Researcher

Nicky Staes

Research Expertise (University of Antwerp):I apply behavioral neurogenetics techniques to investigate the evolution of the primate social brain. My research focuses mainly on great apes, with a special focus on bonobos and chimpanzees. I investigate how genetic and epigenetic variation in genes coding for neurotransmitter and neuropeptide systems like dopamine, serotonin, oxytocin and vasopressin impact social behavior and personality. In addition, I now also focus on the role of the gut microbiome in neurotransmitter regulation through interaction with the gut-brain axis.

Keywords (University of Antwerp):PRIMATOLOGY, SOCIAL BRAIN, BEHAVIORAL GENETICS, Biology

Disciplines (University of Antwerp):Animal biology, Bioinformatics and computational biology, Ecology, Evolutionary biology, General biology, Genetics, Microbiology, Molecular and cell biology, Systems biology, Other biological sciences, Other natural sciences

Research techniques (University of Antwerp):Behavioral observations Personality Genetic analyses Genome analysis Behavioral genetics Neurogenetics Epigenetics Microbiome analysis

Users of research expertise (University of Antwerp):Fundamental research for application in (student) research projects Expertise available to behavioral biologists, anthropologists, geneticists, biomedical researchers. Open to contributing to public outreach