Research in the Schafer lab:

 
       
 

The fundamental nature of mental phenomena such as perception, learning and memory is one of the last remaining scientific mysteries. Since the neuroanatomy of mammalian nervous systems is exceedingly complex and incompletely characterized, it is difficult to understand mechanistically how the human brain works at the level of molecules and cells. However, in simpler organisms like the nematode C. elegans, obtaining a reductionist understanding of nervous system function and behaviour is a tractable problem. C. elegans is particularly amenable to such investigations because its neuroanatomy has been completely characterized at the cellular and synaptic levels, and it is perhaps the most genetically tractable organism with a nervous system.

 

 

       
 
    image from wormatlas.org  

Aspects of nervous system function in which we are particularly interested include sensation: how do neurons sense stimuli such as touch and pain, and how do sensory circuits integrate and process this information. We are also interested in behavioural states: how do contextual cues such as satiety and the presence of food influence behaviour through defined neural circuits, and what roles do molecules like dopamine, serotonin and neuropeptides play in these processes. Finally, we are interested in how neural circuits process information; we are particularly interested in the properties of circuits that are wired with gap junctions.

 

In addition to using molecular biology and genetics to investigate these questions, we have also used in vivo neuroimaging to monitor the activities of individual cells in neural circuits. We have also developed machine vision tools to more precisely quantify behavioural phenotypes.