health. NeuroBirds addresses this gap by comparing two evolutionarily distant bird species with contrasting social systems: the highly affiliative budgerigar (Melopsittacus undulatus) and the Japanese quail (Coturnix japonica), characterised by strict dominance hierarchies and aggressive interactions. These models provide a powerful framework to test how ecological pressures shape the recruitment of conserved neural circuits. The project will integrate behavioural experiments, brain activation mapping, and molecular profiling. I hypothesise that budgerigars will activate reward-related pathways when encountering unfamiliar conspecifics, whereas quails will engage aggression-related circuits. These differences are expected to be mediated by hormonal signalling (androgen, vasotocin, mesotocin) acting on distinct inhibitory neuron classes (parvalbumin, somatostatin) within the Social Decision-Making Network (SDMN). To test this, I will use immediate early gene expression, receptor and cell-type analyses (qPCR, in situ hybridisation, immunohistochemistry), and causal manipulations with viral silencing. Together, these approaches will reveal how hormones, neurons, and circuits interact to produce divergent social strategies. This integrative design will advance knowledge on the evolutionary flexibility of conserved brain systems and establish birds as robust models for comparative neuroethology. The fellowship will provide advanced training in molecular and neurogenetic methods, project leadership, and interdisciplinary networking, complementing my expertise in behavioural ecology and supporting my transition to an independent career at the interface of ecology, neuroscience, and evolution.