POSTDOCTORAL POSITION TO STUDY THE CORTICO-CORTICAL CIRCUITS FOR AUDITORY VOCAL INTEGRATION

The Laboratory of Auditory Neurophysiology at Virginia Tech has an opening for a postdoctoral  position in auditory neuroscience. The position is for two years with possibilities for extension. The  research project aims to describe the cortical circuits responsible for auditory object recognition and  its relation to the production of vocalizations.  

Our research takes a comparative approach to study the neural circuits underlying hearing and  vocalization. Our animal model of choice is the echolocating bat. Bats provide a solid theoretical  framework for studying vocalization circuits since these animals rely on sounds for natural social  communication and navigation. We employ a multi-disciplinary approach that includes bioacoustics,  behavioral training, multi-electrode electrophysiology and modeling to understand the role of the  auditory cortex to process natural complex sounds and its connections with vocal production centers. 

The postdoctoral fellow will be responsible for directing, planning, and executing project(s)  investigating the neural processing of natural sounds in the auditory cortex and their effects on the  activity of the prefrontal cortex, in collaboration with the group leader, and will have the opportunity to publish first author papers, contribute to related projects as a co-author and present your work at  international conferences and institutions. 

We required a motivated individual with a PhD in a relevant field (e.g., biology, neuroscience,  cognitive neuroscience, computational neuroscience, experimental psychology). Basic programing  skills in MatLab or Python are highly desirable. Self-motivation and independence.  

Please, contact Silvio Macias (silvio@vt.edu) for more information or visit the lab website: macias lab.com.