The main research interests of the Stein lab focus on sensory processing and plasticity in motor networks and how sensory influences affect motor pattern selection and behavior. To study this, we use the stomatogastric nervous system of the crab Cancer borealis with its well-characterized central pattern generators as model system for the integration of sensory information and pattern selecting processes inside the nervous system. The main focus of our work is to determine how networks of neurons cope with complex and multimodal sensory input and how neuromodulatory neurons select the required patterns from multifunctional motor circuits to perform the adequate behavior. Methods used in the lab are manifold, including current and voltage clamp recordings, optical imaging, RNA and DNA extraction, and computer modeling.