Nelson Lab

Every day, we encounter a flood of sensory information in our environment. How do we detect and discard irrelevant stimuli and how do we focus on the most salient features of our surroundings? Sensory thresholds are established during development and modified through a variety of mechanisms, including a plasticity mechanism termed habituation. Habituation allows animals to dynamically increase their sensory thresholds, decreasing responsiveness to repeated, inconsequential stimuli.

Larval zebrafish are capable of detecting and responding to a wide variety of stimuli by 5 days post-fertilization. In particular, the acoustic startle response is a well-described, conserved, and robust behavior. In the fish, acoustic startle thresholds established during development can be modified through experience.

The Nelson Lab uses molecular-genetic, cell-biological, and circuit-based techniques to identify how neural circuits develop and how they are modified to regulate sensory thresholds.