ECR Spotlight is a series of interviews with early-career authors from a selection of papers published in Journal of Experimental Biology and aims to promote not only the diversity of early-career researchers (ECRs) working in experimental biology but also the huge variety of animals and physiological systems that are essential for the ‘comparative’ approach. Salvatore Lacava is an author on ‘ The role of mouse tails in response to external and self-generated balance perturbations on the roll plane’, published in JEB. Salvatore is a PhD student in the lab of Marylka Yoe Uusisaari at the Okinawa Institute of Science and Technology (OIST), Japan, investigating how mice use their tails to help them balance during locomotion and in response to external perturbations.
Salvatore Lacava
How did you become interested in biology?
My interest in biology started in a fishing boat. I come from a town in the south of Italy where fishing is part of our traditions. One of the boats that always fascinated me was the felucca, which is a type of traditional fishing boat that has been used for over 2000 years to catch swordfish (a type of fish that regularly crosses the Messina strait, between Sicily and mainland Italy). The felucca has this pretty unique shape with a long pole (where an observer searches for the fish) and a long slim horizontal platform (where the fishermen catch the fish). On this boat, I learnt the importance of spending hours observing animal behavior, and that despite some unpredictability, there is always a pattern.
Describe your scientific journey and your current research focus
I was quite good at school and university, but I never really saw myself becoming a scientist. I was quite lucky encountering encouraging mentors in my career path that led me to where I am today, including my PhD supervisor professor Marylka Yoe Uusisaari. After accepting me as the first student in the lab, she asked me to come up with three questions (no matter whether they were perfectly aligned to the scope of the lab), and she would guide me to select one and make it into a scientific question I could tackle during my PhD. As I'd never really worked on mice before, I decided to start from observation first, handling them for hours and learn to appreciate their behavior. I then came across a fascinating movement they were doing with their tails. That became my research focus for the next 6 years.
The ridge set-up used in the study where a mouse is crossing a narrow platform responding to the platform tilt.
How would you explain the main findings/message of your paper to a member of the public?
The main findings of this study are that mice use their tails in two different ways to help them keep their balance when crossing narrow platforms. First, when external forces, such as tilting the surface, threaten to make them lose balance, mice swing their tails in the opposite direction to stay upright, much like how people use their arms for balance. Second, on narrow surfaces, mice either use their tails as a counterweight to stabilize themselves or swing them actively to prevent falling. These findings show that the tail is an essential tool for balance, especially when the ground beneath them is unstable or narrow.
What is the hardest challenge you have faced in the course of your research and how did you overcome it?
I think the toughest part was taking up a big question for my PhD and not being sure I would see it through. Especially in the last year, I felt in certain moments I could see myself failing, either not being able to collect enough data or not being able to successfully perform experiments within the time frame of my PhD. I think in those moments it really helped to have something outside of the lab where I could find comfort. I am lucky enough to live on a beautiful island with rich history and beautiful landscapes. In my case karate and diving really helped me to see through those tough spots.
What's next for you?
In my next step, I am very excited to join the Kebschull lab at Johns Hopkins working on the evolution of vestibular nuclei across different species.
Salvatore Lacava's contact details: 1919-1 Tancha, Onna, Kunigami District, Okinawa 904-0412, Japan.
E-mail: [email protected]
