Nicole Lara Bedford

Education: 

BSc, University of British Columbia
PhD, Harvard University
Postdoc, Harvard Medical School

 

Research Interests:

The Bedford Lab works at the intersection of evolutionary biology and systems neuroscience to understand the genetic and neural basis of behavior. As a model neural circuit, we use voluntary micturition, or the decision of when and where to urinate. Micturition is an essential physiological process that expels waste and maintains water balance, but many species also use urine marks as a form of social communication. Both laboratory and wild mice show considerable natural variation in aggression, territoriality, and scent marking behavior. We combine laboratory and field studies to uncover how differences in micturition arise both within and among species.