This study characterizes the reproductive anatomy, development, regeneration, and behavior of the acoel worm Hofstenia miamia, revealing size-dependent growth rules and long-term sperm storage and self-fertilization capabilities.

eLife · Mar 20, 2026Peer-reviewedZoology

FERAL: A Supervised Video-Understanding System for Direct Video-to-Behavior Mapping

Peter Skovorodnikov, Jacopo Razzauti, Blair R. Costelloe, Friederike Buck, Vikram Chandra, Dominic D. Frank, Tomas Kay, Benjamin Koger, Orli Snir, Janet Zhao, Iain D. Couzin, Daniel J. C. Kronauer, Leslie B. Vosshall

FERAL is a video-understanding system that maps raw video directly to behavioral labels, outperforming existing methods across species and conditions with less training data.

bioRxiv · Nov 16, 2025 · PreprintAnimal Behavior & Cognition

Distributed neural computation and the evolution of the first brains

Vikram Chandra, Mehrana R. Nejad, Allison P Kann, Ananya Salem, Karl A.P. Hill, Richard Schalek, Jeff Lichtman, L. Mahadevan, Mansi Srivastava

This study investigates the neural architecture of the acoel worm Hofstenia miamia, finding a diffuse brain with computationally pluripotent regions that support robust behavior.

bioRxiv · Oct 3, 2025 · PreprintNeuroscience

An internal expectation guides Drosophila egg-laying decisions

Vikram Vijayan, Zikun Wang, Vikram Chandra, Arun Chakravorty, Rufei Li, Stephanie L. Sarbanes, Hessameddin Akhlaghpour, Gaby Maimon

This study shows Drosophila use an internal expectation to guide egg-laying decisions, adjusting behavior based on relative substrate value and dopamine signaling.

Science Advances · Oct 28, 2022Peer-reviewedNeuroscience