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Department of Neurobiology |
Wilson Lab
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 The goal of our research is to understand how sensory stimuli are encoded in the brain. Our work focuses on a relatively simple, genetically tractable system—the brain of the fruit fly Drosophila melanogaster.  We are particularly interested in how olfactory and gustatory stimuli are represented in the nervous system. Our goal is to describe not only what information about chemical stimuli is represented, but also how these representations are constructed in biophysical terms. Therefore, we are investigating neural connectivity, synaptic properties, and intrinsic conductances among neurons of the fly brain which encode chemical stimuli.  We
primarily use electrophysiological techniques, particularly
whole-cell patch clamp
recording and extracellular
single-unit
recording, to
record from neurons in the Drosophila
brain in vivo.
Using the Gal4-UAS system, we can
label identified cell groups
with GFP in order to
target our
electrodes to specific neuronal populations. We can also label neurons while
recording from them; the
image on the left depicts a dye-filled antennal lobe projection neuron, one of the second-order
neurons of the Drosophila olfactory
system.
By collecting both electrophysiological and anatomical
data from
genetically identified
cells, we can understand a neuron's activity in
the context of what we have already learned about the neural network
that surrounds it.We also use targeted genetic manipulations to test predictions about the role of specific neurons and neuronal properties in forming sensory representations. We can investigate the effects of these selective manipulations on two levels: first, on the electrophysiological activity of neural circuits, and second, on the behavioral responses of flies to sensory stimuli. In the future, we may also employ functional imaging of genetically-encoded fluorescent activity probes to complement electrophysiological methods. |
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