Engineering Behavior in Drosophila
Event details
| Date | 14.04.2015 |
| Hour | 09:30 |
| Speaker | Pavan Ramdya, Ph.D., Dickinson Lab, Caltech, Pasadena, CA (USA) |
| Location | |
| Category | Conferences - Seminars |
BIOENGINEERING SEMINAR
Abstract:
A shared goal of neuroscience and robotics is to understand how systems can be built to move effectively through the world. Powerful new tools for reverse engineering animal behavior (e.g. genomics, optogenetics, and neural recording) and for constructing bioinspired artificial systems (e.g. compliant materials, miniaturized sensors, and neuromorphic chips) now permit a more fluid and fertile exchange between biology and robotics. For example, the fruit fly, Drosophila melanogaster, has a genome that is easily edited, a numerically small nervous system, and a remarkably complex repertoire of behaviors. This makes it ideally suited to reveal how neurons and genes orchestrate animal behavior with potentially profound impact on robotic control applications. In this talk I will describe how, with this goal in mind, I have combined experimental and computational tools to uncover design principles for Drosophila behavior. First, I will discuss how I used neural engineering to identify the sensory pathways responsible for driving enhanced, group-level responses to environmental cues. These findings make it possible to explore the neurogenetics of collective behavior with potential impact on our understanding of human crowd dynamics as well as in the control of robotic swarms. Second, I will show how I identified an unexpected link between leg adhesion and the evolution of locomotor coordination using computational and robotic approaches. These results motivate a deeper understanding of how genes shape biomechanics and animal behavior. In combination, these studies provide a glimpse of the exciting scientific opportunities at the interface between Drosophila biology and robotics.
Bio:
Research Experience
Caltech, Pasadena, California USA (2015 - )
Neurobiology and behavior
SNSF Advanced Postdoctoral fellow with Michael Dickinson
EPFL/UNIL. Lausanne, Switzerland (2009 - 2015)
Neurobiology, behavior, and robotics
HFSP Long-term Postdoctoral fellow with Dario Floreano & Richard Benton
Harvard University. Cambridge, Massachusetts USA (2004 - 2009)
Systems neurobiology
NSF and NDSEGF Doctoral fellow with Florian Engert
MGH/Harvard Medical School. Boston, Massachusetts USA (2001 - 2003)
Molecular neurobiology
Predoctoral work with Bradley Hyman
Mount Sinai School of Medicine. New York, New York USA (2000 Summer)
Ion channel neurobiology
SUR fellow with Diomedes Logothetis
Accra, Ghana. (1999 Summer)
Medical anthropology
Research with Philip Peek
Education
Harvard University. Cambridge, MA (2003-2009)
Ph.D. in Neurobiology
Drew University. Madison, NJ (1997-2001)
B.A. in Neurobiology
Abstract:
A shared goal of neuroscience and robotics is to understand how systems can be built to move effectively through the world. Powerful new tools for reverse engineering animal behavior (e.g. genomics, optogenetics, and neural recording) and for constructing bioinspired artificial systems (e.g. compliant materials, miniaturized sensors, and neuromorphic chips) now permit a more fluid and fertile exchange between biology and robotics. For example, the fruit fly, Drosophila melanogaster, has a genome that is easily edited, a numerically small nervous system, and a remarkably complex repertoire of behaviors. This makes it ideally suited to reveal how neurons and genes orchestrate animal behavior with potentially profound impact on robotic control applications. In this talk I will describe how, with this goal in mind, I have combined experimental and computational tools to uncover design principles for Drosophila behavior. First, I will discuss how I used neural engineering to identify the sensory pathways responsible for driving enhanced, group-level responses to environmental cues. These findings make it possible to explore the neurogenetics of collective behavior with potential impact on our understanding of human crowd dynamics as well as in the control of robotic swarms. Second, I will show how I identified an unexpected link between leg adhesion and the evolution of locomotor coordination using computational and robotic approaches. These results motivate a deeper understanding of how genes shape biomechanics and animal behavior. In combination, these studies provide a glimpse of the exciting scientific opportunities at the interface between Drosophila biology and robotics.
Bio:
Research Experience
Caltech, Pasadena, California USA (2015 - )
Neurobiology and behavior
SNSF Advanced Postdoctoral fellow with Michael Dickinson
EPFL/UNIL. Lausanne, Switzerland (2009 - 2015)
Neurobiology, behavior, and robotics
HFSP Long-term Postdoctoral fellow with Dario Floreano & Richard Benton
Harvard University. Cambridge, Massachusetts USA (2004 - 2009)
Systems neurobiology
NSF and NDSEGF Doctoral fellow with Florian Engert
MGH/Harvard Medical School. Boston, Massachusetts USA (2001 - 2003)
Molecular neurobiology
Predoctoral work with Bradley Hyman
Mount Sinai School of Medicine. New York, New York USA (2000 Summer)
Ion channel neurobiology
SUR fellow with Diomedes Logothetis
Accra, Ghana. (1999 Summer)
Medical anthropology
Research with Philip Peek
Education
Harvard University. Cambridge, MA (2003-2009)
Ph.D. in Neurobiology
Drew University. Madison, NJ (1997-2001)
B.A. in Neurobiology
Practical information
- Informed public
- Free