Will Swaney

I am a post-doctoral fellow at Utrecht University in the Netherlands, working in Simon Reader's group in Behavioural Biology. My research in the lab is primarily focused on how differences in brain function regulate differences in social learning traits and behaviours. I am also interested in how such stable differences in social behaviour develop and how environmental and genetic factors interact to influence the establishment of such differences. To address these questions I am using both behavioural and neuroscience approaches to study social learning in two different species of small fish, the zebrafish (Danio rerio) and the guppy (Poecilia reticulata).

Research Details

The zebrafish is a key model species for genetic and developmental studies, allowing us to examine its social behavior in the light of an extensive body of genetic and neurobiological research. The guppy is a popular pet fish seen in many home aquaria, however this small shoaling fish also exhibits robust social learning in the lab and has been well studied in this context. We are interested in the role that different brain circuits play in social behaviour in these species, particularly the small neuropeptides isotocin and vasotocin, fish homologues of the mammalian hormones oxytocin and vasopressin. These two neurochemicals are important regulators of social bonding in mammals and we are investigating whether they play similar roles in social behaviour and social learning in zebrafish and guppies.