Yuan Yuan Kang
University of Houston-Downtown, TX·Neuroscience
Some animals are drawn to new things, while others avoid them. This attraction to novelty, called neophilia, varies a lot within and between species.
- Fields
Neuroscience
Genetics
Ecology & Evolution
- Topics
neophilia
novelty seeking
exploration behavior
- Grants
- 1 known grant, through Mar 2027
What they work on
- Map quantitative trait loci behind the difference in novel-arena exploration between generalist Drosophila simulans and specialist Drosophila sechellia, using a new population of recombinant inbred lines.
- Test whether genetic variants that reduce neophilia were selected for as Drosophila species evolved food specialization.
- Identify which dopamine neural circuits and receptors in the Drosophila melanogaster brain are required to start exploring a new space, using mutant and transgenic fly lines in open field arena assays.
More about the research
More neophilia is thought to make animals more flexible, helping them adapt to change and move into new habitats. Yet the genes and brain cells behind this trait are poorly understood. This collaborative project uses fruit flies to find them.
Why it matters
This is basic research on how genes and brain circuits shape curiosity-like behavior. Knowing what controls neophilia could help explain why some species adapt to change or invade new ecosystems better than others, and may shed light on novelty seeking beyond insects. The shared fly mapping population could help other labs find genes behind many complex behaviors and traits.
Known grants
From NIH and NSF research grants. Labs often have other funding we can't see.
Closest labs
Anupama Dahanukar
University of California-Riverside, CA·Neuroscience
Identify genes that reduce responses of bitter, deterrent taste neurons to noni fatty acids in Drosophila sechellia, testing candidate Gustatory receptors, Odorant-binding proteins and Ionotropic receptors.
John E Pool
University of Wisconsin-Madison, WI·Ecology & Evolution
Develop a genomic authentication pipeline that detects contamination in Drosophila lab stocks and characterizes their genomes, applying it to 200 widely studied stocks.
Daniel Barbash
Cornell University, NY·Genetics
Identify the maternal factors in D. simulans that interact with a D. melanogaster-specific satellite DNA block, a large repetitive non-coding region, to cause chromosome instability and lethality in first-generation hybrids.
The school
University of Houston-Downtown: 1 labs on PI Pages.
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