Imagine you are cycling through your town and a car door suddenly opens in front of you. You might react by hitting the breaks or by dodging the door and cycling around it. Which reaction is induced depends on external and internal factors – the traffic next to you, your stress level because of the meeting you're cycling to…

Avoiding danger, such as the car door, is one of the most essential and conserved set of behaviors, observed in most species from crabs to primates. To optimize an animal’s survival, the type, magnitude, and kinetics of avoidance responses need to be flexible and adaptable to the current context (traffic, stress…). However, the neural circuit elements that allow for this flexibility in behavioural output are largely unknown. Our aim is to identify how information about the environment and state can adapt behavioural decision making. 

Equally importantly, the goal of the lab is to enable every member to fulfill their professional goals and to find their path in the lab and beyond – in academia or any other context they choose. We aim to create a space where ‘doing science’ is a motivating and collaborative search for new insights.