Subjects for students:

Vision and visual behaviour

• A study of detectors of movement in fishes (silver Prussian carp) in retina and tectum.  What temporal resolution capability do the movement detectors have?  Methods: electrophysiology, registration of the neuron activity in retina and tectum. Tutor: Elena Maximova, maximova@iitp.ru
• A study of the coding mechanisms of the vision scene depth in anurans. How the frog vision system can evaluate external stimulus and trigger either feeding behaviour or avoidance behaviour? Methods: behavioural experiments, electrophysiology. Tutor: Vladimir Bastakov perrli@yandex.ru
• A study of the retina morphology in animals with day and night mode of life. Can the retinal structure evidence about adaptation to one or another habitat? Tutor: Oleg Orlov graf@iitp.ru
• Electrophysiological and behavioural experiments of color vision in frogs and toads? Tutors: Vladimir Bastakov perrli@yandex.ru; Oleg Orlov graf@iitp.ru

Audition and acoustic communication

• Bioacoustics of sanguivorous mosquitoes. How does the mosquito auditory system function under the conditions of flight? Methods: electrophysiology, acoustic testing of mosquitoes under natural conditions, distant methods of control. Tutor: Dmitry Lapshin lapshin@iitp.ru
• A study of the role of various courtship parameters during the mate choice in Orthoptera (crickets, grasshoppers) and Heteroptera (stick bugs). Methods: behavioural experiments, video-taping, song recordings and analysis. Tutors: Varvara Vedenina vedenin@iitp.ru, Leo Schestacov zicrona@yandex.ru

Chemoreception

• A study of the individual odor codes in humans and animals and their role in various forms of behaviour (e.g. in mate choice). Developing the methods of the odor-marker use for early diagnostics of oncologic diseases. Methods: using of mouse models of transplantable tumor, inflammation, immune response; behavioural experiments, presentation of the sick animal samples to dogs. Tutor: Elena Rodionova a.rodionova@gmail.com

Sleep

• A study of a function of sleep. Checking a hypothesis according to which all cortex zones analyzing exteroceptive information during the wake phase switch to an analysis of interoceptive information (from gastrointestinal, cardiovascular systems, etc.) during sleep. Methods: registration of the single neuron activity and the local slow potentials in different cortex zones, basal ganglia and structures of the spinal cord during the transitions from the sleep to wake phase and backwards. Tutor: Ivan Pigarev pigarev@iitp.ru