Dr Leandro Scholz

My research investigates the neural circuits and genetic mechanisms that drive complex social behaviours, with a focus on mating decisions in animal models.

What I study I use Drosophila melanogaster to understand how the brain evaluates social cues and translates them into behavioural decisions — particularly during courtship and mating. My work connects circuit-level neuroscience with whole-animal behaviour.

How I work My approach is highly interdisciplinary, combining:

• Behavioural experiments and quantitative analysis
• Deep learning-based animal tracking and pose estimation
• Analysis of connectome datasets to map neural circuit architecture
• Genetic and imaging tools to link neurons to behaviour

Collaborations and students I welcome collaborations and prospective students with backgrounds in neuroscience, computer vision, data science, or animal behaviour. If you are interested in how the brain controls social decisions — and in using modern computational tools to answer those questions — feel free to get in touch.