[{"id":254933,"date":"2026-08-28T09:01:32","date_gmt":"2026-08-28T13:01:32","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.thetransmitter.org\/?p=254933"},"modified":"2026-09-01T11:36:34","modified_gmt":"2026-09-01T15:36:34","slug":"como-los-neuropeptidos-afectan-el-canto-de-la-ranita-de-zarzal","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.thetransmitter.org\/the-state-of-neuroscience-in-latin-america\/como-los-neuropeptidos-afectan-el-canto-de-la-ranita-de-zarzal\/","title":{"rendered":"C\u00f3mo los neurop\u00e9ptidos afectan el canto de la ranita de zarzal"},"content":{"rendered":"","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Seg\u00fan una investigaci\u00f3n uruguaya, los neurop\u00e9ptidos modulan el \u201ccanto de amor\u201d de la ranita de zarzal.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":73,"featured_media":254491,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_relevanssi_hide_post":"","_relevanssi_hide_content":"","_relevanssi_pin_for_all":"","_relevanssi_pin_keywords":"","_relevanssi_unpin_keywords":"","_relevanssi_related_keywords":"","_relevanssi_related_include_ids":"","_relevanssi_related_exclude_ids":"","_relevanssi_related_no_append":"","_relevanssi_related_not_related":"","_relevanssi_related_posts":"","_relevanssi_noindex_reason":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[152],"tags":[189,1201,273,195,1209],"class_list":["post-254933","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","tag-behavioral-neuroscience","tag-espanol","tag-neuroethology","tag-social-behavior","tag-the-state-of-neuroscience-in-latin-america"],"acf":{"primary_tag":1209,"doi_url":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.53053\/ICBE6017","citation_count":"0","custom_js_library":"","hero_type":"feat_image","hero_alt_image":null,"hero_youtube":"","hero_video":null,"hero_layout":"landscape","hero_caption":"Con ganas de amar:<\/strong> Ranitas de zarzal son modelos para estudiar como neurop\u00e9ptidos hipotal\u00e1micos influyen en el comportamiento.","hero_by":"Fotograf\u00eda de Esteban Russi","hero_credit":"","hero_bg_color":"tan","authors":[231924],"other_authors":"","related_title":"Explore more from The Transmitter<\/em>","related_hide":false,"related_filter":"latest","related_tag":null,"related_category":null,"related_custom":{"articles":null},"related_custom_wwn":{"articles":null},"newsletter":"","banner_content":"ESTE ART\u00cdCULO FORMA PARTE DE NUESTRO INFORME SOBRE EL ESTADO DE LA NEUROCIENCIA EN AM\u00c9RICA LATINA.","banner_url":"https:\/\/www.thetransmitter.org\/el-panorama-de-la-neurociencia-en-latinoamerica","apple_article_id":"ba12b80b-2284-402e-9ec3-26ad24226f31","apple_article_revision":"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAQ==","google_button_text":"","google_btn_bg_color":"","tooltip_text":"","sidebar_related_hide":false,"sidebar_related_title":"Art\u00edculos relacionados","sidebar_related_hide_images":false,"sidebar_related_articles":[254925,254953,255048,255024,255147],"comps":[{"acf_fc_layout":"copy_comp","copy":"Natalia Mesa<\/a> tradujo este art\u00edculo.<\/em>\r\n\r\nRead this article in English<\/a>.\r\n\r\nLeia este artigo em portugu\u00eas<\/a>.\r\n\r\nLa ranita de zarzal (<\/span>Boana pulchella<\/span><\/i>) abunda en las zonas templadas de Uruguay, as\u00ed como en partes de Argentina y el sur de Brasil. Durante las noches cercanas a los equinoccios de primavera y oto\u00f1o, los machos se juntan y cantan en coro para competir por la atenci\u00f3n de las hembras. Cada uno tiene un repertorio limitado de notas y necesita modular su canto para sobresalir entre el resto.<\/span>\r\n\r\nEstas ranas arb\u00f3reas le est\u00e1n sirviendo a <\/span>Paula Pouso<\/span><\/a>\u2014profesora adjunta de histolog\u00eda y embriolog\u00eda en la Universidad de la Rep\u00fablica, en Montevideo\u2014para estudiar c\u00f3mo los neurop\u00e9ptidos moldean las interacciones sociales y para desentra\u00f1ar los circuitos cerebrales que hay detr\u00e1s de comportamientos tan complejos.<\/span>\r\n\r\nPor ejemplo, <\/span>la temperatura y la \u00e9poca<\/span><\/a> del a\u00f1o afectan el canto del macho, seg\u00fan report\u00f3 el equipo de Pouso el a\u00f1o pasado, pero estos factores no explican toda la variabilidad en c\u00f3mo y cu\u00e1ndo cantan las ranas. En experimentos de campo, antagonistas de vasotocina, el precursor evolutivo de la oxitocina y la vasopresina en mam\u00edferos, disminuyen la probabilidad de que los machos canten e incrementan la frecuencia dominante en la que cantan, seg\u00fan resultados a\u00fan no publicados.<\/span>\r\n\r\nPouso y su equipo est\u00e1n planeando estudiar con mayor detalle c\u00f3mo la vasotocina modifica el canto de las ranas e identificar qu\u00e9 regiones del cerebro intervienen en la modulaci\u00f3n del canto mediada por los neurop\u00e9ptidos. A largo plazo, el grupo quiere entender qu\u00e9 combinaci\u00f3n de factores ambientales e individuales explica esa variabilidad. \u201cTenemos un m\u00e9todo: primero miramos a nivel poblacional, despu\u00e9s a nivel individual, y luego aplicamos un modulador en el campo para ver c\u00f3mo cambia la conducta del animal\u201d, dice Pouso.<\/span>"},{"acf_fc_layout":"image_comp","aspect_ratio":"inline","title":"","image":254492,"link":"","image_caption":"Anfibios amorosos:<\/strong> Los machos de la rana Boana pulchella<\/em> ranitas se agrupan y cantan en coro para atraer a sus parejas.","image_byline":{"by":"Fotograf\u00eda de Esteban Russi","credit":""}},{"acf_fc_layout":"image_comp","aspect_ratio":"inline","title":"","image":254498,"link":"","image_caption":"Mol\u00e9cula del amor:<\/strong> Los neurop\u00e9ptidos hipotal\u00e1micos influyen en la probabilidad de que las ranas canten y en la frecuencia a la que cantan","image_byline":{"by":"Fotograf\u00eda de Esteban Russi","credit":""}},{"acf_fc_layout":"image_comp","aspect_ratio":"inline3-2","title":"","image":254497,"link":"","image_caption":"Canto salado:<\/strong> En estudios de campo, los investigadores administraron a ranas antagonistas de neurop\u00e9ptidos hipotal\u00e1micos y soluci\u00f3n salina.","image_byline":{"by":"Fotograf\u00eda de Esteban Russi","credit":""}},{"acf_fc_layout":"video_comp","type":"youtube","video":null,"youtube_id":"Fri7g71CA-4&t=3s","cover_image":"","caption":"Un coro:<\/strong> Paula Pouso, profesora asociada de la Universidad de la Rep\u00fablica, est\u00e1 desarrollando a Boana pulchella<\/em>, tambi\u00e9n conocida como la ranita de zarzal, como organismo modelo para estudiar la comunicaci\u00f3n social.","byline":{"by":"Video de Mateo de Le\u00f3n Mackey","credit":""}}]},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thetransmitter.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/254933","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thetransmitter.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thetransmitter.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thetransmitter.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/73"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thetransmitter.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=254933"}],"version-history":[{"count":10,"href":"https:\/\/www.thetransmitter.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/254933\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":255599,"href":"https:\/\/www.thetransmitter.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/254933\/revisions\/255599"}],"acf:post":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thetransmitter.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/255147"},{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thetransmitter.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/255024"},{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thetransmitter.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/255048"},{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thetransmitter.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/254953"},{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thetransmitter.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/254925"},{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thetransmitter.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/contributor\/231924"}],"acf:term":[{"embeddable":true,"taxonomy":"post_tag","href":"https:\/\/www.thetransmitter.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags\/1209"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thetransmitter.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/254491"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thetransmitter.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=254933"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thetransmitter.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=254933"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thetransmitter.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=254933"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}},{"id":254503,"date":"2026-08-28T09:01:31","date_gmt":"2026-08-28T13:01:31","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.thetransmitter.org\/?p=254503"},"modified":"2026-09-01T11:36:39","modified_gmt":"2026-09-01T15:36:39","slug":"finding-what-makes-a-songbirds-song-unique","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.thetransmitter.org\/the-state-of-neuroscience-in-latin-america\/finding-what-makes-a-songbirds-song-unique\/","title":{"rendered":"Finding what makes a songbird\u2019s song unique"},"content":{"rendered":"","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Oscines and suboscines, two evolutionarily close lineages of birds, do and don\u2019t learn to sing, respectively, helping scientists uncover the neuronal correlates of song learning and variability.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":32,"featured_media":254490,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_relevanssi_hide_post":"","_relevanssi_hide_content":"","_relevanssi_pin_for_all":"","_relevanssi_pin_keywords":"","_relevanssi_unpin_keywords":"","_relevanssi_related_keywords":"","_relevanssi_related_include_ids":"","_relevanssi_related_exclude_ids":"","_relevanssi_related_no_append":"","_relevanssi_related_not_related":"","_relevanssi_related_posts":"","_relevanssi_noindex_reason":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[152],"tags":[42,273,1209],"class_list":["post-254503","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","tag-animal-models","tag-neuroethology","tag-the-state-of-neuroscience-in-latin-america"],"acf":{"primary_tag":1209,"doi_url":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.53053\/PWEQ7244","citation_count":"0","custom_js_library":"","hero_type":"alt_image","hero_alt_image":254604,"hero_youtube":"","hero_video":null,"hero_layout":"portrait","hero_caption":"Mud hut<\/b>: Rufous horneros, native to Central and South America, live inside structures made of mud that resemble woodfire ovens. ","hero_by":"Photography by Ana Amador","hero_credit":"","hero_bg_color":"tan","authors":[231924],"other_authors":"","related_title":"Explore more from The Transmitter<\/em>","related_hide":false,"related_filter":"latest","related_tag":null,"related_category":null,"related_custom":{"articles":null},"related_custom_wwn":{"articles":null},"newsletter":"","banner_content":"

THIS ARTICLE IS PART OF OUR STATE OF NEUROSCIENCE IN LATIN AMERICA REPORT.<\/p>","banner_url":"http:\/\/thetransmitter.org\/state-of-neuroscience-latin-america\/","apple_article_id":"bf670eda-e28e-43fa-ae35-2d84129e3686","apple_article_revision":"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAQ==","google_button_text":"","google_btn_bg_color":"","tooltip_text":"","sidebar_related_hide":false,"sidebar_related_title":"related articles","sidebar_related_hide_images":false,"sidebar_related_articles":[254482,254489,254619,254627,254611],"comps":[{"acf_fc_layout":"audio_comp","audio_title":"Listen to a male and female Rufous horneros tightly synchronize their songs when singing together:","audio":254608,"apple_link":"","spotify_link":"","google_link":""},{"acf_fc_layout":"copy_comp","copy":"Lea este art\u00edculo en espa\u00f1ol<\/a>.\r\n\r\nLeia este artigo em portugu\u00eas<\/a>.\r\n\r\nMale and female rufous horneros (<\/span>Furnarius rufus<\/span><\/i>)<\/span> sing duets, combining their songs in harmony. The songbirds are common throughout the Southern Cone of South America, living in mud nests that resemble their namesake, a woodfire oven.<\/span>\r\n\r\nHorneros are suboscines, a group of birds closely related to oscines. But unlike in oscines, which learn to sing by mimicking a tutor, the suboscines\u2019 song is innate. Comparing the two groups makes it possible to ask questions about the neural origins of vocal production, says <\/span>Ana Amador<\/span><\/a>, professor of physics at the University of Buenos Aires. \u201cIt\u2019s a window of opportunity: Exactly where they are evolutionarily closest, what is the difference between learning to sing and not learning to sing?\u201d<\/span>\r\n\r\nDuring the COVID-19 pandemic, Amador noticed something odd about the female horneros in her garden. Each one had a distinct, individually identifiable syllable structure, she says. This was unexpected because that sort of vocal signature is typically associated with species that learn to sing. Also, the birds may be one of the only known suboscine species in which the female\u2019s syllables are structurally more complex than the male\u2019s, opening up an opportunity to study sex-dependent differences in birdsong, she adds.\r\n\r\nField recordings from beyond Amador\u2019s garden revealed that each female rufous hornero<\/span> does indeed have unique vocal characteristics. Biophysical modeling of the motor inputs to the songbirds\u2019 vocal cords recapitulated this variability, Amador found. The model can predict the motor instructions needed to produce each female\u2019s song, but whether those individual instructions originate from the brain, or the variability arises from physical differences in the birds\u2019 bodies, remains an open question. \u201cWhat instructions is the body receiving to generate song? What instructions is it getting from the brain?\u201d Amador asks.<\/span>"},{"acf_fc_layout":"video_comp","type":"video","video":254639,"youtube_id":"","cover_image":"","caption":"Just duet:<\/strong> Ana Amador, professor of physics at the University of Buenos Aires, studies rufous horneros in the field and records their songs to inform her modeling studies. ","byline":{"by":"Video by Ana Amador","credit":""}},{"acf_fc_layout":"copy_comp","copy":"Amador is continuing to build out a larger dataset of rufous hornero songs to ask how much females\u2019 songs vary across populations. But because horneros can\u2019t survive in captivity, Amador\u2019s group can\u2019t directly test whether those individual signatures reflect distinct motor instructions from the brain.<\/span>\r\n\r\n[caption id=\"attachment_254607\" align=\"aligncenter\" width=\"1200\"]\"\" Avian aria<\/b>: Unlike other birds in the same evolutionary lineage, female rufous horneros have a more complex song than males. Courtesy of Ana Amador.[\/caption]\r\n\r\nThe great kiskadee (<\/span>Pitangus sulphuratus<\/span><\/i>), another suboscine common across Latin America, tolerates captivity, however. Implanting electrodes in the muscles controlling a sleeping kiskadee\u2019s vocal organ showed that the muscles activate spontaneously in the same pattern as when the bird is awake and singing. The implication is that the birds are <\/span>dreaming their songs<\/span><\/a>, Amador says. The lab also works with canaries, which are oscines. Canaries\u2019 rhythmic, repetitive songs make them well suited for studying how the brain encodes <\/span>song structure<\/span><\/a> at the level of individual neurons using electrophysiology.<\/span>\r\n\r\nAmador says she uses fieldwork to find questions and the lab to answer them. The region\u2019s biodiversity is a \u201cgold mine,\u201d she adds. Most suboscine lineages are concentrated in Latin America, making the region one of the few places to study the evolutionary boundary between vocal learning and innate song.<\/span>\r\n\r\n[caption id=\"attachment_254606\" align=\"aligncenter\" width=\"1200\"]\"Recording Record player<\/b>: Amador is continuing to build a dataset of rufous hornero pairs to understand how variable their song is across populations. Courtesy of Ana Amador.[\/caption]"}]},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thetransmitter.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/254503","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thetransmitter.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thetransmitter.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thetransmitter.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/32"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thetransmitter.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=254503"}],"version-history":[{"count":11,"href":"https:\/\/www.thetransmitter.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/254503\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":255600,"href":"https:\/\/www.thetransmitter.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/254503\/revisions\/255600"}],"acf:post":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thetransmitter.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/254611"},{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thetransmitter.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/254627"},{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thetransmitter.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/254619"},{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thetransmitter.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/254489"},{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thetransmitter.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/254482"},{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thetransmitter.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/contributor\/231924"}],"acf:term":[{"embeddable":true,"taxonomy":"post_tag","href":"https:\/\/www.thetransmitter.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags\/1209"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thetransmitter.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/254490"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thetransmitter.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=254503"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thetransmitter.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=254503"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thetransmitter.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=254503"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}},{"id":254489,"date":"2026-08-28T09:01:30","date_gmt":"2026-08-28T13:01:30","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.thetransmitter.org\/?p=254489"},"modified":"2026-09-01T11:36:43","modified_gmt":"2026-09-01T15:36:43","slug":"parsing-neuropeptides-effects-on-tree-frog-song","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.thetransmitter.org\/the-state-of-neuroscience-in-latin-america\/parsing-neuropeptides-effects-on-tree-frog-song\/","title":{"rendered":"Parsing neuropeptides\u2019 effects on tree frog song"},"content":{"rendered":"","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Neuropeptides modulate the Montevideo tree frog love song, according to research in Uruguay.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":32,"featured_media":254491,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_relevanssi_hide_post":"","_relevanssi_hide_content":"","_relevanssi_pin_for_all":"","_relevanssi_pin_keywords":"","_relevanssi_unpin_keywords":"","_relevanssi_related_keywords":"","_relevanssi_related_include_ids":"","_relevanssi_related_exclude_ids":"","_relevanssi_related_no_append":"","_relevanssi_related_not_related":"","_relevanssi_related_posts":"","_relevanssi_noindex_reason":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[152],"tags":[273,1209],"class_list":["post-254489","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","tag-neuroethology","tag-the-state-of-neuroscience-in-latin-america"],"acf":{"primary_tag":1209,"doi_url":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.53053\/ORHG7249","citation_count":"0","custom_js_library":"","hero_type":"feat_image","hero_alt_image":null,"hero_youtube":"","hero_video":null,"hero_layout":"landscape","hero_caption":"In the mood for love<\/b>: Montevideo tree frogs are models for studying how hypothalamic neuropeptides influence behavior.","hero_by":"Photography by Esteban Russi","hero_credit":"","hero_bg_color":"tan","authors":[231924],"other_authors":"","related_title":"Explore more from The Transmitter<\/em>","related_hide":false,"related_filter":"latest","related_tag":null,"related_category":null,"related_custom":{"articles":null},"related_custom_wwn":{"articles":null},"newsletter":"","banner_content":"

THIS ARTICLE IS PART OF OUR STATE OF NEUROSCIENCE IN LATIN AMERICA REPORT.<\/p>","banner_url":"http:\/\/thetransmitter.org\/state-of-neuroscience-latin-america\/","apple_article_id":"1877531d-6289-44b6-85e0-b486457109cf","apple_article_revision":"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAQ==","google_button_text":"","google_btn_bg_color":"","tooltip_text":"","sidebar_related_hide":false,"sidebar_related_title":"related articles","sidebar_related_hide_images":false,"sidebar_related_articles":[254482,254503,254619,254627,254611],"comps":[{"acf_fc_layout":"copy_comp","copy":"Lea este art\u00edculo en espa\u00f1ol<\/a>.\r\n\r\nLeia este artigo em portugu\u00eas<\/a>.\r\n\r\nThe Montevideo tree frog, <\/span>Boana pulchella, <\/span><\/i>is abundant in temperate zones throughout Uruguay, parts of Argentina and southern Brazil. At night, near the spring and fall equinoxes, males cluster together and sing in choruses, competing for females\u2019 attention. Each male has a small repertoire of song notes and must modulate his song to stand out from the other males.<\/span>\r\n\r\nThese arboreal amorists are helping <\/span>Paula Pouso<\/span><\/a>, associate professor in histology and embryology at the Universidad de la Rep\u00fablica in Montevideo, study how neuropeptides shape social interactions and tease out the brain circuitry involved in modulating complex behaviors.<\/span>\r\n\r\nFor instance, <\/span>temperature and time of year<\/span><\/a> affect the male frog\u2019s calls, Pouso\u2019s group reported last year, but these factors do not explain all of the variability in how and when the frogs sing. In field experiments, antagonists of vasotocin\u2014the evolutionary precursor to mammalian oxytocin and vasopressin\u2014decrease the male\u2019s probability of singing and increase the frequency at which they sing, according to unpublished results.<\/span>\r\n\r\nNext, Pouso and her colleagues say they plan to study, in a more granular fashion, how vasotocin changes the frogs\u2019 songs, and to identify the brain regions involved in neuropeptide-mediated song modulation. Eventually, the group seeks to untangle the environmental and individual factors that lead to call variability, Pouso says. \u201cWe have a pipeline: Look at the population level, look at the individual level, then use a modulator in the field to see if it changes the animal\u2019s behavior,\u201d she adds.\u00a0<\/span>"},{"acf_fc_layout":"image_comp","aspect_ratio":"inline3-2","title":"","image":254492,"link":"","image_caption":"Amorous amphibians<\/b>: Male Boana pulchella<\/em> frogs cluster together and sing in choruses to attract mates.\r\n","image_byline":{"by":"Photography by Esteban Russi","credit":""}},{"acf_fc_layout":"image_comp","aspect_ratio":"inline3-2","title":"","image":254498,"link":"","image_caption":"Love molecules<\/b>: Hypothalamic neuropeptides influence how likely the frogs are to sing and the frequency at which they sing. ","image_byline":{"by":"Photography by Esteban Russi","credit":""}},{"acf_fc_layout":"image_comp","aspect_ratio":"inline3-2","title":"","image":254496,"link":"","image_caption":"Salty song<\/b>: In field studies, researchers dosed frogs with hypothalamic neuropeptide antagonists and saline.","image_byline":{"by":"Photograph by Esteban Russi ","credit":""}},{"acf_fc_layout":"video_comp","type":"youtube","video":null,"youtube_id":"Fri7g71CA-4&t=3s","cover_image":"","caption":"A chorus line:<\/strong> Paula Pouso, associate professor at the Universidad de la Rep\u00fablica, is developing Boana pulchella<\/em>, also known as the Montevideo tree frog, as a model organism to study social communication.","byline":{"by":"Video by Mateo de Le\u00f3n Mackey","credit":""}}]},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thetransmitter.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/254489","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thetransmitter.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thetransmitter.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thetransmitter.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/32"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thetransmitter.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=254489"}],"version-history":[{"count":10,"href":"https:\/\/www.thetransmitter.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/254489\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":255602,"href":"https:\/\/www.thetransmitter.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/254489\/revisions\/255602"}],"acf:post":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thetransmitter.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/254611"},{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thetransmitter.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/254627"},{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thetransmitter.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/254619"},{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thetransmitter.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/254503"},{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thetransmitter.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/254482"},{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thetransmitter.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/contributor\/231924"}],"acf:term":[{"embeddable":true,"taxonomy":"post_tag","href":"https:\/\/www.thetransmitter.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags\/1209"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thetransmitter.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/254491"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thetransmitter.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=254489"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thetransmitter.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=254489"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thetransmitter.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=254489"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}},{"id":254204,"date":"2026-08-28T09:01:28","date_gmt":"2026-08-28T13:01:28","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.thetransmitter.org\/?p=254204"},"modified":"2026-09-01T11:36:46","modified_gmt":"2026-09-01T15:36:46","slug":"the-promise-of-open-neuroscience-for-latin-america","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.thetransmitter.org\/the-state-of-neuroscience-in-latin-america\/the-promise-of-open-neuroscience-for-latin-america\/","title":{"rendered":"The promise of open neuroscience for Latin America"},"content":{"rendered":"","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Two Uruguayan researchers explain how their work on computational tools to decode breathing from mouse video recordings could spark more open science initiatives in Latin America.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":73,"featured_media":255009,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_relevanssi_hide_post":"","_relevanssi_hide_content":"","_relevanssi_pin_for_all":"","_relevanssi_pin_keywords":"","_relevanssi_unpin_keywords":"","_relevanssi_related_keywords":"","_relevanssi_related_include_ids":"","_relevanssi_related_exclude_ids":"","_relevanssi_related_no_append":"","_relevanssi_related_not_related":"","_relevanssi_related_posts":"","_relevanssi_noindex_reason":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[995],"tags":[141,143,170,745,140,207,1209],"class_list":["post-254204","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-qa","tag-academia","tag-computational-neuroscience","tag-craft-and-careers","tag-open-access","tag-open-neuroscience","tag-science-and-society","tag-the-state-of-neuroscience-in-latin-america"],"acf":{"primary_tag":1209,"doi_url":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.53053\/HLIK8660","citation_count":"0","custom_js_library":"","hero_type":"feat_image","hero_alt_image":null,"hero_youtube":"","hero_video":null,"hero_layout":"landscape","hero_caption":"Big benefit<\/b>: Open neuroscience initiatives can help Latin American neuroscientists ask interesting questions from their home countries while lowering their research costs.","hero_by":"Illustration by","hero_credit":204001,"hero_bg_color":"tan","authors":[206346],"other_authors":"","related_title":"Explore more from The Transmitter<\/em>","related_hide":false,"related_filter":"latest","related_tag":null,"related_category":null,"related_custom":{"articles":null},"related_custom_wwn":{"articles":null},"newsletter":"","banner_content":"

THIS ARTICLE IS PART OF OUR STATE OF NEUROSCIENCE IN LATIN AMERICA REPORT.<\/p>","banner_url":"http:\/\/thetransmitter.org\/state-of-neuroscience-latin-america\/","apple_article_id":"58edcf75-ff52-4089-9616-215c0328e5ca","apple_article_revision":"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA==","google_button_text":"","google_btn_bg_color":"","tooltip_text":"","sidebar_related_hide":false,"sidebar_related_title":"related articles","sidebar_related_hide_images":false,"sidebar_related_articles":"","comps":[{"acf_fc_layout":"copy_comp","copy":"

Lea este art\u00edculo en espa\u00f1ol<\/a>.<\/p>\r\nLeia este artigo em portugu\u00eas<\/a>.\r\n\r\nIn 2025, the <\/span>International Brain Lab<\/span><\/a> (IBL) published a landmark <\/span>Nature <\/span><\/i>paper detailing a large-scale, <\/span>brain-wide map<\/span><\/a> of neuronal activity in mice. The map\u2014which features more than 600,000 neurons, recorded across 12 different labs, in animals performing the same behavioral task\u2014provides one of the most complete assessments of neuronal computation in the brain.<\/span>\r\n\r\nWhen Uruguayan researchers <\/span>Matias Cavelli<\/span><\/a> and <\/span>Joaquin Gonzalez<\/span><\/a> looked at the dataset, they thought it could benefit from the addition of a major physiological variable they\u2019ve been studying over the past few years\u2014breathing.\u00a0Adding it to the IBL dataset would help researchers better understand how respiration modulates decision-making or perception, says Cavelli, assistant professor at the Universidad de la Rep\u00fablica.\u00a0<\/span>\r\n\r\nTo make that possible, Cavelli and Gonzalez are developing computational tools to decode respiration from mouse orofacial video recordings collected during the IBL\u2019s behavioral task. \u201cBuilding on this data to decode breathing from video would allow the scientific community to investigate important questions about how breathing directly impacts neural function in different contexts,\u201d says <\/span>Vani Pariyadath<\/span><\/a>, IBL\u2019s executive director. \u201cThis line of work will also enhance tools for removing breathing-related confounds in neural data. So this project is expected to have broad impact.\"<\/span>\r\n\r\nThe effort is one of seven inaugural <\/span>IBL Partner Projects<\/span><\/a> joining the consortium of 22 labs this year. The projects all build on IBL datasets with technical support from IBL engineers and research infrastructure. \u201cI hope this will help establish my lab\u2014and Uruguay more broadly\u2014as a regional hub for open neuroscience,\u201d Cavelli says.<\/span>\r\n\r\nBeyond the scientific findings their tools might help enable, the pair hope that their work can inspire other researchers in Latin America to embrace open neuroscience. \u201cThe economic and geographical barriers we face as a continent force us to think about science from this perspective,\u201d says Gonzalez, a postdoctoral fellow in <\/span>Gyorgy Buzsaki<\/span><\/a>\u2019s lab at New York University. \u201cI want to go back to Uruguay to have my own lab like Matias. Open neuroscience projects like this make me believe it's possible.\u201d<\/span>\r\n\r\n<\/i>The Transmitter <\/span><\/i>spoke with Cavelli and Gonzalez about how they developed the project, what they hope to learn and why Latin American neuroscientists need to embrace open neuroscience.<\/span>\r\n\r\nThis interview has been edited for length and clarity. It was conducted in Spanish and translated to English by Francisco Rivera Rosario.<\/span><\/i>\r\n\r\nThe Transmitter<\/i><\/b>: How did you get started with the project? How did you get involved with the International Brain Lab?<\/b>\r\n\r\nMatias Cavelli: <\/b>In the past few years, Joaquin and I have been part of a group of researchers that have been really interested in how the sensorimotor act of breathing affects behavior and brain-wide neuronal activity. It has become increasingly clear that <\/span>nasal and oral breathing modulate activity<\/span><\/a> almost everywhere in the brain. For example, the breathing cycle can modulate a variety of neuronal interactions in the <\/span>neocortex<\/span><\/a> and <\/span>hippocampus<\/span><\/a>, some of which we know play a fundamental role in <\/span>memory consolidation during sleep<\/span>. But there are still a lot of open questions. We thought that developing tools to couple IBL's <\/span>Brain-Wide Map<\/span><\/a> with respiration would be useful, by making it possible to see how it modulates decision-making or perception. When we saw that the IBL put out a call for new partners to work with their datasets, Joaquin and I submitted a proposal for the project.<\/span>\r\n\r\nBeyond the scientific motivation, connecting with IBL through this collaboration is also very important for bringing these standardized setups and database management practices to my lab and to Uruguay as a whole.<\/span>\r\n\r\nJoaquin Gonzalez: <\/b>The first person I heard talk about respiration and how it modulates brain signals was actually Matias, who was following <\/span>Adriano Tort<\/span><\/a>\u2019s work in this field (a Brazilian researcher based in Natal who later became my advisor). The project arose as a kind of attempt to see if we could measure respiration through video signals. We want to develop a tool that could help us answer a series of questions that seem quite important to me, like whether the phase of respiration really modulates decision-making, and just how global this brain modulation by respiration really is.<\/span>\r\n\r\nWe aim to use machine learning tools to build a model that can decode these variables from these experiments. I think in the coming years, neuroscience needs to move in this direction to pursue experiments that are alive in a sense, where you can always keep adding variables and getting new information.<\/span>\r\n\r\nTT: How far along are you in the project?<\/b>\r\n\r\n[tt_sidebar_quote author='Joaquin Gonzalez']I'm finishing my postdoc at NYU, but I want to go back to Uruguay to have my own lab like Matias. Open neuroscience projects like this make me believe it's possible. <\/span>[\/tt_sidebar_quote]\r\n\r\nJG: <\/b>We're in the proof-of-concept phase of showing that we can actually decode respiration, meaning the respiratory waveform signal, from neural activity using a video recording set up. Our preliminary data already shows we're basically able to do it. In general, we see that when the animal breathes, it produces changes in body posture\u2014you can see it through chest activity, how the chest inflates and deflates, and you can see changes in whisker and nose movement. The challenge emerges when the animal changes its behavior (sniffing versus lying still, or when it falls asleep), because breathing becomes more irregular. Motor patterns appear to shift as well during these periods.<\/span>\r\n\r\nTT: What is the value of open neuroscience projects like this one for Latin America?<\/b>\r\n\r\nMC:<\/b> I think it has huge potential. Through the brain-wide map and this whole open-science initiative, you can simply go analyze this data from your computer in Uruguay, Brazil, Chile, Argentina, to ask interesting questions. That lets us cut the costs of building this technology in South America, where our project funding is much lower.<\/span>\r\n\r\nSometimes the hardest part is visualizing that it's possible. I think that's a challenge for neuroscience in Latin America\u2014Joaquin and I would like to be an example and start spreading the practice and adoption of open science to other people.\u00a0<\/span>\r\n\r\nJG:<\/b> I've been thinking for years about how to build a fruitful career from Latin America, given the limitations that are involved. We need more open science projects and more fluid exchange of people and ideas within the community in the region. Having anchored ourselves in an international project, we hope to attract more people from the region to do neuroscience in Uruguay.<\/span>\r\n\r\nMC:<\/b> I also think we need to shift the thinking about how science is done and help the community understand the value of open neuroscience. For instance, Joaquin published a recent paper on how <\/span>gamma oscillations in the olfactory cortex<\/span><\/a> arise from local feedback inhibition during breathing, working entirely with an open database. Before he submitted it, some colleagues warned him that reviewers might see it as a weakness that Joaquin had not collected the data himself. And yet, the paper ended up being highlighted by the journal and <\/span>later received a Ben Barres Spotlight Award<\/span><\/a>. It's the generational shift. We need to break certain dogmas we have, that science has to be done in certain ways just because that's historically how it's been done.<\/span>\r\n\r\nTT: Do you have any tips for researchers in Latin America on how to develop open science partnerships?<\/b>\r\n\r\nJG:<\/b> Look for them in the first place; opportunities may already be available but local communities may not be aware. Try to keep yourself updated with what is going on in the world. Don't be discouraged if things don't work the first or second time, keep pushing, there are local and global biases we need to overcome.<\/span>\r\n\r\nMC:<\/b> My advice is to overcome our fear of collaborating openly. The questions neuroscience is trying to answer are becoming larger and more complex, making them increasingly difficult to tackle alone. We are often afraid of losing our ideas or the credit for them, but science becomes stronger when we share knowledge transparently and build trust.<\/span>\r\n\r\nTT: Is Latin America well-suited to develop open science projects?<\/b>\r\n\r\nMC:<\/b> Latin America may not yet be fully prepared to develop open-science projects, but open science is particularly well-suited to our needs. It gives us access to data and resources once limited to a small number of laboratories, and we need to seize this opportunity while developing the capacity to contribute our own data and tools.<\/span>"}]},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thetransmitter.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/254204","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thetransmitter.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thetransmitter.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thetransmitter.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/73"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thetransmitter.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=254204"}],"version-history":[{"count":10,"href":"https:\/\/www.thetransmitter.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/254204\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":255603,"href":"https:\/\/www.thetransmitter.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/254204\/revisions\/255603"}],"acf:post":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thetransmitter.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/contributor\/206346"},{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thetransmitter.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/contributor\/204001"}],"acf:term":[{"embeddable":true,"taxonomy":"post_tag","href":"https:\/\/www.thetransmitter.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags\/1209"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thetransmitter.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/255009"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thetransmitter.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=254204"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thetransmitter.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=254204"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thetransmitter.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=254204"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}},{"id":255048,"date":"2026-08-28T09:01:19","date_gmt":"2026-08-28T13:01:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.thetransmitter.org\/?p=255048"},"modified":"2026-09-01T11:36:55","modified_gmt":"2026-09-01T15:36:55","slug":"descubriendo-como-las-mariposas-escogen-su-pareja","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.thetransmitter.org\/the-state-of-neuroscience-in-latin-america\/descubriendo-como-las-mariposas-escogen-su-pareja\/","title":{"rendered":"Descubriendo c\u00f3mo las mariposas escogen su pareja"},"content":{"rendered":"","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Mariposas Heliconius<\/em> ofrecen una ventana a los circuitos neuronales y genes involucrados en la preferencia por el color de la pareja.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":73,"featured_media":254621,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_relevanssi_hide_post":"","_relevanssi_hide_content":"","_relevanssi_pin_for_all":"","_relevanssi_pin_keywords":"","_relevanssi_unpin_keywords":"","_relevanssi_related_keywords":"","_relevanssi_related_include_ids":"","_relevanssi_related_exclude_ids":"","_relevanssi_related_no_append":"","_relevanssi_related_not_related":"","_relevanssi_related_posts":"","_relevanssi_noindex_reason":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[152],"tags":[189,1201,273,195,1209],"class_list":["post-255048","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","tag-behavioral-neuroscience","tag-espanol","tag-neuroethology","tag-social-behavior","tag-the-state-of-neuroscience-in-latin-america"],"acf":{"primary_tag":1209,"doi_url":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.53053\/YQCH2848","citation_count":"0","custom_js_library":"","hero_type":"video","hero_alt_image":null,"hero_youtube":"","hero_video":254649,"hero_layout":"portrait","hero_caption":"Un toque de color:<\/strong> Las mariposas Heliconius<\/em> tienden a preferir parejas que coincidan con sus propios patrones de color.","hero_by":"Video de Mariana Murillo","hero_credit":"","hero_bg_color":"tan","authors":[231924],"other_authors":"","related_title":"Explore more from The Transmitter<\/em>","related_hide":false,"related_filter":"latest","related_tag":null,"related_category":null,"related_custom":{"articles":null},"related_custom_wwn":{"articles":null},"newsletter":"","banner_content":"ESTE ART\u00cdCULO FORMA PARTE DE NUESTRO INFORME SOBRE EL ESTADO DE LA NEUROCIENCIA EN AM\u00c9RICA LATINA.","banner_url":"https:\/\/www.thetransmitter.org\/el-panorama-de-la-neurociencia-en-latinoamerica","apple_article_id":"3e49ae5b-a868-4f3b-9564-10af0cc131eb","apple_article_revision":"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAQ==","google_button_text":"","google_btn_bg_color":"","tooltip_text":"","sidebar_related_hide":false,"sidebar_related_title":"Art\u00edculos relacionados","sidebar_related_hide_images":false,"sidebar_related_articles":[254925,254953,254933,255024,255147],"comps":[{"acf_fc_layout":"copy_comp","copy":"Claudia L\u00f3pez Lloreda<\/a><\/em>\u00a0<\/span>tradujo este art\u00edculo.<\/em>\r\n\r\nRead this article in English<\/a>.\r\n\r\nLeia este artigo em portugu\u00eas<\/a>.\r\n\r\nLas mariposas prefieren parejas que se parezcan a ellas mismas, y hasta especies relacionadas presentan patrones, adaptaciones ecol\u00f3gicas y comportamientos marcadamente distintos.\u00a0<\/span>\r\n\r\n\u201cEstamos tratando de entender c\u00f3mo los comportamientos est\u00e1n codificados en el cerebro y c\u00f3mo esto contribuye a la diversificaci\u00f3n de las especies\u201d, dice <\/span>Jos\u00e9 Borrero<\/span><\/a>, estudiante graduado en el laboratorio de Richard Merrill en la Ludwig Maximilian University en Munich, quien estudia mariposas <\/span>Heliconius<\/span><\/i> en colaboraci\u00f3n con <\/span>Carolina Pardo-D\u00edaz<\/span><\/a>, profesora asociada de gen\u00e9tica evolutiva, filogeograf\u00eda y ecolog\u00eda en la Universidad del Rosario in Bogot\u00e1, y <\/span>Camilo Salazar<\/span><\/a>, profesor en el mismo departamento.\u00a0<\/span>\r\n\r\nColombia tiene una densidad extraordinaria de especies de<\/span> Heliconius<\/span><\/i> con distintas poblaciones en cada lado de la Cordillera de los Andes, haci\u00e9ndolo un lugar ideal para estudiar c\u00f3mo las diferencias en los h\u00e1bitats moldean el cerebro, el comportamiento y la gen\u00e9tica de las mariposas. Un \u00fanico locus gen\u00e9tico explica alrededor de 30 por ciento de la diferencia en la preferencia de pareja entre dos especies \u2014un efecto sorprendentemente grande para un comportamiento tan complejo como la elecci\u00f3n de pareja\u2014, afirma <\/span>Merrill<\/span><\/a>, profesor de biolog\u00eda evolutiva en la Universidad Ludwig Maximilian de M\u00fanich. Los genes que determinan la preferencia de pareja se encuentran f\u00edsicamente cerca en el genoma de aquellos que controlan el patr\u00f3n de las alas, lo cual significa que tienden a heredarse conjuntamente y ayudan a mantener las poblaciones diferenciadas, incluso cuando se cruzan entre s\u00ed. Ambos conjuntos de genes pueden traspasar por completo las barreras entre especies mediante la hibridaci\u00f3n, transmitiendo las preferencias de comportamiento y los patrones de coloraci\u00f3n entre linajes.<\/span>\r\n\r\nAhora el laboratorio quiere entender c\u00f3mo esas diferencias gen\u00e9ticas se traducen en diferencias en el cerebro.\u00a0<\/span>"},{"acf_fc_layout":"video_comp","type":"video","video":254660,"youtube_id":"","cover_image":"","caption":"Prueba de visi\u00f3n:<\/strong> Mediante una prueba optomotora, los investigadores eval\u00faan la agudeza visual de las mariposas y luego la correlacionan con la inversi\u00f3n en las regiones visuales del cerebro y con la morfolog\u00eda ocular.","byline":{"by":"Video de Mariana Murillo","credit":""}},{"acf_fc_layout":"copy_comp","copy":"Los cerebros de las mariposas contin\u00faan desarroll\u00e1ndose luego de que emergen de sus crisales, la colaboraci\u00f3n ha demostrado, y que por esa raz\u00f3n, las mariposas maduras pueden ver mucho mejor que las reci\u00e9n emergidas. Los l\u00f3bulos \u00f3pticos \u2014encargados de procesar la informaci\u00f3n visual\u2014 siguen creciendo a lo largo de la vida del animal, seg\u00fan una <\/span>prepublicaci\u00f3n<\/span><\/a>. Las especies que habitan en el interior de bosques m\u00e1s oscuros y complejos poseen l\u00f3bulos \u00f3pticos de mayor tama\u00f1o y una mayor agudeza visual, y dependen m\u00e1s de la vista que del olfato al buscar alimentos. Los machos no comienzan a buscar pareja hasta que sus cerebros y sus capacidades visuales han tenido tiempo de madurar, revel\u00f3 el estudio.<\/span>\r\n\r\nEl trabajo de campo se lleva a cabo en una estaci\u00f3n de investigaci\u00f3n cerca de Bogot\u00e1, donde las mariposas se mantienen en grandes jaulas al aire libre, situadas justo al lado del bosque nuboso que habitan. Las jaulas estaban lo suficientemente cerca entre s\u00ed como para que los animales experimentaran las mismas condiciones de luz, temperatura y vegetaci\u00f3n que en su entorno natural. Esta configuraci\u00f3n es fundamental para los experimentos: las mariposas evaluadas bajo luz blanca de laboratorio \u2014sin las longitudes de onda ultravioleta que utilizan para percibir su entorno\u2014 tienen un desempe\u00f1o p\u00e9simo, se\u00f1ala Borrero. \u201cSi queremos entender c\u00f3mo se comportan\u201d, a\u00f1ade, \u201ces importante estudiarlas en el entorno donde realmente se manifiestan esos comportamientos\u201d.<\/span>"},{"acf_fc_layout":"image_comp","aspect_ratio":"inline3-2","title":"","image":254624,"link":"","image_caption":"Jard\u00edn de mariposas:<\/strong> Las mariposas se criaban en grandes jaulas al aire libre que imitaban su h\u00e1bitat natural.","image_byline":{"by":"Fotograf\u00eda de Mariana Murillo","credit":""}}]},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thetransmitter.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/255048","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thetransmitter.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thetransmitter.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thetransmitter.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/73"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thetransmitter.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=255048"}],"version-history":[{"count":10,"href":"https:\/\/www.thetransmitter.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/255048\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":255605,"href":"https:\/\/www.thetransmitter.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/255048\/revisions\/255605"}],"acf:post":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thetransmitter.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/255147"},{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thetransmitter.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/255024"},{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thetransmitter.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/254933"},{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thetransmitter.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/254953"},{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thetransmitter.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/254925"},{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thetransmitter.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/contributor\/231924"}],"acf:term":[{"embeddable":true,"taxonomy":"post_tag","href":"https:\/\/www.thetransmitter.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags\/1209"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thetransmitter.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/254621"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thetransmitter.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=255048"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thetransmitter.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=255048"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thetransmitter.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=255048"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}},{"id":254611,"date":"2026-08-28T09:01:19","date_gmt":"2026-08-28T13:01:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.thetransmitter.org\/?p=254611"},"modified":"2026-09-01T11:36:51","modified_gmt":"2026-09-01T15:36:51","slug":"fishing-for-the-neuronal-origins-of-aggression","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.thetransmitter.org\/the-state-of-neuroscience-in-latin-america\/fishing-for-the-neuronal-origins-of-aggression\/","title":{"rendered":"Fishing for the neuronal origins of aggression"},"content":{"rendered":"","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Weakly electric fish neurogenetics in the wild explores the roots of fighting behavior.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":32,"featured_media":254613,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_relevanssi_hide_post":"","_relevanssi_hide_content":"","_relevanssi_pin_for_all":"","_relevanssi_pin_keywords":"","_relevanssi_unpin_keywords":"","_relevanssi_related_keywords":"","_relevanssi_related_include_ids":"","_relevanssi_related_exclude_ids":"","_relevanssi_related_no_append":"","_relevanssi_related_not_related":"","_relevanssi_related_posts":"","_relevanssi_noindex_reason":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[152],"tags":[303,273,1209],"class_list":["post-254611","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","tag-animal-behavior","tag-neuroethology","tag-the-state-of-neuroscience-in-latin-america"],"acf":{"primary_tag":1209,"doi_url":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.53053\/SJDU5674","citation_count":"0","custom_js_library":"","hero_type":"video","hero_alt_image":null,"hero_youtube":"","hero_video":254658,"hero_layout":"landscape","hero_caption":"Electric feel<\/b>: To communicate with other fish, weakly electric fish produce bursts of electricity from a specialized electric organ, located in the tail.","hero_by":"Videography by Marcelo Casacuberta","hero_credit":"","hero_bg_color":"tan","authors":[231924],"other_authors":"","related_title":"Explore more from The Transmitter<\/em>","related_hide":false,"related_filter":"latest","related_tag":null,"related_category":null,"related_custom":{"articles":null},"related_custom_wwn":{"articles":null},"newsletter":"","banner_content":"

THIS ARTICLE IS PART OF OUR STATE OF NEUROSCIENCE IN LATIN AMERICA REPORT.<\/p>","banner_url":"http:\/\/thetransmitter.org\/state-of-neuroscience-latin-america\/","apple_article_id":"320846a0-c03d-4e04-a88e-bcd93630bac6","apple_article_revision":"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAQ==","google_button_text":"","google_btn_bg_color":"","tooltip_text":"","sidebar_related_hide":false,"sidebar_related_title":"related articles","sidebar_related_hide_images":false,"sidebar_related_articles":[254482,254503,254489,254619,254627],"comps":[{"acf_fc_layout":"copy_comp","copy":"Lea este art\u00edculo en espa\u00f1ol<\/a>.<\/em>\r\n\r\nLeia este artigo em portugu\u00eas<\/a>.\r\n\r\nGymnotus omarorum<\/span><\/i>, a weakly electric fish, swims in freshwater rivers throughout Uruguay. The fish use electricity to communicate, and they are highly territorial, making them ideal models in which to study the neurobiology of aggressive behavior, says <\/span>Ana Silva<\/span><\/a>, professor of neuroscience at the Universidad de la Rep\u00fablica in Montevideo. Because the fish defend their territory year round, Silva\u2019s team has focused on how the hormonal circuits behind that aggression shift with the seasons\u2014in particular, how neuropeptide levels and behavior change over the course of the year.<\/span>\r\n\r\nNearly 40 years ago, Omar Macadar<\/a> and Omar Trujillo Cen\u00f3z<\/a> first recorded electric signals from <\/span>Gymnotus omarorum<\/span><\/i>, named in a combination of Greek and Latin for \u201cnaked back of the Omars.\u201d After studying abroad and returning to Uruguay, the pair established the fish as a model species. Their work \u201copened a new chapter\u201d in neuroethology research in Uruguay, Silva says. Weakly electric fish have since fueled studies into circadian rhythms and electroperception, particularly in Uruguay, but also in Brazil and Chile.<\/span>\r\n\r\nAt first, Silva and her team brought electric fish into the lab. But over the past few years, they have also conducted field studies to inform their lab work, engineering a rig that can record the fish\u2019s electric organ discharge in real time, completely noninvasively, in the lakes and rivers outside of Montevideo, where the fish dwell. Developed with collaborators at the University of T\u00fcbingen, the University of Berlin and Columbia University, the system relies on carbon rods driven through dense underwater vegetation and wired to a digitizer that logs each fish\u2019s discharge continuously. Because every <\/span>Gymnotus<\/span><\/i> signal is distinct, the setup lets Silva\u2019s team reconstruct an individual animal\u2019s movements, and track territorial contests, without ever touching the fish. Tracking wild individuals purely by their electric signatures over multiple days, with no intervention at all, has been a \u201cmilestone\u201d for the research, Silva says.<\/span>"},{"acf_fc_layout":"image_comp","aspect_ratio":"inline3-2","title":"","image":254612,"link":"","image_caption":"Living laboratory:<\/strong> Researchers at Universidad de la Rep\u00fablica noninvasively record electricity emitted by fish in a lagoon Gymnotus omarorum<\/em> calls home.","image_byline":{"by":"Photography by Marcelo Casacuberta","credit":""}},{"acf_fc_layout":"copy_comp","copy":"The team later collects blood and brain biopsies from field-caught fish to measure circulating hormone levels and quantify neuropeptide receptor expression by brain region. Brain-biopsy transcriptomics have revealed genes whose expression <\/span>covaries with behavior<\/span><\/a>, data that Silva says would be far weaker had the animals spent time in captivity, which dulls the behavioral and physiological signatures the researchers are after.<\/span>"},{"acf_fc_layout":"video_comp","type":"video","video":254655,"youtube_id":"","cover_image":"","caption":"Fight club:<\/strong> Fighting is common in Gymnotus omarorum<\/em>, giving researchers a model in which to study the neuronal origins of aggressive behavior.","byline":{"by":"Videography by Tarkio Films","credit":""}},{"acf_fc_layout":"copy_comp","copy":"Silva describes the platform\u2019s decade-long buildout as characteristic of doing science in the region: It was assembled in small, sometimes uncertain increments, not funded and built in one stroke. Silva is also finishing, with <\/span>Adriana Migliaro<\/span><\/a>, researcher at the Universidad de la Rep\u00fablica, and <\/span>Jos\u00e9 Luis Pe\u00f1a<\/span><\/a>, professor of neuroscience at the Albert Einstein College of Medicine, what she says will be the first Spanish-language neuroethology textbook, due out for students 1 September.<\/span>"}]},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thetransmitter.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/254611","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thetransmitter.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thetransmitter.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thetransmitter.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/32"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thetransmitter.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=254611"}],"version-history":[{"count":11,"href":"https:\/\/www.thetransmitter.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/254611\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":255604,"href":"https:\/\/www.thetransmitter.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/254611\/revisions\/255604"}],"acf:post":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thetransmitter.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/254627"},{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thetransmitter.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/254619"},{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thetransmitter.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/254489"},{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thetransmitter.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/254503"},{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thetransmitter.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/254482"},{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thetransmitter.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/contributor\/231924"}],"acf:term":[{"embeddable":true,"taxonomy":"post_tag","href":"https:\/\/www.thetransmitter.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags\/1209"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thetransmitter.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/254613"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thetransmitter.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=254611"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thetransmitter.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=254611"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thetransmitter.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=254611"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}},{"id":255147,"date":"2026-08-28T09:01:18","date_gmt":"2026-08-28T13:01:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.thetransmitter.org\/?p=255147"},"modified":"2026-09-01T11:37:00","modified_gmt":"2026-09-01T15:37:00","slug":"pescando-por-los-origenes-neuronales-de-la-agresion","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.thetransmitter.org\/the-state-of-neuroscience-in-latin-america\/pescando-por-los-origenes-neuronales-de-la-agresion\/","title":{"rendered":"Pescando por los or\u00edgenes neuronales de la agresi\u00f3n"},"content":{"rendered":"","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

La neurogen\u00e9tica de los peces el\u00e9ctricos en su medio natural explora las ra\u00edces de la conducta combativa.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":73,"featured_media":254613,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_relevanssi_hide_post":"","_relevanssi_hide_content":"","_relevanssi_pin_for_all":"","_relevanssi_pin_keywords":"","_relevanssi_unpin_keywords":"","_relevanssi_related_keywords":"","_relevanssi_related_include_ids":"","_relevanssi_related_exclude_ids":"","_relevanssi_related_no_append":"","_relevanssi_related_not_related":"","_relevanssi_related_posts":"","_relevanssi_noindex_reason":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[152],"tags":[303,1201,273,1209],"class_list":["post-255147","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","tag-animal-behavior","tag-espanol","tag-neuroethology","tag-the-state-of-neuroscience-in-latin-america"],"acf":{"primary_tag":1209,"doi_url":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.53053\/JYIH9454","citation_count":"0","custom_js_library":"","hero_type":"video","hero_alt_image":null,"hero_youtube":"","hero_video":254658,"hero_layout":"landscape","hero_caption":"Sensaci\u00f3n el\u00e9ctrica:<\/strong> Para comunicarse con otros peces, los peces d\u00e9bilmente el\u00e9ctricos generan descargas el\u00e9ctricas mediante un \u00f3rgano el\u00e9ctrico especializado situado en la cola.","hero_by":"Video de Marcelo Casacuberta","hero_credit":"","hero_bg_color":"tan","authors":[231924],"other_authors":"","related_title":"Explore more from The Transmitter<\/em>","related_hide":false,"related_filter":"latest","related_tag":null,"related_category":null,"related_custom":{"articles":null},"related_custom_wwn":{"articles":null},"newsletter":"","banner_content":"ESTE ART\u00cdCULO FORMA PARTE DE NUESTRO INFORME SOBRE EL ESTADO DE LA NEUROCIENCIA EN AM\u00c9RICA LATINA.","banner_url":"https:\/\/www.thetransmitter.org\/el-panorama-de-la-neurociencia-en-latinoamerica","apple_article_id":"9f95337e-9361-47b7-9ed0-ff69bc8fcb73","apple_article_revision":"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAQ==","google_button_text":"","google_btn_bg_color":"","tooltip_text":"","sidebar_related_hide":false,"sidebar_related_title":"Art\u00edculos relacionados","sidebar_related_hide_images":false,"sidebar_related_articles":[254925,254953,254933,255048,255024],"comps":[{"acf_fc_layout":"copy_comp","copy":"Claudia L\u00f3pez Lloreda<\/a><\/em>\u00a0<\/span>tradujo este art\u00edculo.<\/em>\r\n\r\nRead this article in English<\/a>.\r\n\r\nLeia este artigo em portugu\u00eas<\/a>.\r\n\r\nGymnotus omarorum<\/span><\/i>, un pez d\u00e9bilmente el\u00e9ctrico, nada en r\u00edos de agua dulce a trav\u00e9s de Uruguay. El pez utiliza electricidad para comunicarse y es altamente territorial, lo que lo convierte en un modelo ideal para estudiar la neurobiolog\u00eda del comportamiento agresivo, dice <\/span>Ana Silva<\/span><\/a>, profesora de neurociencia en la Universidad de la Rep\u00fablica en Montevideo. Ya que los peces defienden su territorio durante todo el a\u00f1o, el equipo de Silva se ha enfocado en c\u00f3mo los circuitos hormonales detr\u00e1s de esa agresi\u00f3n cambian con las estaciones del a\u00f1o\u2014en particular, c\u00f3mo los niveles de neurop\u00e9ptidos y el comportamiento cambian a lo largo de un a\u00f1o.\u00a0<\/span>\r\n\r\nHace casi 40 a\u00f1os, Omar Macadar y Omar Trujillo Cenoz grabaron las se\u00f1ales el\u00e9ctricas de <\/span>Gymnotus omarorum<\/span><\/i>, nombrado como una combinaci\u00f3n del griego y el lat\u00edn para \u201cla espalda desnuda de los Omars\u201d. Luego de estudiar en el extranjero y regresar a Uruguay, la pareja establece al pez como una especie modelo. Su trabajo \u201cabri\u00f3 un nuevo cap\u00edtulo\u201d de la investigaci\u00f3n en neuroetolog\u00eda en Uruguay, dice Silva. Desde entonces, los peces d\u00e9bilmente el\u00e9ctricos han impulsado estudios sobre los ritmos circadianos y la electrorrecepci\u00f3n, particularmente en Uruguay, pero tambi\u00e9n en Brasil y Chile.<\/span>"},{"acf_fc_layout":"image_comp","aspect_ratio":"inline","title":"","image":254612,"link":"","image_caption":"Laboratorio vivo:<\/strong> Investigadores de la Universidad de la Rep\u00fablica registran de forma no invasiva la electricidad emitida por peces en una laguna que habita el Gymnotus omarorum<\/em>.","image_byline":{"by":"Fotograf\u00eda de Marcelo Casacuberta","credit":""}},{"acf_fc_layout":"copy_comp","copy":"Al principio, Sila y su equipo trajeron peces el\u00e9ctricos al laboratorio. Pero en los pasados a\u00f1os, tambi\u00e9n han llevado a cabo estudios de campo para informar su trabajo de laboratorio, dise\u00f1ando un equipo que puede medir la descarga del \u00f3rgano el\u00e9ctrico del pez en tiempo real de una manera no invasora, en los lagos y r\u00edos en las afueras de Montevideo, donde viven los peces. Desarrollado con colaboradores en la University of T\u00fcbingen, la University of Berlin y Columbia University, el sistema se basa en varillas de carbono insertadas a trav\u00e9s de la densa vegetaci\u00f3n submarina y conectadas a un digitalizador que registra la descarga de los peces continuamente. Dado que cada se\u00f1al de <\/span>Gymnotus<\/span><\/i> es diferente, el montaje le permite al equipo de Silva reconstruir los movimientos de cada individuo y seguir los enfrentamientos territoriales sin necesidad de tocar a los peces. El seguimiento de individuos en estado salvaje bas\u00e1ndose \u00fanicamente en sus se\u00f1ales el\u00e9ctricas a lo largo de varios d\u00edas, sin intervenci\u00f3n alguna, ha sido un \u201chito\u201d para la investigaci\u00f3n, afirma Silva.<\/span>"},{"acf_fc_layout":"video_comp","type":"video","video":254655,"youtube_id":"","cover_image":"","caption":"Club de pelea:<\/strong> Los combates son frecuentes en Gymnotus omarorum<\/em>, lo que ofrece a los investigadores un modelo para estudiar los or\u00edgenes neuronales del comportamiento agresivo.","byline":{"by":"Video de Tarkio Films","credit":""}},{"acf_fc_layout":"copy_comp","copy":"El equipo entonces recolecta muestras de sangre y biopsias cerebrales de peces capturados en el campo para medir los niveles de hormonas circulatorias y cuantificar la expresi\u00f3n de los receptores de neurop\u00e9ptidos seg\u00fan la regi\u00f3n cerebral. Los estudios de transcript\u00f3mica en biopsias cerebrales han revelado genes cuya expresi\u00f3n <\/span>covar\u00eda con el comportamiento<\/span><\/a>, observaciones que Silva dice ser\u00edan mucho m\u00e1s d\u00e9biles si los animales hubieran pasado tiempo en cautiverio, lo cual aten\u00faa los rasgos conductuales y fisiol\u00f3gicos que los investigadores buscan identificar.<\/span>\r\n\r\nSilva describe el desarrollo de la plataforma \u2014que ha llevado una d\u00e9cada\u2014 como algo caracter\u00edstico de llevar a cabo ciencia en la regi\u00f3n: se construy\u00f3 mediante avances graduales y a veces inciertos, en vez de financiarse y construirse de una sola vez. Asimismo, Silva tambi\u00e9n est\u00e1 terminando\u2014junto con <\/span>Adriana Migliaro<\/span><\/a>, investigadora en la Universidad de la Rep\u00fablica, y <\/span>Jos\u00e9 Luis Pe\u00f1a<\/span><\/a>, profesor de neurociencia en el Albert Einstein College of Medicine\u2014 lo que ella considera que ser\u00e1 el primer libro de texto de neuroetolog\u00eda en espa\u00f1ol, cuya publicaci\u00f3n para los estudiantes est\u00e1 prevista para el 1 de septiembre.<\/span>"}]},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thetransmitter.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/255147","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thetransmitter.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thetransmitter.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thetransmitter.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/73"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thetransmitter.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=255147"}],"version-history":[{"count":10,"href":"https:\/\/www.thetransmitter.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/255147\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":255606,"href":"https:\/\/www.thetransmitter.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/255147\/revisions\/255606"}],"acf:post":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thetransmitter.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/255024"},{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thetransmitter.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/255048"},{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thetransmitter.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/254933"},{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thetransmitter.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/254953"},{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thetransmitter.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/254925"},{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thetransmitter.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/contributor\/231924"}],"acf:term":[{"embeddable":true,"taxonomy":"post_tag","href":"https:\/\/www.thetransmitter.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags\/1209"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thetransmitter.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/254613"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thetransmitter.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=255147"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thetransmitter.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=255147"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thetransmitter.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=255147"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}},{"id":255118,"date":"2026-08-28T09:01:17","date_gmt":"2026-08-28T13:01:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.thetransmitter.org\/?p=255118"},"modified":"2026-09-01T12:19:34","modified_gmt":"2026-09-01T16:19:34","slug":"desvendando-os-efeitos-dos-neuropeptideos-no-canto-das-pererecas","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.thetransmitter.org\/the-state-of-neuroscience-in-latin-america\/desvendando-os-efeitos-dos-neuropeptideos-no-canto-das-pererecas\/","title":{"rendered":"Desvendando os efeitos dos neuropept\u00eddeos no canto das pererecas"},"content":{"rendered":"","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Os neuropept\u00eddeos modulam o canto de cortejo da perereca de Montevid\u00e9u, de acordo com uma pesquisa realizada no Uruguai.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":73,"featured_media":254491,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_relevanssi_hide_post":"","_relevanssi_hide_content":"","_relevanssi_pin_for_all":"","_relevanssi_pin_keywords":"","_relevanssi_unpin_keywords":"","_relevanssi_related_keywords":"","_relevanssi_related_include_ids":"","_relevanssi_related_exclude_ids":"","_relevanssi_related_no_append":"","_relevanssi_related_not_related":"","_relevanssi_related_posts":"","_relevanssi_noindex_reason":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[152],"tags":[189,273,1199,195,1209],"class_list":["post-255118","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","tag-behavioral-neuroscience","tag-neuroethology","tag-portugues","tag-social-behavior","tag-the-state-of-neuroscience-in-latin-america"],"acf":{"primary_tag":1209,"doi_url":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.53053\/RJOK9955","citation_count":"0","custom_js_library":"","hero_type":"feat_image","hero_alt_image":null,"hero_youtube":"","hero_video":null,"hero_layout":"landscape","hero_caption":"Em clima de romance:<\/strong> As pererecas de Montevid\u00e9u servem de modelo para estudar como os neuropept\u00eddeos hipotal\u00e2micos influenciam o comportamento.","hero_by":"Fotografia de Esteban Russi","hero_credit":"","hero_bg_color":"tan","authors":[231924],"other_authors":"","related_title":"Explore more from The Transmitter<\/em>","related_hide":false,"related_filter":"latest","related_tag":null,"related_category":null,"related_custom":{"articles":null},"related_custom_wwn":{"articles":null},"newsletter":"","banner_content":"ESTE ARTIGO FAZ PARTE DO NOSSO RELAT\u00d3RIO SOBRE O ESTADO DA NEUROCI\u00caNCIA NA AM\u00c9RICA LATINA.","banner_url":"https:\/\/www.thetransmitter.org\/neurociencia-na-america-latina\/","apple_article_id":"81372525-b16d-449c-ba97-9c49a4c36ce6","apple_article_revision":"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAg==","google_button_text":"","google_btn_bg_color":"","tooltip_text":"","sidebar_related_hide":false,"sidebar_related_title":"Artigos relacionados","sidebar_related_hide_images":false,"sidebar_related_articles":[255043,255144,255127,255158,255178],"comps":[{"acf_fc_layout":"copy_comp","copy":"Helen Mendes Lima<\/a> traduziu este artigo.<\/em>\r\n\r\nRead this article in English<\/a>.\r\n\r\nLea este art\u00edculo en espa\u00f1ol<\/a>.\r\n\r\nA perereca de Montevid\u00e9u, <\/span>Boana pulchella, <\/span><\/i>conhecida no Brasil como perereca-do-banhado, \u00e9 abundante nas regi\u00f5es temperadas do Uruguai, em partes da Argentina e no sul do Brasil. \u00c0 noite, perto dos equin\u00f3cios de primavera e outono, os machos se agrupam e cantam em coro, competindo pela aten\u00e7\u00e3o das f\u00eameas. Cada macho possui um pequeno repert\u00f3rio de notas de canto e precisa modular seu canto para se destacar dos demais.<\/span>\r\n\r\nEsses conquistadores arbor\u00edcolas est\u00e3o ajudando <\/span>Paula Pouso<\/span><\/a>, professora associada de histologia e embriologia da Universidad de la Rep\u00fablica, em Montevid\u00e9u, a estudar como os neuropept\u00eddeos moldam as intera\u00e7\u00f5es sociais e a desvendar os circuitos cerebrais envolvidos na modula\u00e7\u00e3o de comportamentos complexos.<\/span>\r\n\r\nPor exemplo, <\/span>a temperatura e a \u00e9poca do ano<\/span><\/a> afetam o canto dos machos, conforme relatou o grupo de Pouso no ano passado, mas esses fatores n\u00e3o explicam toda a variabilidade na forma e no momento em que os sapos cantam. Em experimentos de campo, antagonistas da vasotocina\u2014a precursora evolutiva da oxitocina e da vasopressina dos mam\u00edferos\u2014diminuem a probabilidade de os machos cantarem e aumentam a frequ\u00eancia com que cantam, de acordo com resultados ainda n\u00e3o publicados.<\/span>\r\n\r\nComo pr\u00f3ximo passo, Pouso e seus colegas pretendem estudar de maneira mais detalhada como a vasotocina altera o canto dos machos e identificar as regi\u00f5es cerebrais envolvidas na modula\u00e7\u00e3o do canto mediada por neuropept\u00eddeos. Por fim, o grupo busca desvendar os fatores ambientais e individuais que levam \u00e0 variabilidade dos chamados, diz Pouso. \u201cTemos um caminho: analisar o n\u00edvel populacional, depois o n\u00edvel individual e, ent\u00e3o, usar um modulador em campo para verificar se ele altera o comportamento do animal,\u201d acrescenta ela.<\/span>"},{"acf_fc_layout":"image_comp","aspect_ratio":"inline3-2","title":"","image":254492,"link":"","image_caption":"Anf\u00edbios amorosos:<\/strong> Sapos machos da esp\u00e9cie Boana pulchella<\/em> re\u00fanem-se e cantam em coro para atrair parceiras.","image_byline":{"by":"Fotografia de Esteban Russi","credit":""}},{"acf_fc_layout":"image_comp","aspect_ratio":"inline3-2","title":"","image":254498,"link":"","image_caption":"Mol\u00e9culas do amor:<\/strong> Neuropept\u00eddeos hipotal\u00e2micos influenciam a probabilidade de os sapos cantarem e a frequ\u00eancia com que cantam.","image_byline":{"by":"Fotografia de Esteban Russi","credit":""}},{"acf_fc_layout":"image_comp","aspect_ratio":"inline3-2","title":"","image":254497,"link":"","image_caption":"Can\u00e7\u00e3o salina:<\/strong> Em estudos de campo, pesquisadores administraram antagonistas de neuropept\u00eddeos hipotal\u00e2micos e solu\u00e7\u00e3o salina a sapos.","image_byline":{"by":"Fotografia de Esteban Russi","credit":""}},{"acf_fc_layout":"video_comp","type":"youtube","video":null,"youtube_id":"Fri7g71CA-4&t=3s","cover_image":"","caption":"Em coro:<\/strong> Paula Pouso, professora associada da Universidad de la Rep\u00fablica, est\u00e1 desenvolvendo a Boana pulchella<\/em>\u2014tamb\u00e9m conhecida como perereca-de-montevid\u00e9u\u2014como organismo-modelo para estudar a comunica\u00e7\u00e3o social.","byline":{"by":"V\u00eddeo de Mateo de Le\u00f3n Mackey","credit":""}}]},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thetransmitter.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/255118","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thetransmitter.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thetransmitter.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thetransmitter.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/73"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thetransmitter.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=255118"}],"version-history":[{"count":7,"href":"https:\/\/www.thetransmitter.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/255118\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":255673,"href":"https:\/\/www.thetransmitter.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/255118\/revisions\/255673"}],"acf:post":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thetransmitter.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/255178"},{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thetransmitter.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/255158"},{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thetransmitter.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/255127"},{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thetransmitter.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/255144"},{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thetransmitter.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/255043"},{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thetransmitter.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/contributor\/231924"}],"acf:term":[{"embeddable":true,"taxonomy":"post_tag","href":"https:\/\/www.thetransmitter.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags\/1209"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thetransmitter.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/254491"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thetransmitter.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=255118"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thetransmitter.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=255118"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thetransmitter.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=255118"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}},{"id":255178,"date":"2026-08-28T09:01:16","date_gmt":"2026-08-28T13:01:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.thetransmitter.org\/?p=255178"},"modified":"2026-09-01T15:52:57","modified_gmt":"2026-09-01T19:52:57","slug":"em-busca-das-origens-neuronais-da-agressao","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.thetransmitter.org\/the-state-of-neuroscience-in-latin-america\/em-busca-das-origens-neuronais-da-agressao\/","title":{"rendered":"Em busca das origens neuronais da agress\u00e3o"},"content":{"rendered":"","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

A neurogen\u00e9tica de peixes fracamente el\u00e9tricos na natureza investiga as ra\u00edzes do comportamento de luta.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":73,"featured_media":254613,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_relevanssi_hide_post":"","_relevanssi_hide_content":"","_relevanssi_pin_for_all":"","_relevanssi_pin_keywords":"","_relevanssi_unpin_keywords":"","_relevanssi_related_keywords":"","_relevanssi_related_include_ids":"","_relevanssi_related_exclude_ids":"","_relevanssi_related_no_append":"","_relevanssi_related_not_related":"","_relevanssi_related_posts":"","_relevanssi_noindex_reason":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[152],"tags":[189,273,1199,195,1209],"class_list":["post-255178","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","tag-behavioral-neuroscience","tag-neuroethology","tag-portugues","tag-social-behavior","tag-the-state-of-neuroscience-in-latin-america"],"acf":{"primary_tag":1209,"doi_url":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.53053\/YDNC5619","citation_count":"0","custom_js_library":"","hero_type":"video","hero_alt_image":null,"hero_youtube":"","hero_video":254658,"hero_layout":"landscape","hero_caption":"Sensa\u00e7\u00e3o el\u00e9trica:<\/strong> Para se comunicar com outros peixes, peixes fracamente el\u00e9tricos produzem descargas el\u00e9tricas a partir de um \u00f3rg\u00e3o el\u00e9trico especializado, localizado na cauda.","hero_by":"V\u00eddeo de Marcelo Casacuberta ","hero_credit":"","hero_bg_color":"tan","authors":[231924],"other_authors":"","related_title":"Explore more from The Transmitter<\/em>","related_hide":false,"related_filter":"latest","related_tag":null,"related_category":null,"related_custom":{"articles":null},"related_custom_wwn":{"articles":null},"newsletter":"","banner_content":"ESTE ARTIGO FAZ PARTE DO NOSSO RELAT\u00d3RIO SOBRE O ESTADO DA NEUROCI\u00caNCIA NA AM\u00c9RICA LATINA.","banner_url":"https:\/\/www.thetransmitter.org\/neurociencia-na-america-latina\/","apple_article_id":"3296a01f-efac-409f-a6fa-2bf2d522d947","apple_article_revision":"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAQ==","google_button_text":"","google_btn_bg_color":"","tooltip_text":"","sidebar_related_hide":false,"sidebar_related_title":"Artigos relacionados","sidebar_related_hide_images":false,"sidebar_related_articles":[255043,255144,255118,255127,255158],"comps":[{"acf_fc_layout":"copy_comp","copy":"Helen Mendes Lima<\/a> traduziu este artigo.<\/em>\r\n\r\nRead this article in English<\/a>.\r\n\r\nLea este art\u00edculo en espa\u00f1ol<\/a>.\r\n\r\nGymnotus omarorum<\/span><\/i>, um peixe fracamente el\u00e9trico, vive em rios de \u00e1gua doce de todo o Uruguai. Esses peixes usam eletricidade para se comunicar e s\u00e3o altamente territoriais, o que os torna modelos ideais para o estudo da neurobiologia do comportamento agressivo, diz <\/span>Ana Silva<\/span><\/a>, professora de neuroci\u00eancia da Universidad de la Rep\u00fablica, em Montevid\u00e9u. Como os peixes defendem seu territ\u00f3rio durante todo o ano, a equipe de Silva tem se concentrado em como os circuitos hormonais envolvidos nessa agressividade mudam com as esta\u00e7\u00f5es do ano\u2014em particular, como os n\u00edveis de neuropept\u00eddeos e o comportamento se alteram ao longo do ano.<\/span>\r\n\r\nH\u00e1 quase 40 anos, Omar Macadar<\/a> e Omar Trujillo Cen\u00f3z<\/a> registraram pela primeira vez sinais el\u00e9tricos do <\/span>Gymnotus omarorum<\/span><\/i>, que recebeu esse nome a partir de uma combina\u00e7\u00e3o de palavras do grego e do latim que significa \u201ccostas nuas dos Omars\u201d. Depois de estudar no exterior e retornar ao Uruguai, a dupla estabeleceu o peixe como esp\u00e9cie-modelo. O trabalho deles \u201cabriu um novo cap\u00edtulo\u201d na pesquisa em neuroetologia no Uruguai, afirma Silva. Desde ent\u00e3o, os peixes fracamente el\u00e9tricos t\u00eam impulsionado estudos sobre ritmos circadianos e eletropercep\u00e7\u00e3o, principalmente no Uruguai, mas tamb\u00e9m no Brasil e no Chile.<\/span>"},{"acf_fc_layout":"image_comp","aspect_ratio":"inline3-2","title":"","image":254612,"link":"","image_caption":"Laborat\u00f3rio vivo:<\/strong> Pesquisadores da Universidad de la Rep\u00fablica registram, de forma n\u00e3o invasiva, a eletricidade emitida por peixes em uma lagoa que serve de habitat para a esp\u00e9cie Gymnotus omarorum<\/em>.","image_byline":{"by":"Fotograf\u00eda de Marcelo Casacuberta","credit":""}},{"acf_fc_layout":"copy_comp","copy":"No in\u00edcio, Silva e sua equipe trouxeram peixes fracamente el\u00e9tricos para o laborat\u00f3rio. Mas, nos \u00faltimos anos, eles tamb\u00e9m realizaram estudos de campo para embasar seu trabalho em laborat\u00f3rio, criando um equipamento capaz de registrar a descarga do \u00f3rg\u00e3o el\u00e9trico dos peixes em tempo real, de forma totalmente n\u00e3o invasiva, nos lagos e rios dos arredores de Montevid\u00e9u, onde os peixes habitam. Desenvolvido em colabora\u00e7\u00e3o com pesquisadores da Universidade de T\u00fcbingen, da Universidade de Berlim e da Columbia University, o sistema utiliza hastes de carbono inseridas na densa vegeta\u00e7\u00e3o subaqu\u00e1tica e conectadas a um digitalizador que registra continuamente a descarga de cada peixe. Como cada sinal do <\/span>Gymnotus<\/span><\/i> \u00e9 distinto, o sistema permite que a equipe de Silva reconstrua os movimentos de um determinado animal e acompanhe disputas territoriais, sem nunca tocar no peixe. Rastrear indiv\u00edduos na natureza exclusivamente por meio de suas assinaturas el\u00e9tricas ao longo de v\u00e1rios dias, sem qualquer interven\u00e7\u00e3o, foi um \u201cmarco\u201d para a pesquisa, afirma Silva.<\/span>"},{"acf_fc_layout":"video_comp","type":"video","video":254655,"youtube_id":"","cover_image":"","caption":"Clube da luta:<\/strong> Brigas s\u00e3o comuns em Gymnotus omarorum<\/em>, oferecendo aos pesquisadores um modelo para estudar as origens neuronais do comportamento agressivo.","byline":{"by":"V\u00eddeo de Tarkio Films","credit":""}},{"acf_fc_layout":"copy_comp","copy":"Posteriormente, a equipe coleta amostras de sangue e bi\u00f3psias cerebrais de peixes capturados em campo para medir os n\u00edveis de horm\u00f4nios circulantes e quantificar a express\u00e3o de receptores de neuropept\u00eddeos em diferentes regi\u00f5es do c\u00e9rebro. A transcript\u00f4mica de bi\u00f3psias cerebrais revelou genes cuja express\u00e3o <\/span>covaria com o comportamento<\/span><\/a>\u2014dados que, segundo Silva, seriam muito mais fracos se os animais tivessem passado algum tempo em cativeiro, o que atenua as assinaturas comportamentais e fisiol\u00f3gicas que os pesquisadores buscam.<\/span>\r\n\r\nSilva descreve o processo de constru\u00e7\u00e3o da plataforma, que levou uma d\u00e9cada, como caracter\u00edstico da pr\u00e1tica cient\u00edfica na regi\u00e3o: ela foi montada aos poucos, em etapas por vezes incertas, em vez de ser financiada e constru\u00edda de uma s\u00f3 vez. Silva tamb\u00e9m est\u00e1 finalizando, com <\/span>Adriana Migliaro<\/span><\/a>, investigadora na Universidad de la Rep\u00fablica, e <\/span>Jos\u00e9 Luis Pe\u00f1a<\/span><\/a>, professor de neuroci\u00eancia na Albert Einstein College of Medicine, o que ela afirma ser o primeiro livro did\u00e1tico de neuroetologia em espanhol, com lan\u00e7amento previsto para 1\u00ba de setembro.<\/span>"}]},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thetransmitter.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/255178","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thetransmitter.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thetransmitter.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thetransmitter.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/73"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thetransmitter.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=255178"}],"version-history":[{"count":10,"href":"https:\/\/www.thetransmitter.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/255178\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":255678,"href":"https:\/\/www.thetransmitter.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/255178\/revisions\/255678"}],"acf:post":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thetransmitter.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/255158"},{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thetransmitter.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/255127"},{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thetransmitter.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/255118"},{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thetransmitter.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/255144"},{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thetransmitter.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/255043"},{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thetransmitter.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/contributor\/231924"}],"acf:term":[{"embeddable":true,"taxonomy":"post_tag","href":"https:\/\/www.thetransmitter.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags\/1209"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thetransmitter.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/254613"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thetransmitter.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=255178"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thetransmitter.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=255178"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thetransmitter.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=255178"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}},{"id":255024,"date":"2026-08-28T09:01:14","date_gmt":"2026-08-28T13:01:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.thetransmitter.org\/?p=255024"},"modified":"2026-09-01T11:37:44","modified_gmt":"2026-09-01T15:37:44","slug":"como-los-cangrejos-logran-escaparse","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.thetransmitter.org\/the-state-of-neuroscience-in-latin-america\/como-los-cangrejos-logran-escaparse\/","title":{"rendered":"C\u00f3mo los cangrejos logran escaparse"},"content":{"rendered":"","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

El cangrejo Neohelice granulata<\/em>, parecido a Houdini en sus habilidades, ofrece una rara oportunidad para realizar registros intracelulares en animales despiertos durante el comportamiento.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":73,"featured_media":254628,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_relevanssi_hide_post":"","_relevanssi_hide_content":"","_relevanssi_pin_for_all":"","_relevanssi_pin_keywords":"","_relevanssi_unpin_keywords":"","_relevanssi_related_keywords":"","_relevanssi_related_include_ids":"","_relevanssi_related_exclude_ids":"","_relevanssi_related_no_append":"","_relevanssi_related_not_related":"","_relevanssi_related_posts":"","_relevanssi_noindex_reason":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[152],"tags":[189,1201,273,195,1209],"class_list":["post-255024","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","tag-behavioral-neuroscience","tag-espanol","tag-neuroethology","tag-social-behavior","tag-the-state-of-neuroscience-in-latin-america"],"acf":{"primary_tag":1209,"doi_url":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.53053\/BGQG8401","citation_count":"0","custom_js_library":"","hero_type":"video","hero_alt_image":null,"hero_youtube":"","hero_video":254643,"hero_layout":"landscape","hero_caption":"Merienda de cangrejo:<\/strong> Al ser tanto presa como depredador, los cangrejos Neohelice pueden utilizarse para estudiar los circuitos de la inmovilizaci\u00f3n, la huida y la persecuci\u00f3n.","hero_by":"Video de Daniel Tomsic","hero_credit":"","hero_bg_color":"tan","authors":[231924],"other_authors":"","related_title":"Explore more from The Transmitter<\/em>","related_hide":false,"related_filter":"latest","related_tag":null,"related_category":null,"related_custom":{"articles":null},"related_custom_wwn":{"articles":null},"newsletter":"","banner_content":"ESTE ART\u00cdCULO FORMA PARTE DE NUESTRO INFORME SOBRE EL ESTADO DE LA NEUROCIENCIA EN AM\u00c9RICA LATINA.","banner_url":"https:\/\/www.thetransmitter.org\/el-panorama-de-la-neurociencia-en-latinoamerica","apple_article_id":"3140f19b-cda3-4687-b427-f8c9f9b40319","apple_article_revision":"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA==","google_button_text":"","google_btn_bg_color":"","tooltip_text":"","sidebar_related_hide":false,"sidebar_related_title":"Art\u00edculos relacionados","sidebar_related_hide_images":false,"sidebar_related_articles":[254925,254953,254933,255048,255147],"comps":[{"acf_fc_layout":"copy_comp","copy":"Natalia Mesa<\/a> tradujo este art\u00edculo.<\/em>\r\n\r\nRead this article in English<\/a>.\r\n\r\nLeia este artigo em portugu\u00eas<\/a>.\r\n\r\nEn la costa de Argentina, en los estuarios y marismas del Atl\u00e1ntico sudoccidental, incontables cangrejos de barro se entierran en la arena. <\/span>Daniel Tomsic<\/span><\/a>, profesor asociado de neurociencia en la Universidad de Buenos Aires, creci\u00f3 observando a estas criaturas omnipresentes, <\/span>Neohelice granulata<\/span><\/i>, entrar y salir de sus cuevas cuando iba a la playa.<\/span>\r\n\r\nHoy en d\u00eda, Tomsic investiga c\u00f3mo los ganglios del cangrejo controlan sus comportamientos guiados por la visi\u00f3n. Las gaviotas son sus depredadoras naturales y los cangrejos apenas superan el tama\u00f1o de una p\u00faa de guitarra. Cuando un cangrejo ve una gaviota volando por encima, tiene que decidir si debe escapar y hacia qu\u00e9 direcci\u00f3n. Es el mismo tipo de c\u00e1lculo que hace un tenista al leer un saque de 200 kil\u00f3metros por hora y decidir cu\u00e1ndo golpear, dice Tomsic. \u201cNadie sabe c\u00f3mo se hacen esos c\u00e1lculos de los tiempos hasta la colisi\u00f3n\u201d, dice Tomsic, y agrega que el cangrejo es un modelo animal ideal para estudiar esta pregunta.<\/span>\r\n\r\nTomsic hered\u00f3 este modelo de su mentor, H\u00e9ctor Maldonado, quien introdujo a <\/span>Neohelice<\/span><\/i> como modelo neuroetol\u00f3gico en Argentina al regresar de 18 a\u00f1os de exilio. Tomsic llev\u00f3 el trabajo un paso m\u00e1s all\u00e1 al lograr registros intracelulares en cangrejos vivos y en movimiento, algo que antes solo se hab\u00eda hecho en insectos, y \u00fanicamente despu\u00e9s de quitarles las patas. Esto fue posible gracias al caparaz\u00f3n r\u00edgido del cangrejo y a que su cerebro es accesible a trav\u00e9s de un peque\u00f1o orificio perforado en la cut\u00edcula, Tomsic explica.<\/span>"},{"acf_fc_layout":"video_comp","type":"video","video":254662,"youtube_id":"","cover_image":"","caption":"Amenaza inminente:<\/strong> En el laboratorio, Daniel Tomsic y sus colegas utilizan est\u00edmulos de aproximaci\u00f3n inminente para evaluar la respuesta de huida de los cangrejos.","byline":{"by":"Video de Daniel Tomsic","credit":""}},{"acf_fc_layout":"copy_comp","copy":"Los registros intracelulares revelaron los circuitos que conectan la entrada visual con la respuesta motora. La decisi\u00f3n de huir se activa cuando el tama\u00f1o aparente de un objeto que se aproxima alcanza cierto umbral. El cangrejo ajusta continuamente su velocidad de carrera a medida que la amenaza crece y frena de inmediato si el est\u00edmulo deja de expandirse. Una neurona gigante, la MLG2, codifica qu\u00e9 tan r\u00e1pido se expande la amenaza y ajusta la velocidad en tiempo real; otra neurona, la MLG1, controla la <\/span>respuesta de inmovilizaci\u00f3n<\/span><\/a> del cangrejo.<\/span>\r\n\r\nEstudios de campo realizados en colaboraci\u00f3n con <\/span>Jan Hemmi<\/span><\/a>, profesor de ciencias biol\u00f3gicas en The University of Western Australia, revelaron que los cangrejos se comportan de manera distinta en el laboratorio que en la naturaleza. En el laboratorio, los cangrejos huyen en la direcci\u00f3n opuesta al est\u00edmulo que se aproxima, y esperan hasta que el objeto sea bastante grande antes de moverse. En el campo, en cambio, reaccionan ante est\u00edmulos mucho m\u00e1s peque\u00f1os y corren directo hacia sus cuevas para esconderse, incluso si eso implica correr en la misma direcci\u00f3n que el depredador. Sin un lugar donde refugiarse, los animales de laboratorio se quedan quietos para evitar ser detectados. \u201cFue una gran lecci\u00f3n para m\u00ed\u201d, dice Tomsic. Ese desajuste demostr\u00f3 que las conclusiones de laboratorio sobre el comportamiento natural conllevan un riesgo real si no se verifican en el campo, dice.<\/span>\r\n\r\nM\u00e1s recientemente, el foco de Tomsic se traslad\u00f3 hacia la toma de decisiones detr\u00e1s del comportamiento de escape y c\u00f3mo el hecho de estar<\/span> rodeado de otros cangrejos<\/span><\/a> cambia cu\u00e1ndo y c\u00f3mo cada cangrejo decide huir. Y como los <\/span>Neohelice<\/span><\/i> tambi\u00e9n se depredan entre s\u00ed, este modelo permite adem\u00e1s estudiar el<\/span> comportamiento depredador<\/span><\/a>.<\/span>"}]},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thetransmitter.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/255024","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thetransmitter.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thetransmitter.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thetransmitter.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/73"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thetransmitter.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=255024"}],"version-history":[{"count":10,"href":"https:\/\/www.thetransmitter.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/255024\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":255609,"href":"https:\/\/www.thetransmitter.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/255024\/revisions\/255609"}],"acf:post":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thetransmitter.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/255147"},{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thetransmitter.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/255048"},{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thetransmitter.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/254933"},{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thetransmitter.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/254953"},{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thetransmitter.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/254925"},{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thetransmitter.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/contributor\/231924"}],"acf:term":[{"embeddable":true,"taxonomy":"post_tag","href":"https:\/\/www.thetransmitter.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags\/1209"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thetransmitter.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/254628"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thetransmitter.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=255024"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thetransmitter.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=255024"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thetransmitter.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=255024"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}]