The Humboldt Research Fellowship for postdoctoral researchers will allow Sara Haddad and Shahaf Weiss to work on their two-year projects studying camouflage behavior in cuttlefish (Sara) and memory systems in reptiles (Shahaf).
Sara Haddad will study how sepia officinalis adapt to features from their environment. By recording the electrical signals from the brain while simultaneously using high resolution imaging techniques to track the activity of the chromatophores – the pigment cells responsible for the remarkable camouflage behavior – she aims to further understand how the brain processes and transforms perceived sensory information into a relevant behavioral response.
Shahaf Weiss will combine behavioral, electrophysiological and molecular assays of memory systems function in freely-behaving bearded dragons (Pogona vitticeps). He aims to investigate the underlying principles of cognitive function and separate them from higher-order functions that may have evolved specifically in mammalian brains.
The Max Planck Institute for Brain Research congratulates Sara and Shahaf on this great effort.
