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Specific Aims
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Specific Aims
- Select 1,000 GAL4 lines, which can be used to inactivate (using UAS-shibire-ts and UAS-KiR) or activate (using UAS-channel rhodopsin and UAS-trpA1) small subsets of neurons.
- Test 1,000 lines in an inactivation screen using the following assays;
- somatosensory stimuli: sound, pain, air puffs, stretch, and tactile stimuli (grooves/holes) (Zlatic lab)
- hot and cold temperatures (Samuel lab)
- light (Samuel, Sprecher and Riddiford labs)
- odor (Louis and Samuel labs)
- food (Truman and Mirth labs) - Test the 1,000 lines in an activation screen to determine a neurons sufficiency to trigger specific motor patterns.
- Create an automated data analysis pipeline for recording and storing the behavioral assay data in a database.
- Test higher order neurons that were not required in the primary behaviors for involvement in learning associations between different sensory modalities and more complex behaviors like social interactions.
- Perform a comparative analysis of the role of different neuron classes across all behaviors.
- Share the results of the screens through scientific and web-based publications.