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There is now a CONTENT FREEZE for Mercury while we switch to a new platform. It began on Friday, March 10 at 6pm and will end on Wednesday, March 15 at noon. No new content can be created during this time, but all material in the system as of the beginning of the freeze will be migrated to the new platform, including users and groups. Functionally the new site is identical to the old one. webteam@gatech.edu
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“Using Neuroengineering to Investigate Sensorimotor Transformations”
Catherine von Reyn, Ph.D.*
Postdoctoral Associate
Janelia Farm Research Campus
Howard Hughes Medical Institute
Seminar will be made available via videoconference in the Health Sciences Research Building, room E 160 and Technology Enterprise Park, room 104.
Although escape behaviors are commonly associated with hard-wired, reflex-like motor programs, freely behaving animals perform complex and variable escapes when evading a predator. For example, as a predator approaches, the fruit fly Drosophila melanogaster escapes using a sequence of sub-behaviors, including postural adjustments, wing raising, leg extension, and wing depression. By changing the order of this sequence, the fly can alter the kinematics of its takeoff jump. Until recently, the neural circuits orchestrating this behavior remained unknown. Here, through cell type-specific genetic engineering, I identify components of the escape circuit and demonstrate how kinematic variability emerges from two sensorimotor pathways.
Faculty Host: Robert Butera, Ph.D.
