Robert Olberg, Ph.D. - US grants

Lay Abstract: Robert Olberg

Multi-neuronal encoding of visual target information to direct flight in the dragonfly

A remarkable example of visually guided interception flight is the capture of flying insect prey by dragonflies. Prey interception flights are highly accurate, with capture success rates as high as 97%. Using a combination of techniques, including multi-neuronal recordings with nanofabricated electrode arrays and high speed video analysis of wing movements, this project is aimed at understanding the neural guidance system used to direct this rapid, precise, visually-guided behavior. Because prey pursuit is directed by a small number of easily accessible neurons, the dragonfly experimental preparation is ideally suited for answering a fundamental question in neurobiology: does the correlation of firing patterns among neurons communicate more information than could be communicated by the neurons individually? An understanding of prey interception by dragonflies, from neurons to behavior, could lead to the development of effective biomimetic guidance mechanisms. In addition, this project will give undergraduate students a cutting-edge, cross-disciplinary, research experience, providing a vehicle for recruiting talented, enthusiastic students from both biology and engineering into the field of neuroscience.

This award is funded under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (Public Law 111-5).

This project will renovate outdated laboratory space on the third floor of Butterfield Hall on the campus of Union College to create a Center for Neuroscience. The Center for Neuroscience will co-locate the neuroscience faculty research labs, enabling the core faculty to run their research program more effectively and share scientific resources more efficiently. An anticipated outcome of the enhanced facilities is increased interactions between neuroscience program faculty with each other and with students as well as collaborative research opportunities with student and faculty in the computer science, electrical and mechanical engineering, and bioengineering programs which are adjacent to the new Center's location.

Faculty in the renovated labs will conduct research and research training in areas of neuroplasticity, human cognitive abilities and behavioral dispositions, gender differences in spatial cognition, cognitive genetics, neural control of behavior, and basic molecular mechanisms underlying neurological disorders. Research techniques to be enabled by the Center include intracellular recording and dye injection of individual neurons, high-seed analysis of flight behavior, behavioral methodologies, neuroimaging, and electrophysiological techniques. Examples of research activities proposed for the new Center for Neuroscience include elucidating brain changes, i.e. neuroplasticity, that are involved in acquiring a new cognitive skill, understanding the individual differences in human cognitive abilities and the neural mechanisms that underlie them, investigating the neural control of behavior in flying insects to understand the structure and function of neurons involved in visual control of stable flight, and studying the basic molecular mechanisms underlying specific neurological disorders.

With the new Center for Neuroscience, the College's students will have access to cutting-edge, technologically advanced, and diverse research opportunities that are usually only available to graduate students and post-doctoral research staff as much larger institutions. The Center will enable the College to accommodate the growing research and research training needs of the neuroscience interdisciplinary program, which was created in response to student demand in 2003. Additionally, the renovated research facility is expected to be used by participants of Union's Summer Science Workshop, a program for rising high school students traditionally underrepresented in the sciences and those facing economic disadvantages.

An award is made to Union College to acquire a high-resolution micro-computed tomography (µCT) system. µCT provides a nondestructive method to visualize complex internal structures of a sample ranging from micro to macro scales. Analysis of µCT images can address fundamental structure-function questions in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM). The accessibility to structure-function relationships combined with the lack of complicated sample preparation makes µCT research a clear entry point to engage undergraduates in meaningful STEM research. This project will have broad impacts on STEM fields. First, it will enhance both multidisciplinary and interdisciplinary STEM research at Union College that will influence external researchers and build future collaborations. Second, the project will provide 18 undergraduate research opportunities across STEM fields each year. Access to research training will increase student interest in pursuing graduate STEM study and improve the scientific and technical research infrastructure of our country. Third, each year approximately 260 Union College students will interact with cutting-edge µCT technology and its capabilities through a wide variety of STEM classes. Finally, Union College has established K-12 outreach programs aimed at encouraging students from traditionally underrepresented groups to enter STEM fields and an undergraduate program (DUE-1356398) that provides scholarships and intensive cohort mentoring with educational enrichment activities to increase undergraduate retention and achievement in STEM disciplines. This project will enhance the work of these groups by leading students through exciting, hands-on µCT imaging with associated 3D printing modules. The goal of these outreach activities is to help students see themselves as future scientists and engineers.

Union College biology, computer science, and engineering faculty have developed collaborative and integrative research across diverse STEM fields to understand how structural properties at one level of organization affect organismal function at another. The µCT will enable researchers to nondestructively visualize complex internal anatomy and provide insight into how organismal structures: 1) impact developmental physiology, 2) respond to external mechanical stimuli during bone fracture healing, 3) lead to speciation through visual communication, 4) inform development of biomimetic soft robots, 5) support the evolution of morphogenesis, and 6) explain water balance in plants critical to the global carbon cycle. Furthermore, when combined with Union's multi-material 3D printer (CMMI-1337768), researchers can isolate interior regions of a µCT scan, generate a volumetric model in the µCT software, and print a corresponding physical model in a matter of hours for further analysis. These diverse projects represent just the beginning of the innovative µCT STEM research at Union College. Furthermore, since the closest similar µCT is located over three hours away, Union is poised to be a regional µCT center that fosters innovative collaborations with investigators at nearby institutions.