Marc Seid
e-mail: seidm@si.edu
Address: Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute
Apartado Postal 0843-03092
Panamá, República de Panamá
U.S. Mail for Panama
Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute
Unit 0948
APO AA 34002
Telephone: +507 212-8027
FAX: +507 212-8148
Publications
Publications by Marc Seid in STRI Bibliography
Research Interests
My main research focus is identifying the relationships between the brain, behavior and development with particular interest in uncoupling behavioral flexibility and chronological development as they relate to neuronal plasticity. Currently, I am investigating how behavioral repertoire changes according to age and colony need in ants and correlating differences in repertoire size and composition with neurochemistry and neuroanatomy. My techniques encompass behavioral, histological (serial reconstructions at the light, confocal and transmission electron microscope levels) and biochemical (HPLC, pharmacology, immunocytochemistry) approaches. I am also interested in how the brain scales to body size in insects with particular emphasis on the affects of the ecological environment and behavioral/social complexity on neuropil size and organization. This is particularly important when considering the constraints placed on brain miniaturization in extremely small insects that retain elaborate behavioral repertoires.
Current Research
- Scaling relationship between body size and brain size in ants
- Linking division of labor and task specialization changes in social insect to neuronal markers.
- Behavioral flexibility and repertoire size in ants, especially in the hyper-diverse ant genus, Pheidole
- Brain development and evolution in the soldier caste of termite
- Brain miniaturization and precision of behavior
Education and Degrees
PhD Boston University 2004
Selected Bibliography
Seid, M.A. and Wehner, R. In press. Delayed glia-mediated axonal pruning: A study of developmental trajectories. Developmental Neurobiology
Seid, M.A., Scheffrah, R.H. and Niven, J.E. 2008. The rapid mandible strike of a soldier termite. Current Biology 18:R1049-R1050
Seid, M.A. and Wehner, R. 2008 Ultrastructure and synaptic differences of the boutons of the projection neurons between the lip and collar region of the mushroom bodies in the ant, Cataglyphis albicans. Journal of Comparative Neurology 507:1102–1108
Seid, M.A., Goode K., Li, C. and Traniello, J.F.A. 2008. Age- and subcaste -related patterns of serotonergic immunoreactivity in the optic lobes of the ant Pheidole dentata. Development Neurobiology 68:1325-1333
Seid, M.A. and Traniello, J.F.A. 2006. Age-related repertoire expansion in the ant Pheidole dentata. Behavioral Ecology and Sociobiology 60:631-644
Seid, M.A. and Traniello, J.F.A. 2005. Age-related changes in biogenic amines as measured in individual brains in the ant Pheidole dentata. Naturwissenschaften 92:198-201
Seid, M.A., Harris, K.H. and Traniello, J.F.A. 2005. Age-related changes in the number and structure of synapses in the lip region of the mushroom bodies in the ant Pheidole dentata. Journal of comparative neurology 488:369-277
Safi, K., Seid, M.A. and Dechmann, D.K.N. 2005. Bigger is not always better – when brains get smaller. Biology Letters 1:283-286