Alex Dorfman, visiting PhD student
New face at IMC
![](/fileadmin/news_import/AlexPic.jpg)
My name is Alex Dorfman. I'm a PhD student from David Eilam's group in Tel Aviv University. I study spatial and exploratory behavior of rats. Currently I am working on defining and classifying spatial interactions between rat dyads sharing the same physical space. In our latest experiment we introduced rats injected with Dopamine agonist, and subsequently exhibiting stereotypic behavior, to a large open field together with "normal" rats. Our goal was to determine whether the presence of a normally behaving individual would reduce or change the stereotypy of the injected rat.
I'll be here, in the IMC, for the next three weeks. I'll be working with Kristoffer Nielbo on a shared project about the interaction of physical and social environment in stereotypic and non stereotypic dyads of rats, and its realization in the spatial behavior.
I have a Masters degree in zoology, and I am interested all type of fauna, animal and human behavior. Looking forward to meeting you all!