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Our research projects are all in the area of SENSORIMOTOR INTEGRATION. We
have been analyzing the neural circuits underlying several different orienting behaviors: 1) the escape turn of cockroaches,
2) the directed movements of insect antennae and their guidance by visual sensory cues, 3) The orienting movements of
rodents (Naked mole-rats) toward tactile stimuli. In addition we have been developing a database for storage of all the
data we collect on uniquely identifiable nerve cells. The database can be used to store information on cells derived from
a variety of insects (see below).
Two unifying themes to our work are the desire to understand how
mechanosensory and visual INFORMATION IS REPRESENTED IN THE BRAIN and used to guide behavior, and understanding the
EVOLUTION OF NEURAL CIRCUITS.
Each of the model systems mentioned has specific advantages for analyzing
some aspect of the problems of sensorimotor integration and the evolution of behavior. We use a variety of techniques in
our experiments -- cellular electrophysiology, single cell lesions, quantitative behavioral analyses and computer-based
simulations.
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Visual Guidance of Antennal Movement.
Mole-Rat Touch Sense.
Insect Identified Neurons.
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