Russell Fernald Lab
at Stanford University

Our lab uses the African cichlid, Haplochromis (Astatotilapia) burtoni, to answer the following questions:

How does social experience influence the brain?

Male Haplochromis burtoni change social and reproductive state based on their social environment and many physiological changes result from changes in social status. Our research is focused on understanding the mechanisms through which social change is transduced into cellular and molecular changes. We use techniques from behavioral observation to molecular probes to discover how the brain is influenced by social change.