Our research aims to understand the neurobiology of natural rodent behaviour from an ethological perspective. We are interested in how animals sense and respond to their natural environment through olfaction, somatosensation and have a particular interest in the development of social (kinship) behaviour.

read our publications and preprints

news

We are offering various opportunities for projects on the neurobiology of natural behaviour in Edinburgh. Please check with the relevant degree programmes and/or get in touch.

We have joined the European Social Club.

New preprint: A Stickiness Response System in Rats with the 2026 NS&B rat somatosensory module students!

New paper: Ontogeny of Tactile, Vocal and Kinship Dynamics in Rat Pup Huddling is now published in Brain and Neuroscience Advances.

New paper: Tactile mechanisms and afferents underlying the rat pup transport response is now published in Current Biology.

Read the dispatch by Schwarz and Leitch: Parental neurobiology: The 4 Hz lullaby.