S33
Understanding Higher-order Processing of Sensory Information using
Insects as a Model
Organizers:
Kei Ito (IMCB, University of Tokyo, Japan)
Nicholas J. Strausfeld (Univ. Arizona, USA)
The brain of the animal should process sensory information to determine adequate behavioral responses to the rapidly changing environment. Little is understood, however, about how sensory signals sent to the primary sensory centers are transmitted to higher-order centers and used for the decision making of behavior. Because of the relatively simple and easily accessible neural architecture, and thanks to the technical advances to identify, monitor and regulate the functions of neural components, the insect brain serves as a good model system to address this question. Even in insect neurobiology, however, studies tend to concentrate on the lower-level steps of sensory processing. This session discusses recent advances in the researches on the neural networks and their functions for higher-order processing steps of sensory information. The neural architecture of the brain regions that are supposed to be responsible for sensory integration and decision-making will be discussed from comparative and developmental viewpoints. Cutting-edge behavioral analyses by modulating, blocking, or activating specific subsets of neurons in these neural circuits using genetic and biochemical techniques will be presented. This multi-disciplinary symposium will give the audience an overview of the ongoing research about this important brain function to promote comparative physiological research in this field.
Speakers:
1) Kei Ito (Univ. Tokyo, Japan):
Mechanisms of sound and gravity sensation of the Drosophila brain
2) Masayuki Koganezawa (Tohoku Univ., Japan):
The neural circuitry contributing to male courtship behavior of Drosophila
3) Li Liu (Chinese Acad. Sci., China):
Role of the central complex in the visual learning of flies.
4) Zhefeng Gong (Chinese Acad. Sci., China):
Two pairs of neurons control Drosophila larval light preference
5) Yoichi Seki (Max Planck Inst. for Chem. Ecology, Jena):
Neural circuits underlying olfactory coding in the Drosophila antennal lobe
6) Nicholas J. Strausfeld (Univ. Arizona, USA):
Evolutionary and comparative analysis of the insect neural circuits responsible for sensory information processing.