ABOUT SHIVANI
ABOUT ME
I completed my bachelor’s degree in Microbiology in India and then pursued a master’s degree in the Physical Biology of Cells and Cell Interactions at Goethe University Frankfurt, Germany. During my master studies, I joined the Hechavarria lab for my thesis, where I investigated the role of the bat cerebellum in vocalization and auditory perception. I became fascinated by how bats utilize neural circuits for both vocalization and hearing. These remarkable animals not only rely on echolocation for navigation but are also highly social, using communication calls to interact.
ABOUT MY PROJECT
My growing interest in neuroscience led me to focus my PhD research on studying the neural circuits that enable bats to adjust their echolocation parameters in response to noise through adaptive call generation and sensing. As part of the DFG-funded Loops SPP2411 initiative, in my PhD I aim to study the Frontal Auditory Field (FAF), Auditory Cortex (AC), and Inferior Colliculus (IC), to understand cortico-subcortical activity in bats as they echolocate in noisy and quiet environments. Additionally, I will examine the role of feedback loops in fine-tuning vocalization parameters like frequency and timing, especially in predictable noise contexts.
SELECTED PUBLICATIONS
Hariharan et al., Cerebellar activity predicts vocalization in fruit bats, Current Biology (2024), https://doi.org/10.1016/ j.cub.2024.09.033