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FRIBIO-Biologi og biomedisin

NEURONES FORMING FUNCTIONAL NETWORKS IN THE MOTH BRAIN

Tildelt: kr 2,4 mill.

We are searching to uncover the neuronal network involved in chemosensory coding and appetitive learning in insects, using moths of the subfamily Heliothinae as model organisms. The focus in the present project is to characterise physiologically and morph ologically neurones in the primary and the higher olfactory centres of the brain, which form the network processing plant odour information. The methods involve long-lasting extracellular recordings linked to gas chromatography, in addition to ongoing int racellular recordings combined with fluorescent staining, confocal microscopy and three-dimensional reconstruction of the neurones. The present study will provide information about responses to biologically relevant plant odorants, from which types of fun ctionally identified receptor neurones they receive information, and how the information is processed. By comparing the physiological data of the long-lasting extracellular and the short-lasting intracellular recordings we can determine the functional org anisation of the olfactory pathways. Precise determination of the dendrite arborisations and the axon projections in the different neuropil structures of the brain will be made by placing the reconstructed neurones into an averaged brain atlas. The result s will also contribute to the understanding of the neuronal mechanism underlying the behaviour of these important pest insects.

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FRIBIO-Biologi og biomedisin

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