Temperature sensitivity and temperature response across development in the larva.

The surrounding thermal environment is highly important for the survival and fitness of animals, and as a result most exhibit behavioral and neural responses to temperature changes. We study signals generated by thermosensory neurons in larvae and also the physical and sensory effects of temperature variation on locomotion and navigation. In particular we characterize how sensory neuronal and behavioral responses to temperature variation both change across the development of the larva.

Mechanical vibration patterns elicit behavioral transitions and habituation in crawling larvae.

How animals respond to repeatedly applied stimuli, and how animals respond to mechanical stimuli in particular, are important questions in behavioral neuroscience. We study adaptation to repeated mechanical agitation using the larva. Vertical vibration stimuli elicit a discrete set of responses in crawling larvae: continuation, pause, turn, and reversal.

Long-timescale anti-directional rotation in optomotor behavior.

Locomotor movements cause visual images to be displaced across the eye, a retinal slip that is counteracted by stabilizing reflexes in many animals. In insects, optomotor turning causes the animal to turn in the direction of rotating visual stimuli, thereby reducing retinal slip and stabilizing trajectories through the world. This behavior has formed the basis for extensive dissections of motion vision.

Continuous, long-term crawling behavior characterized by a robotic transport system.

Detailed descriptions of behavior provide critical insight into the structure and function of nervous systems. In larvae and many other systems, short behavioral experiments have been successful in characterizing rapid responses to a range of stimuli at the population level. However, the lack of long-term continuous observation makes it difficult to dissect comprehensive behavioral dynamics of individual animals and how behavior (and therefore the nervous system) develops over time.

Continuous, long-term crawling behavior characterized by a robotic transport system.

Detailed descriptions of behavior provide critical insight into the structure and function of nervous systems. In larvae and many other systems, short behavioral experiments have been successful in characterizing rapid responses to a range of stimuli at the population level. However, the lack of long-term continuous observation makes it difficult to dissect comprehensive behavioral dynamics of individual animals and how behavior (and therefore the nervous system) develops over time.

Long timescale anti-directional rotation in Drosophila optomotor behavior.

Locomotor movements cause visual images to be displaced across the eye, a retinal slip that is counteracted by stabilizing reflexes in many animals. In insects, optomotor turning causes the animal to turn in the direction of rotating visual stimuli, thereby reducing retinal slip and stabilizing trajectories through the world. This behavior has formed the basis for extensive dissections of motion vision.