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Associate Professor Bruno van Swinderen, PhDVisual NeuroscienceDr Bruno van Swinderen received his PhD in Evolutionary and Population Biology in 1998 from Washington University in St. Louis, Missouri. His graduate work was on general anesthesia in a Caenorhabditis elegans model, applying both quantitative genetics and molecular genetic approaches. In February 2008, Dr van Swinderen established a new laboratory at the Queensland Brain Institute. Research directions [top]We use Drosophila as a genetic model system to study mechanisms of perception in the brain. We are interested in three phenomena: selective attention, sleep, and general anesthesia. Our focus is on visual perception and how it is affected by these different arousal states. Most of our current effort is in understanding visual selective attention in the fly brain and how attention processes interact with memory formation. Toward this goal, we use various novel visual paradigms in a Drosophila molecular genetics context. Attention and memory [top]Behavioral choices result from an ongoing interplay between attention and memory. We have developed paradigms to study visual attention and memory in Drosophila, thereby allowing us to investigate this complex problem in a powerful genetic model. Two levels of investigation are involved: behavior and brain electrophysiology. Behavioral screening methods allow us to determine visual responsiveness levels resulting from gene mutations or drug treatments, and electrophysiology in individual flies identifies brain processes affected by our manipulations. Our goal is to identify mechanisms of visual attention, and to elucidate how these processes interact with memory systems. Anesthesia and Sleep [top]We all sleep, and many of us require anesthesia during surgery at some point in our lives. However, the function of sleep is unclear, and the mechanism of general anesthesia remains mysterious. Our insight into brain processes modulating visual perception in Drosophila is applied at an electrophysiological level towards understanding sleep and general anesthesia, when perception is lost. We approach this problem by targeting candidate molecular systems at the level of molecular lesions and pharmacology. Other projects [top] Our electrophysiological approaches to studying attention-like processes and memory are easily adapted to other insects. We are interested in applying our paradigms to other species beyond the Drosophila model, such as honeybees. This will allow us to better address specific questions pertaining to neurophysiology as well as to behavioral ecology. Current collaborations [top] Bjoern Brembs, University of Berlin Selected publications [top] van Swinderen, B., McCartney, A., Kauffman, S., Flores, K., Wagner, J., Paulk, A. (2009) Shared visual attention and memory systems in the Drosophila brain. PLoS One. 2009 Jun 19;4(6):e5989. van Swinderen, B. (2007) Attention-Like Processes in Drosophila Require Short-Term Memory Genes. Science. 2007 Mar 16;315(5818):1590-3. van Swinderen, B. and Flores, K. (2007) Attention-like processes underlying optomotor performance in a Drosophila choice maze. Dev Neurobiol. 2007 Feb 1;67(2):129-45 van Swinderen, B., and Greenspan, R.J. (2003) Salience Modulates 20-30 Hz brain activity in Drosophila. Nature Neuroscience Vol. 6, #6, p579-586. Nitz, D.A., van Swinderen, B., Tononi, G., Greenspan, R.J. (2002) Electrophysiological Correlates of Rest and Activity in Drosophila melanogaster. Current Biology Vol. 12, 1934-1940. van Swinderen, B., Saifee, O., Shebester, L., Roberson, R., Nonet, M.L. and Crowder, C.M. (1999) A neomorphic syntaxin mutation blocks volatile-anesthetic action in Caenorhabditis elegans. Proc Natl Acad Sci USA 96: 2479-2484. Contact details [top] Lab Head: Dr Bruno van SwinderenContact: b.vanswinderen@uq.edu.au Tel: (07) 3346 6332 International: +61-7 3346 6332 [top]
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