Information Processing in Sensory Systems

All living organisms, from bacteria to plants and animals, collect, process, store, and transmit information in order to respond to the world around them. How do nervous systems convert sensory information from the environment into neural information (e.g. trains of action potentials), and how is this neural information then used to produce adaptive behavior? All animals use multiple sensory systems, operating with very different spatial and temporal scales and with complex feedback mechanisms, to control such crucial behaviors as capturing prey, avoiding predators, and locating and selecting a mate. How is information from multiple systems integrated and processed for behavior? My research seeks to unravel the physical and biological mechanisms underlying sensory information processing.

We are particularly interested in fly flight. Flies need to integrate information from vision, olfaction, and specialized mechanosensory organs called halteres in order to fly at high speeds. The video below shows a tethered fruit fly in our lab. The little knob-like structure that flaps out of phase with the wings is the haltere. The halteres act as gyroscopes for the fly, and flies are unable to fly without them. Our lab is interested in how halteres transmit information to the brain and how the fly uses this information to fly.

This video shows a crane fly in free flight. Note that the fly's body moves and rotates while the halteres flap.