The group investigates relationships between symbiotic microorganisms and neurophysiology and behavior of animals, aiming to identify neuroactive effects of microbes and assess how these modulate host behavior. Primary focus is on gut microbiota of social insects such as bees, which exhibit complex individual behaviors, sophisticated collective behaviors, and behavioral variation across lineages. This variation can be leveraged through comparative approaches to reveal evolutionary histories of microbiome-host interactions. To understand causal links between microbiome composition and host behavior, the group manipulates the microbiome and performs behavioral analyses, coupled with diverse -omics techniques.