The nervous system of vertebrate species evolved to navigate diverse social and environmental terrain. 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 have joined the European Social Club.

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

New paper: Sensory Cues, Behavior and Fur-based Drying in the Rat Wetness Response is now in published in Scientific Reports.

New paper: Supra-orbital whiskers act as wind-sensing antennae in rats is now published in PLOS Biology.