Mechanisms of sensory transduction and sensory information coding

检测外部和内部的物理和化学信号是所有生物的基本过程。我们的研究旨在发现三个重要的感觉形式，机械感觉，视觉和嗅觉的基本机制。了解这些感官是如何工作的将在医学、农业和机器人等领域产生广泛的影响。我们使用实验方法的组合，包括电记录，分子生物学，光学成像和生物信息学，以发现初级感觉神经细胞如何检测和处理感觉信号。我们还感兴趣的是感觉传导机制如何适应不同的环境和生活方式，如果它们被神经化学物质调制，以及关于检测到的信号的什么样的信息被传输到大脑。

Detection of external and internal physical and chemical signals are essential processes for all living things. Our research is aimed at discovering fundamental mechanisms of three important sensory modalities, mechanosensation, vision and olfaction. Understanding how these senses work would have wide implications in fields such as medicine, agriculture and robotics. We use a combination of experimental approaches that include electrical recordings, molecular biology, optical imaging and bioinformatics to discover how primary sensory nerve cells detect and process sensory signals. We are also interested in how sensory transduction mechanisms are adapted to different environments and lifestyles, if they are modulated by neurochemicals, and what kinds of information about the detected signals are transmitted to the brain.