Nom i cognoms / Name and surname
Sophie Tandonnet
Afiliació / Affiliation
Universitat de Barcelona
Programa de finançament europeu en que s’enmarca aquest projecte? / European funding programme in which this project is being carried out?
Marie Skłodowska-Curie Schemes
Títol del projecte / Project title
Brain Remodelling in a Mayfly
Número del projecte / Project number
101147787
Breu explicació del projecte / Brief explanation of your project
The evolution of the brain deeply transformed the animal kingdom, enabling major evolutionary leaps such as the move from water to land and the rise of complex behaviors. But brains don’t just change across millions of years: they can also transform within a single lifetime, as in metamorphosis.
In my project, I study the mayfly Cloeon dipterum, an insect that offers unique insights into brain plasticity. Mayflies undergo a dramatic shift from aquatic juveniles to flying adults, and males develop a unique pair of extra eyes, “turbanate eyes”. Using cutting-edge technologies, I explore how brains are remodeled to meet new environments and roles: from water to air and from female to male.
