Franne Kamhi

Education

• Postdoctoral fellowship, Macquarie University
• PhD, Boston University
• BA, Oberlin College

Biography

I am broadly interested in how social behavior and the environment impact the structure and evolution of the brain. My lab integrates neurobiology, behavioral, and field biology techniques to understand how brains, even those with limited neural processing capabilities, regulate adaptive behaviors that contribute to the ecological success of the species. We focus on ant social behavior, comparative neuroanatomy, and neuromodulation. 

Selected Publications

• Kamhi, J.F., Ilieş, I., and J.F.A. Traniello (2019). Social complexity and brain evolution: comparative analysis of modularity and integration in formicine ant brain organization. Brain, Behavior and Evolution 93:4-18.
• Sheehan, Z., Kamhi, J.F., Seid, M.A., and A. Narendra (2019). Differential investment in brain regions for a diurnal and nocturnal lifestyle in Australian Myrmecia ants. Journal of Comparative Neurology 527(7): 1261-1277.
• Kamhi, J.F., Arganda, S., Moreau, C.S. and J.F.A. Traniello (2017). Origins of aminergic regulation of behavior in complex insect social systems. Frontiers in Systems Neuroscience 11 (74): doi: 10.3389/fnsys.2017.00074.
• Kamhi, J.F., Sandridge-Gresko, A., Walker, C., Robson, S.K.A., and J.F.A. Traniello (2017). Worker brain development and colony organization in ants: does division of labor influence neuroplasticity? Developmental neurobiology 77 (9): 1072-1085.
• Kamhi, J.F., Gronenberg, W., Robson, S.K.A., and J.F.A. Traniello (2016). Social complexity influences brain production and operation costs in ants. Proceedings of the Royal Society: B. 283 (1841): 20161949.
• Kamhi, J.F., Nunn, K., Robson, S.K.A., and J.F.A. Traniello (2015). Polymorphism and division of labor in a socially complex ant: neuromodulation of aggression in the Australian Weaver Ant, Oecophylla smaragdina. Proceedings of the Royal Society: B., 282(1811): 20150704.