Neurobiology of Kinship Behavior
Ann Clemens
principal investigator
kinshiplab.org
The University of Edinburgh, UK

Abstract
The nervous system of vertebrate species evolved to navigate diverse social and environmental terrain. Our research group aims to understand the neurobiology of natural rodent behavior from an ethological perspective. We are interested in how animals sense and respond to their natural environment through olfaction, somatosensation and have a particular interest in the development of social kinship behavior. In recent years, our work in Edinburgh and the Marine Biological Laboratory has uncovered whisker sensory processing for wind stimuli and sensory, behavioral and fur-based drying responses to environmental wetness. We elucidated tactile mechanisms and skin sensory afferents for the rat pup transport response and tactile, vocal and kinship dynamics of rat pup huddling behavior. In ongoing work, we are working to understand the sensory, vocal and circuit mechanisms underlying reciprocal offspring-caregiver interactions across rodent species. We are developing research in the African spiny mouse, a gregarious, pro-social rodent with precocial offspring and the only rodent with a menstrual cycle. By pursuing a comparative approach across altricial and precocial rodent species, we aim to elucidate evolutionarily conserved and divergent neurobiological principles which will help us understand the development of the social brain and body interactions within environmental context.

Invited by Jérôme Epsztein and David Robbe
Monday 7 September 2026 at 11.00 am – Inmed conference room