Objective
Of the 1.2 million animal species described on Earth, more than 80% are insects. As for mammals, each insect is equipped with a brain that has evolved to optimally control the species’ behavior in the context of its environment. In more than 450 million years of evolution the neural circuits guiding behavioral decisions have diverged from an ancestral version to enable insects to conquer every terrestrial habitat on the planet and to equip many species with behavioral strategies that rival even mammals in complexity. These circuits thus have to be rigid enough to maintain their ancestral, core functions, while also being sufficiently adaptable to enable the addition of novel functions. The mechanisms of how this is achieved across vast evolutionary timescales are unknown. While this is true for all animals, insects with their numerically simpler brains and a comparably rigid neuroarchitecture offer the unique chance to unravel the evolution of decision making circuits at the level of identified neurons and synapses. Aided by recent technological breakthroughs and the establishment of rich ground-truth data in the fruit fly, I will combine whole brain anatomy, connectomics and computational modeling with electrophysiology and behavior to dissect the evolution of the central decision making center of insect brains, the central complex - across the entire insect phylogeny. I aim to reveal how this region has evolved in the context of the entire brain, how its intrinsic circuits have changed with increasing evolutionary distance (circuit phylogeny), and which changes in its circuitry are linked to specialized behavioral abilities (circuit adaptation). Finally, I will directly establish behavioral correlates of identified circuit features (circuit function), attaching relevance to connectomics data in a way that is achievable only by a wide, comparative approach - raising our understanding of structure-function relations in animal nervous systems to a new level.
Fields of science (EuroSciVoc)
CORDIS classifies projects with EuroSciVoc, a multilingual taxonomy of fields of science, through a semi-automatic process based on NLP techniques. See: The European Science Vocabulary.
CORDIS classifies projects with EuroSciVoc, a multilingual taxonomy of fields of science, through a semi-automatic process based on NLP techniques. See: The European Science Vocabulary.
- natural sciences biological sciences biological morphology comparative morphology
- natural sciences physical sciences astronomy planetary sciences planets
- natural sciences biological sciences zoology entomology
- natural sciences biological sciences zoology mammalogy
- natural sciences biological sciences biological behavioural sciences ethology
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Keywords
Project’s keywords as indicated by the project coordinator. Not to be confused with the EuroSciVoc taxonomy (Fields of science)
Project’s keywords as indicated by the project coordinator. Not to be confused with the EuroSciVoc taxonomy (Fields of science)
Programme(s)
Multi-annual funding programmes that define the EU’s priorities for research and innovation.
Multi-annual funding programmes that define the EU’s priorities for research and innovation.
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HORIZON.1.1 - European Research Council (ERC)
MAIN PROGRAMME
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Topic(s)
Calls for proposals are divided into topics. A topic defines a specific subject or area for which applicants can submit proposals. The description of a topic comprises its specific scope and the expected impact of the funded project.
Calls for proposals are divided into topics. A topic defines a specific subject or area for which applicants can submit proposals. The description of a topic comprises its specific scope and the expected impact of the funded project.
Funding Scheme
Funding scheme (or “Type of Action”) inside a programme with common features. It specifies: the scope of what is funded; the reimbursement rate; specific evaluation criteria to qualify for funding; and the use of simplified forms of costs like lump sums.
Funding scheme (or “Type of Action”) inside a programme with common features. It specifies: the scope of what is funded; the reimbursement rate; specific evaluation criteria to qualify for funding; and the use of simplified forms of costs like lump sums.
HORIZON-ERC - HORIZON ERC Grants
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Call for proposal
Procedure for inviting applicants to submit project proposals, with the aim of receiving EU funding.
Procedure for inviting applicants to submit project proposals, with the aim of receiving EU funding.
(opens in new window) ERC-2021-COG
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Net EU financial contribution. The sum of money that the participant receives, deducted by the EU contribution to its linked third party. It considers the distribution of the EU financial contribution between direct beneficiaries of the project and other types of participants, like third-party participants.
22100 Lund
Sweden
The total costs incurred by this organisation to participate in the project, including direct and indirect costs. This amount is a subset of the overall project budget.