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Postdoc - System Neuroscience

Employer
Vincis Lab
Location
Tallahassee, Florida
Salary
Up to $60,000 per year + benefits, depending on previous experience
Closing date
Jan 25, 2022

Job Details

Description: The Vincis Lab in the Florida State University (FSU) Department of Biological Science and Program in Neuroscience is seeking a team-oriented and highly motivated candidates for the full-time position of Postdoctoral Research Associate.

The research in the lab use animal models to investigate the basis of our ability to decide and plan our eating behaviors and dietary choices. The motivation to eat depends greatly on the chemo- and somatosensory properties of food and the reward experienced while eating. To this end we combine behavioral, chemo- and optogenetic, high density electrophysiology, calcium imaging and immunohistochemical approaches with the broad goal of understanding the forebrain circuits for intra-oral perception and learning. More information on our current research interests and the lab can be found at: https://www.bio.fsu.edu/vincislab/ .

Requirement: Applicants must have a PhD in Neuroscience, Biophysics, Biomedical Engineering, or related field by time of hire and must be eligible for employment in the US.

In addition, the ideal candidate would have solid experience with programming skills preferably in Matlab and/or Python and the ability to work with small animals. 

While no previous work with a specific technique is required, experience with with extracellular recording (tetrodes or silicon probes) as well as familiarity, or strong interest in sensory neurophysiology are strong plus.  

FSU provides a highly collaborative and inclusive environment with a core group of neuroscience investigators exploring chemosensation and ingestive behaviors, and spanning research from the molecular level to human brain imaging. 

Interested applicants should send a CV and the names of 2-3 references to Dr. Roberto Vincis via email rvincis@fsu.edu.

 

 

 

 

Company

The research in the lab aims to investigate the basis of our ability to decide and plan our eating behaviors and dietary choices. The motivation to eat depends greatly on the taste of food and the reward experienced while eating. How are we able to extract taste information from what we eat? How do we use taste information to decide what to eat? Specifically, how does the brain allow this to happen? What are the specific regions and connections of the brain that are fundamental to this process? By understanding these points, we will gather critical knowledge on how the brain controls food consumption and feeding behaviors, both of which are relevant for understanding eating disorders. Our lab addresses these points by studying the neural circuits and computations of brain regions involved in taste and reward processing, such as the insular cortex and other subcortical areas. Current projects in the lab involve the following: understanding how cortical (gustatory cortex; GC) and thalamic (gustatory thalamus and limbic thalami) areas encode sensory information when animals are actively experiencing taste stimuli; investigating how a higher order limbic thalamic nucleus, the mediodorsal thalamus (MD), affects the neural properties of GC and shapes taste-related behaviors; unveiling the role of GC and its cortical and subcortical connections in perceptual and preferential decision making. To achieve these goals, we rely on novel and sophisticated experimental techniques, including behavioral training, anatomical and genetic targeting of specific neural populations, recordings of neural activity in alert animals, and opto- and chemogenetic manipulation of brain activity.

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