Bahl Lab

This work would not have been possible without the support of @UniKonstanz, @CBehav, @MPI_animalbehav, @zukunftskolleg, @ERC_Research, @Boehringer, NIH U19, and the #DFG. (7/7)

How do brains make decisions when faced with multiple, potentially conflicting cues? In our latest preprint, we show how #zebrafish use an additive strategy and process multiple visual features through anatomically distinct parallel pathways tinyurl.com/mvkn8em9 Thread 👇

A big thanks to our co-authors Sophie Aimon, @_maxcapelle, @flofightscience, Heike Naumann, Herwig Baier, @KrasimirSlanch1, as well as our colleagues in the Neurobiology department, and scientific support structures of the @UniKonstanz. (6/7)

These results demonstrate how distinct visual features are extracted, processed in parallel, and eventually integrated to guide behavior. This modular and parallel circuit architecture provides a context-flexible solution for transforming sensory input into action. (5/7)

We investigated the morphology and neurotransmitters of functionally identified neurons and show how the identified pathways converge in the anterior hindbrain. (4/7)

Through brain-wide 2P calcium imaging, we identify neurons whose activity matches our model components. (3/7)

We find that zebrafish compute three visual features–motion, luminance level, and changes in luminance–and simply add cues to choose swim direction. Our model captures behavior and predicts potential computations in the brain. (2/7)

Larval zebrafish follow the direction of whole-field motion #OMR and prefer to swim towards brighter areas #phototaxis. But what happens in the brain when motion goes left, and there is brightness on the right? (1/7)

This work would not have been possible without the support of @UniKonstanz, @CBehav, @MPI_animalbehav, @zukunftskolleg, @ERC_Research, @Boehringer, and the #DFG. (10/10)

We are proud to have @_maxcapelle's paper out on bioRxiv! He found that phototactic behavior in #zebrafish switches during #ontogeny🐟🔆Through elegant behavioral dissections, he identifies the navigational strategies related to this transition. biorxiv.org/content/10.110… Thread 👇

We suggest that zebrafish phototaxis is regulated via parallel processing streams, which could be a universal implementation to change strategies depending on developmental stage, context, or internal state, making behavior flexible and goal-oriented. (9/10)

Model-based extraction of latent cognitive variables points towards potential neural correlates of the observed behavioral inversion and illustrates a novel way to explore the mechanisms of vertebrate ontogeny. (8/10)

We ran simulations with virtual fish to test the model’s prediction for brightness navigation. Our model is able to qualitatively reproduce the behavior of the real fish. (7/10)

Using these pathways, we build a library of agent-based models to predict animal behavior across stimulation conditions and in more complex environments. (6/10)

We identify three parallel pathways: averaging whole-field luminance levels (A), comparing the contrast of light levels across eyes (C), and computing eye-specific temporal derivatives (D). (5/10)

Next, we quantified the turning behavior using a lateral brightness stimulus that is locked to the position of the fish. (4/10)

To test behavioral responses to whole-field brightness levels, we created a virtual circular gradient in which the brightness of the arena depends on the position of the fish. (3/10)

We apply a combination of modeling and complementary phototaxis assays in virtual reality to dissect the algorithmic basis of this transition. (2/10)

Larval zebrafish spend more time in the light, whereas juvenile zebrafish tend to approach darker regions. (1/10)

Sledding from the Bahl lab retreat into #NWG2025! Come check out our posters and talks over the next few days. See you there!