AVIAN BEHAVIOR AND NEUROENDOCRINOLOGY

UNDERSTANDING HOW THE ENVIRONMENT IMPACTS THE BRAIN AND BEHAVIOR OF SONGBIRDS

The Sewall lab studies how the environment impacts cognition, social behavior, and communication through effects on underlying neural mechanisms. Our current work focuses on several environmental factors critical to brain and behavioral function:

  • Urbanization

  • Social dynamics

  • Early life conditions: nutrition, immune challenge, competition, ecotoxins