Robert Huber

Research Interests:

My laboratory investigates the behavioral significance of amines in complex behavioral phenomena such aggression and drug addiction. Using simpler systems approaches we mostly study these behaviors in invertebrates with a combination of neuroethological, pharmacological, and molecular approaches. Towards this goal I am interested in the neurochemical mechanisms underlying motivational states in behavior. Questions such as "why does an animal perform behavior A as opposed to behavior B at a specific point in time?" motivate my research program. The highly structured behavior of crayfish, which have relatively 'simple' nervous systems, allows us to explore the neural basis of motivational mechanisms at levels which are difficult to achieve in most other species, including mammals. We offer expertise in quantitative, behavioral analysis, automated behavioral screening, dynamic and self-structuring properties, neural designs and neurochemical measures.

Selected Publications:

Huber R & M van Staaden. 2019. Invertebrate Models of Natural and Drug-Sensitive Reward. 172 pages, ISSN 1664-8714, ISBN 978-2-88945-928-5 <doi: 10.3389/978-2-88945-928-5>, Frontiers Media SA

Gore S, van Staaden M, Sprague JE & R Huber. 2020. Synthetic cathinones and their phenethylamine analogues produce distinct psychomotor and reward behavior in crayfish. Behavioural Brain Research, 379, 112368 <doi: 10.1016/j.bbr.2019.112368>

Chowdhury B, van Staaden MJ & R Huber. 2020. Multivariate Analysis of Open Field Exploration Identifies Latent Spatial and Social Behavioral Axes in Domestic Dogs. Front. Behav. Neurosci. 14: 125 <doi: 10.3389/fnbeh.2020.00125>

Impact Publications:

Hughson BN, Anreiter I, Jackson Chornenki NL, Murphy KR, Ja WW, Huber R & MB Sokolowski. 2017. The adult foraging assay (AFA) detects strain and food-deprivation effects in feeding-related traits of Drosophila melanogaster. J Insect Physiol. S0022-1910(17)30108-7. PMID: 28860037; PubMed Central PMCID: PMC5832525 

Murphy KR, Park JH, Huber R, & WW Ja. 2017. Simultaneous measurement of sleep and feeding in individual Drosophila, Nature Protocols 12, 2355–2366. doi:10.1038/nprot.2017.096

Murphy KR, Deshpande SA, Yurgel ME, Quinn JP, Weissbach JL, Keene AC, Dawson-Scully K, Huber R, Tomchik SM & WW Ja. 2016. Postprandial sleep mechanics in Drosophila. eLife 2016;5:e19334. doi:10.7554/eLife.19334

Donelson N, Kim EZ, Slawson JB, Vecsey CG, Huber R & LC Griffith. 2012. High-resolution long-term tracking for analysis of Drosophila sleep and locomotion. PLoS ONE 7(5): e37250

Alcaro A, Huber R & J Panksepp. 2007. Behavioral functions of the mesolimbic dopaminergic system: an affective neuroethological perspective. Brain Research Rev. 56(2): 283-321