Research @ the Center

The Center for the Integrative Study of Animal Behavior (CISAB) brings together core faculty from several Indiana University Departments (including Biology, Psychological and Brain Sciences, Neuroscience and Anthropology) to promote research and education in neuroscience, animal learning, development, ecology, and evolutionary biology.

The Center staffs and maintains three shared core facilities to support behavioral research and training efforts at Indiana University. The Main Center building (402 N. Park) serves as a centrally-located meeting place between the participating departments, with a conference room, reading room, and offices. Equipment is available for CISAB members to borrow and a video library of guest speakers is available for viewing. Our Behavioral Information Technology Center (also at N. Park) includes several networked computers and a lending library of state-of-the-art equipment for behavioral data collection and analysis in the field and lab. Our Animal Behavior Laboratory (Jordan Hall 136) offers training, equipment and bench space to CISAB members interested in incorporating molecular and endocrine techniques into their research.

CISAB also fosters interactions among our community members by hosting gatherings such as the annual Spring Conference, by moderating a mailing list of local events and by publishing the quarterly Animal Behavior Bulletin which reports on local research efforts. We manage the Program in Animal Behavior which offers a variety of student opportunities including minors in Animal Behavior, applied internships and summer programs, and we maintain this Web site which serves as a powerful recruiting tool for future members of our community.

Some Current Major Research Themes:

Reproductive Diversity - sex differences in behavior, mechanisms of sexual differentiation, evolution of sexual reproduction. This theme brings together researchers from Biology, Neuroscience, Gender Studies, and the Kinsey Insitute and is supported by an NIH Training grant.

Animal Cognition - theoretical, psychological, ethological and computational approaches. This theme brings together researchers from Psychology, Informatics, History and Philosophy of Science and Cognitive Science.