IRES: Neurobiology of Tetrachromatic Vision and Behavioral Responses in Zebrafish and Medaka

This IRES project partners Montclair State University with three research institutes in Japan: Riken Institute, Aoyama Gakuin, and the National Institute of Basic Biology (NIBB) to support undergraduate and graduate students from the U.S. to work in Japanese laboratories. The project advances research in neurobiology related to how visual information is processed and integrated with other sensory inputs to drive behavioral responses. The project also enhances students’ research experiences through international collaborations, wherein pairs of students are mentored by researchers at the Japanese institutes on related projects. Each cohort of six U.S. students participates in online workshops on research techniques, cultural and language lessons, and professional development in the semester before departure and an on-site orientation week in Japan before their eight-week research experience at their respective laboratories. The scientific and educational components of this project provide U.S. students with the benefits that come from engaging in international research. Students enhance their understanding of science and current laboratory techniques and gain a newfound appreciation of and interest in international collaborations. The project represents a synergistic collaboration that aims to pinpoint specific mechanisms involved in neural circuits, sensory processing, and behavior in zebrafish and medaka. The overall research aim is to integrate advanced techniques in neurobiology to study how visual information is processed to drive behavior in fish. By combining behavioral observations with analyses of neural recordings and functional manipulations, the students decode the visual circuits that transform sensory inputs into motor outputs. Zebrafish and medaka serve as model organisms due to their genetic tractability, optical transparency, and well-characterized visual and neural systems. This collaboration leverages the Japanese researchers’ expertise and access to cutting-edge optical and genetic tools, expanding the scope of inquiry into how visual information integrates with other sensory modalities like auditory and mechanosensory inputs to modulate behavior. The research contributes to a better understanding of how neural circuits process sensory information and translate it into specific motor responses. By investigating the mechanisms underlying visually guided behaviors, motor system development, and tetrachromatic vision in fish, these studies help to understand fundamental principles of brain function and sensory integration in both healthy and diseased conditions. This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.