Dr. Theresa Burt de Perera

Research interests I am interested in spatial cognition in animals, particularly fish. Fish face similar problems to terrestrial animals in that they need to learn and remember information in their environment to orient efficiently. However, they must cope with an added complexity as the aquatic environment is three-dimensional. My work explores the way in which a three-dimensional map of space can be built, what information is used and how it is put together in the brain. Fish are of added interest as they have an unusual sensory system, the lateral line organ. I use behavioural techniques to work out how this organ is used to map space, and how the lateral line and the other senses are integrated during and after the formation of such a map.

• Braithwaite, V.A. and Burt de Perera, T. Short-range orientation in fish: how fish map space. Journal of Marine and Freshwater Behaviour and Physiology.(in press)
  
• Burt de Perera, T. and Braithwaite, V. A. 2005. Laterality in a non-visual sensory modality – the lateral line of fish. Current Biology 15(7), R241-R242.
  
• Burt de Perera, T. and de Vos, A. The vertical component of a fishes’ spatial map. In Press Animal Behaviour.
  
• Burt de Perera, T. 2004. Fish can encode order in their spatial map. Proceedings of the Royal Society London B. 271, 2131-2134.
  
• Burt de Perera, T. 2004. A study of spatial parameters encoded in the spatial map of the blind Mexican cave fish (Astyanax fasciatus). Animal Behaviour 68, 291-295.
  
• Burt de Perera, T. and Macias Garcia, C. 2003. Amarillo fish (Giardinichthys multiradiatus) use visual landmarks to orient in space. Ethology, 109, 341-350.
  
• Macias Garcia, C. and Burt de Perera, T. 2002. UV-based female preference in a viviparous fish. Behavioural Ecology and Sociobiology. 52, 1-6.
  
• Complete list of Publications