bryan orona

Hola, everyone! 

My name is Bryan Orona (he/him). I am a high school student participating in the Ahmed lab through the BRIGHT-UP program. My current project focuses on how positive reinforcement impacts flies' social behavior. To study this, I am using optogenetics to target specific neurons in the brain that help regulate these social interactions. Through these experiments, I hope to better understand where associative learning and social behavior converge. 

A little about me: I am from West Seattle, Washington. Outside of the program, I currently lead and manage the Mariachi Club at my high school, and I enjoy singing across many different genres of music. In my free time, I like to cook, read, produce music, write, and dance salsa.