Established in July 2023, research in the Ferreira lab focuses on understanding exactly how social cues are detected and processed in the brain to guide behavioural shifts. Protection against predation is a primordial driver of group formation and hence studying social processes within this context will provide important insight into the evolution of social behaviour. Moreover, studying these processes in flies will permit pinpointing where and how common environmental or genetic disruptors of social behaviour instantiate their effects, crucial to understanding social behaviour dysfunction.

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• Social Cues of Safety Can Override Differences in Threat Level, Ferreira, C., Heinemans, M., Farias, M., Gonçalves, R., Moita, M. 24 Jun 2022, In: Frontiers in Ecology and Evolution
• Behavioral and neuronal underpinnings of safety in numbers in fruit flies, Ferreira, C., Moita, M. 1 Dec 2020, In: Nature Communications
• What can a non-eusocial insect tell us about the neural basis of group behaviour?, Ferreira, C., Moita, M. Dec 2019, In: Current Opinion in Insect Science
• FoxP influences the speed and accuracy of a perceptual decision in Drosophila, DasGupta, S., Ferreira, C., Miesenboc̈k, G. 2014, In: Science
• Differential gene expression analysis in Enchytraeus albidus exposed to natural and chemical stressors at different exposure periods, Novais, S., Howcroft, C., Carreto, L., Pereira, P., Santos, M., De Coen, W., Soares, A., Amorim, M. Jan 2012, In: Ecotoxicology
• Biochemical characterization of cholinesterases in Enchytraeus albidus and assessment of in vivo and in vitro effects of different soil properties, copper and phenmedipham, Howcroft, C., Gravato, C., Amorim, M., Novais, S., Soares, A., Guilhermino, L. Jan 2011, In: Ecotoxicology
• Effects of natural and chemical stressors on Enchytraeus albidus: Can oxidative stress parameters be used as fast screening tools for the assessment of different stress impacts in soils?, Howcroft, C., Amorim, M., Gravato, C., Guilhermino, L., Soares, A. Feb 2009, In: Environment international

Neurosciences DPhil June 30 2015