Topic: timing precision

The songbird zebra finch is an exemplary model system in which to study trial-and-error learning, as the bird learns its single song gradually through the production of many noisy renditions. It is also a good system in which to study the maintenance of motor skills, as the adult bird actively maintains its song and retains some residual plasticity. Motor learning occurs through the association of timing within the song, represented by sparse firing in nucleus HVC, with motor output, driven by nucleus RA. Here we show through modeling that the small level of observed variability in HVC can res

My research at the interface of neurobiology, biomechanics, and behavior seeks to understand how the timing precision of sensory input structures locomotor output. My lab studies the flight behavior of the fruit fly, Drosophila melanogaster, combining powerful genetic tools available for labeling and manipulating neural circuits with cutting-edge imaging in awake, behaving animals. This work has the potential to fundamentally reshape understanding of the evolution of insect flight, as well as highlight the tremendous importance of timing in the context of locomotion. Timing is crucial to the n