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Dendrites and axons show extraordinarily diverse forms, with important implications for nervous system wiring and neuronal function. One interest of our lab is in how neurons acquire their morphologies and how this underlies circuit function. To approach this problem, we use molecular, genetic, anatomical, and behavioral approaches to identify the mechanisms that sculpt somatosensory circuits during development.  Our studies have focused on nociceptive, proprioceptive, and internal sensory circuits in the fruit fly model system.

The proprioceptive system endows animals with an ability to sense body position.  This sense is often taken for granted in our daily lives, in that we "intuitively" know where our hands and legs are as we move about, but this information is provided by an array of proprioceptive sensory neurons that are precisely positioned to detect body movements.  This capacity is critically required not only for limbed organisms but also for animals with soft bodies such as Drosophila larvae, which we use as a model to study the functional organization of proprioceptive systems.

Sensing of internal body status is essential for proper functioning of many different organ systems.  In many cases, internal sensory neurons are important sensors and regulators of physiological homeostasis, the so-called brain-body connection.  We study the functions of internal sensory neurons in Drosophila larvae, focusing on neurons that innervate the respiratory system. We have identified unique axonal projections and gustatory receptor expression that points to remarkable heterogeneity of a sensory system that was formerly believed to be a homogeneous population.