ERC Starting Grant · 2020
The Neurobiology of Magnetic Orientation in Mammals
Many animals use the Earth’s magnetic field for orientation, but the sensory cells and molecular mechanisms of the magnetic sense remain a mystery. I propose to tackle this fundamental problem in sensory biology with a top-down approach that exploits state-of-the-art methodology to unravel the neural circuits underlying magnetic orientation. To take advantage of the knowledge and toolkits available for rodent brains I chose a rodent model organism: Mole-rats, which navigate through a maze of underground tunnels for their entire life in total darkness. Their magnetic sense is well established and they can be bred in the laboratory. My project has three ambitious aims: (1) the identification…
From the public funding record at EU CORDIS. Describes the funded project, not the reviews below.