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Name, Field, Position, Department, and Keyword |
Faculty Keywords: Cell and Molecular Neuroscience (23), Drosophila (4), Motor Systems (13), Neuroendocrinology (7), Neurotransmitter release (3) The focus of my laboratory is to understand how neurotransmitters and neuropeptides are secreted by neurons and neuroendocrine cells. In particular, we have focused on the role of the SNARE proteins in neurotransmitter release. To study how SNAREs work, we employ the model organism Drosophila melanogaster. Drosophila's extensive genetic and transgenic techniques allow us to perturb the release machinery proteins in vivo and determine how neurotransmitter and neuropeptide release are affected. |
Post-Doc Keywords: Cell and Molecular Neuroscience (23), Motor Systems (13), Neuroethology (24), Neurotransmitter receptors and transporters (9) I joined Dr. Ron Hoy's laboratory in 2005. We are currently investigating changes at the neuromuscular junction (NMJ) in various mutants of Drosophila melanogaster. This information will be applied to the new educational program, The Fly CD, which is a follow-up to the Crawdad CD. |
Faculty associated with: Boris P. Chagnaud, Aaron N. Rice Keywords: Auditory Neuroscience (5), Cell and Molecular Neuroscience (23), Fish (12), Motor Systems (13), Neuroendocrinology (7), Neuroethology (24), Systems Neuroscience (25), Vocal Motor Systems (3) The goal of my research program is to show how phenotypic variation in brain organization leads to adaptive behavioral phenotypes. It is in this context that our laboratory studies sound-producing/ vocalizing fish as model systems to establish how the vocal and auditory systems of vertebrates function to produce adaptive behavioral responses. All of these studies are carried out in the context of a deep understanding of the animal's natural habitat and the use of vocal signals in their social behavior. Given the historical perspective that the most fundamental mechanisms of vertebrate hearing and vocalization originated among fishes, the potential impact of such studies on our general understanding of the evolution, development and adaptive modification of auditory, vocal and audio-vocal mechanisms is far reaching. Research in our laboratory focuses on neuroendocrine influences on sex and seasonal differences in the morphology and physiology of an extensive hindbrain-spinal, pacemaker-motor neuron circuit that establishes the fundamental properties of natural vocalizations and on the temporal and spectral coding of those acoustic signals by the peripheral and central auditory systems. Many of these projects revolve around studies of alternative mating tactics in teleost fish with two male morphs that differ in a large suite of behavioral, neurobiological and endocrine traits including divergent acoustic courtship behaviors and vocal control pathways. We answer questions regarding the existence of behaviors and their underlying mechanisms using an interdisciplinary, neuroethological approach that combines field studies of vocal communication with laboratory studies of the nervous system that utilize one or more of the following approaches: neurophysiology combined with anatomical tract tracing, neuroendocrinology, electron microscopy, immunocytochemistry, and in situ hybridization. Also visit my Research/Photo Gallery entry |
Graduate Student associated with: Dave M. Lin Keywords: Axon guidance (3), Cell and Molecular Neuroscience (23), Olfaction (11) I am interested in how the axons of olfactory sensory neurons find their targets in the olfactory bulb. I am using microarray analysis of olfactory bulb tissue to discover differentially expressing genes. I believe these differentially expressing genes may play a role in guiding olfactory sensory neurons to their correct locations. |
Research Associate Keywords: Artificial Intelligence (3), Auditory Neuroscience (5), Cognitive Neuroscience (17), Computational Neuroscience (13), Language (5), Neuroethology (24), Sensorimotor Systems (11), Systems Neuroscience (25) I am interested in elucidating the neural mechanisms underlying behaviorally-relevant computations. Put simply, the brain is a big computer and I want to reverse engineer it. I focus on two behaviors mediated by the auditory system in particular: sound localization and, to a lesser extent, speech recognition. Collectively, determining what the sound is and where it's coming from are the two main tasks the auditory system of any species must solve. My study species of choice are Ormia ochracea and barn owls. The former are flies which parasitize crickets by using them as hosts for larvae; the latter are nocturnal predators which rely on field mice for food. In both cases, a highly-developed and specialized auditory system is used to both recognize and localize their targets. What drew me to studying neuroscience, instead of continuing my undergraduate education in computer science and psychology, was a disappointment with the design and performance of the algorithms used by the artificial intelligence community. My hope is to facilitate better progress towards the creation of an intelligent machine through delineating how nervous systems solve similar computational problems. |
Post-Doc associated with: Carl D. Hopkins Keywords: Computational Neuroscience (13), Electroreception (3), Fish (12), Mathematical Modeling (14), Neuroethology (24), Systems Neuroscience (25) My research interests primarily deal with general principles of neural coding and processing in spiking neurons of sensory systems, in particular issues related to the potential for "temporal", as opposed to "rate", coding and processing schemes. Secondarily, I am interested in the statistical structure of neural spike trains, and deterministic explanations for this structure. I am currently studying the neural pathway that processes electrical communication signals in weakly electric fish from Africa, which must detect differences in the waveforms of very short (< 1 ms) electrical pulses. I hope that the general strategies used by this relatively simple and specialized neural system will prove useful in suggesting and guiding research on other more complex sensory systems, such as the mammalian auditory system. |
Faculty Keywords: Drosophila (4), Ion channel (6) Research Interests The long-term goal of the research in our laboratory is to determine the neural basis of behavioral ontogeny using the moth Manduca sexta, and the fly Drosophila melanogaster as model systems. Both of these insects go through a complete metamorphosis from a larva to an adult through the developmentally interesting pupal stage. Along with the dramatic changes in body morphology metamorphosis also results in the in shift in the behaviors repertoire of these insects. Our goal is to understand the neural correlates that accompany these changes in behavior. We exploit Manduca's large and easily accessible nervous system allowing us to examine the role of extrinsic cues (e.g. hormones; cell-cell interactions) and in the regulation of postembryonic development of the CNS. Currently, we are examining the role of a set of hormones in regulating the motor patterns during Manduca's molt cycles. We also exploit the genetic tools offered by Drosophila in our research program to learn more about cellular and molecular basis of postembryonic neurogenesis. We recently completed a screen for Drosophila mutants that disrupted the pattern of postembryonic neurogenesis. The genetic and molecular analysis of these mutants should provide new insights into the factors involved in the regulation of postembryonic neurogenesis. Recent Publications Rivlin, P., A. Gong, A.M. Schneiderman and R. Booker (2001) The role of Ultrabithorax in the patterning of adult thoracic muscle in Drosophila melanogaster Dev. Gene Evol 211:55-66. del Campo C.M.L., C.I. Miles, F.C. Schroeder, C. Mueller, R. Booker, and J.A Renwick. (2001) Host recognition by the tobacco hornworm is mediated by a host plant compound. Nature 411:186-189. Bayline, R., B.M. Khoo and R. Booker (1998) The role of innervation in determining the fate of abdominal muscles in the moth, Manduca sexta. Dev. Gene Evol. 7:369-381. Miles, C. I., and Booker, R. (2000) Effects of parasitism and octopamine on the frontal ganglion and foregut of the moth, Manduca sexta J. Exp. Biol. 203: 1689-1700. Rivlin, P., A.M. Schneiderman and R. Booker (2000) Imaginal muscle pioneers:play a role in the patterning of the adult thoracic muscle of the fly, Drosophila melanogaster. Dev. Biol. 222:450-459. Zheng, Z., B.M. Khoo, L. Garza, D. Fambrough and R. Booker (1999) The pattern of expression of homeobox genes in wild-type and mutant embryos of the moth Manduca sexta. Dev. Gene Evol. 209:460-472. Miles, C.I. and R. Booker (1998) Developmental changes in the frontal ganglion and foregut of the moth, Manduca sexta. J. Exp. Biol. 201: 1785-1798. Courses Taught Introduction to Neurobiology; Developmental Neurobiology |
Graduate Student associated with: Joseph R. Fetcho Keywords: Cell and Molecular Neuroscience (23), Fish (12), Genetics (9), Motor Systems (13), Regeneration (2), Sensorimotor Systems (11), Systems Neuroscience (25) Regeneration, calcium imaging, voltage imaging, spinal cord, development, self organization, movement, computational modelling, biophysics, anything interesting. |
Post-Doc associated with: Andrew H. Bass Keywords: Biomechanics (2), Evolution (5), Fish (12), Functional Morphology (1), Motor control (1), Motor Systems (13), Neuroethology (24), Neuromodulation (12), Sensorimotor Systems (11), Zoology (2) I am interested in the mechanisms, ethology, and evolution of sound production in fishes. Among other things, I am investigating how monoamine neurotransmitters modulate the vocal communication in toadfishes. |
Faculty Keywords: Birds (4), Development (21), Fish (12), Imaging (8), Mathematical Modeling (14), Sensorimotor Systems (11), Systems Neuroscience (25), Vision (11) I conduct research into the physiological optics of human and animal eyes. Past projects have concerned a longitudinal study of anisometropia and anisometropic amblyopia in humans, emmetropization of the chick eye to spectacles, the chick eye's response to light regimes, and aberrations of human eyes. Earlier I worked on the role of the otolithic organs and semicircular canals in the orientation of fish. I have also conducted on the allometry (scaling with body size) of eyes and inner ears. |
Please report corrections, questions, comments, and problems to: Lori Miller (lmm8 AT cornell.edu)