Cynthia Tedore

Personal web page

click to download CV

Research Interests:

I am interested in how tiny brains process sensory input in a world chaotic with sensory information. How do simple nervous systems make sense of the myriad of colors, patterns, contours, movements, odors, tastes, vibrations, sounds, and textures clamoring for attention in natural environments? Do complex behaviors require complex cognition, or just simple sets of rules that work most of the time? Jumping spiders, namely Lyssomanes viridis, are my model system because of their apparently complex behaviors in competitive, courtship, and predatory contexts. I use a combination of correlative and experimental approaches, including life-size computer animations shown on a high pixel density display, to determine which features of the environment are important and which are ignored.

Education:

B.S. with High Distinction in Biology and Psychology; University of Nebraska-Lincoln; 2006
Phi Beta Kappa; Honors Program Graduate
Supported by Regents Scholarship, Honors Program Scholarship, & Top Scholars Award

Graduate studies in the Department of Ecology, Evolution, & Marine Biology at the University of
California, Santa Barbara; 2006-2007;
Supported by University of California Block Grant

PhD Candidate in Biology at Duke University
Expected graduation date: 2013
Supported by NSF Graduate Research Fellowship & James B. Duke Fellowship

Publications:

Tedore, C. & Johnsen, S. (2012) Weaponry, color, and contest success in the jumping spider Lyssomanes viridis. Behavioural Processes 89: 203-211.

Tedore, C. A., and S. Johnsen (2013). Pheromones exert top-down effects on visual recognition in the jumping spider Lyssomanes viridis. Journal of Experimental Biology 216: 1744-1756.

Contact Information:

Biological Sciences Building Rm 062
Box 90338
Duke University
Durham, NC 27708
cat15@duke.edu
phone: (919) 316-0279

Nature Album