Colour vision in marsupials. The ability to distinguish colours is a crucial aspect of vision, providing vital data for sexual selection, predator detection and food acquisition. Studies of mammalian colour vision have largely overlooked marsupials. Our recent investigation of spectral sensitivity in two Australian species revealed a colour discrimination capacity beyond that of placentals (excluding primates), implying disparate evolutionary pressures in the two groups. We will provide the fi ....Colour vision in marsupials. The ability to distinguish colours is a crucial aspect of vision, providing vital data for sexual selection, predator detection and food acquisition. Studies of mammalian colour vision have largely overlooked marsupials. Our recent investigation of spectral sensitivity in two Australian species revealed a colour discrimination capacity beyond that of placentals (excluding primates), implying disparate evolutionary pressures in the two groups. We will provide the first comprehensive description of colour vision in marsupials, studying species with differing rhythmicities, habitats and diets. Wavelength sensitivity and molecular structure of retinal visual pigments will be assessed in relation to evolutionary influences and ecological demands.
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Interactions between phenome and genome at developing CNS synapses during synaptic refinement. Activity-dependent changes in synaptic transmission are vital to development and function of central neuronal networks. However, the critical factors regulating developmental changes in synaptic signals remain largely unknown. We will correlate functional changes in synaptic responses at glutamate-releasing synapses with changes in glutamate receptor composition at a critical period during developmen ....Interactions between phenome and genome at developing CNS synapses during synaptic refinement. Activity-dependent changes in synaptic transmission are vital to development and function of central neuronal networks. However, the critical factors regulating developmental changes in synaptic signals remain largely unknown. We will correlate functional changes in synaptic responses at glutamate-releasing synapses with changes in glutamate receptor composition at a critical period during development, test whether synaptic activation of receptors is required for these changes and define the pattern of activity-dependent changes in gene expression necessary for developmental changes in synaptic transmission. Understanding this interaction between synaptic phenome and activity-dependent genomic expression will expand our understanding of brain development and function.Read moreRead less
Learning and memory in the honeybee: Task-dependent brain development. We wish to explore whether the development of specific brain regions in young bees depends upon the nature of the learning task in which they are engaged. We will examine tasks that involve two sensory modalities: olfaction and vision, both of which are important to successful foraging. The relative ease with which bees can be trained, and their nervous systems accessed, make them a very attractive subject in which to study f ....Learning and memory in the honeybee: Task-dependent brain development. We wish to explore whether the development of specific brain regions in young bees depends upon the nature of the learning task in which they are engaged. We will examine tasks that involve two sensory modalities: olfaction and vision, both of which are important to successful foraging. The relative ease with which bees can be trained, and their nervous systems accessed, make them a very attractive subject in which to study fundamental principles of learning and memory that may span a variety of organisms.Read moreRead less
Higher cognitive functions emerging from a small brain. The honeybee is becoming one of the most attractive model systems in which to study processes of learning, memory and cognition, given its rich and flexible behaviour, its relatively simple nervous system, and a genome that is on the verge of being sequenced. We intend to examine how bees learn rules, associations, concepts and categories, and to uncover some of the underlying neuronal substrates. The results should illuminate fundamental p ....Higher cognitive functions emerging from a small brain. The honeybee is becoming one of the most attractive model systems in which to study processes of learning, memory and cognition, given its rich and flexible behaviour, its relatively simple nervous system, and a genome that is on the verge of being sequenced. We intend to examine how bees learn rules, associations, concepts and categories, and to uncover some of the underlying neuronal substrates. The results should illuminate fundamental principles of cognitive function across a variety of animal species, and suggest novel approaches to artificial intelligence.Read moreRead less
Target detection in visual clutter. The interdisciplinary nature of the project will offer a stimulating environment for training a postdoctoral worker in the hot topic of computational neuroscience. While computationally expensive solutions to moving target detection in clutter have been implemented using conventional engineering, this project will offer insight into the efficiency of the biological brain (with benefit of millions of years of evolution towards compact, economical and optimal so ....Target detection in visual clutter. The interdisciplinary nature of the project will offer a stimulating environment for training a postdoctoral worker in the hot topic of computational neuroscience. While computationally expensive solutions to moving target detection in clutter have been implemented using conventional engineering, this project will offer insight into the efficiency of the biological brain (with benefit of millions of years of evolution towards compact, economical and optimal solutions). The results will assist development of efficient artificial intelligence. It will also assist our ongoing collaborations with defence partners to develop and apply algorithms in artificial vision systems. Read moreRead less
Special Research Initiatives - Grant ID: SR0354494
Funder
Australian Research Council
Funding Amount
$10,000.00
Summary
BRAINnet:
Brain Research And Integrative Neuroscience Network. The brain is the ultimate frontier of science, and its complexity requires an integrative approach to neuroscience. This initiative will facilitate a unique integration of disciplines (biological, physical, computational) and scales of focus (single neurons to networks to whole-brain), within a high profile Network of Australian and international players. The Network will be harnessed by a centralized hub for sharing of data and tec ....BRAINnet:
Brain Research And Integrative Neuroscience Network. The brain is the ultimate frontier of science, and its complexity requires an integrative approach to neuroscience. This initiative will facilitate a unique integration of disciplines (biological, physical, computational) and scales of focus (single neurons to networks to whole-brain), within a high profile Network of Australian and international players. The Network will be harnessed by a centralized hub for sharing of data and techniques, and mentoring of early career researchers. The principal socio-economic and discovery outcomes will flow from the exceptionally strong foundations in fundamental and applied science, established collaboration, and demonstrated capacity for development and commercialization of frontier biotechnologies.Read moreRead less
NEURAL MECHANISMS UNDERLYING VISUAL CONTROL OF FLIGHT IN HONEYBEES. Recent behavioural studies of freely flying bees have uncovered novel principles by which bees regulate flight speed, avoid collisions with obstacles, orchestrate smooth landings and estimate distance flown. This is a proposal to investigate the neural mechanisms that mediate these behaviours. The results will provide new insights into the mechanisms subserving flight control and navigation, as well as suggest innovative, biolog ....NEURAL MECHANISMS UNDERLYING VISUAL CONTROL OF FLIGHT IN HONEYBEES. Recent behavioural studies of freely flying bees have uncovered novel principles by which bees regulate flight speed, avoid collisions with obstacles, orchestrate smooth landings and estimate distance flown. This is a proposal to investigate the neural mechanisms that mediate these behaviours. The results will provide new insights into the mechanisms subserving flight control and navigation, as well as suggest innovative, biologically inspired stratagems for the guidance of autonomous aerial vehicles, with applications in national defence and planetary exploration.Read moreRead less
Evolution and function of colour vision in mammals. The project aims to investigate colour vision in marsupials and monotremes (echidna and platypus) with differing phylogenies and biogeographic histories. Improving knowledge of the molecular structure of opsin genes mediating colour vision will be crucial to the understanding of evolution and function of this key mammalian (including human) sensory capacity. Understanding species colour discrimination will contribute to protective measures of ....Evolution and function of colour vision in mammals. The project aims to investigate colour vision in marsupials and monotremes (echidna and platypus) with differing phylogenies and biogeographic histories. Improving knowledge of the molecular structure of opsin genes mediating colour vision will be crucial to the understanding of evolution and function of this key mammalian (including human) sensory capacity. Understanding species colour discrimination will contribute to protective measures of Australia's unique fauna, presenting social and economic assets for the local and national community, and will set a standard that should be applied world-wide. Close international links and intellectual exchange will be invaluable to the Australian science community, including students.
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Colour vision in birds: consequences to fatal collisions with wind farms. Wind-farms represent a key component of sustainable energy generation world-wide. However, many birds die as a result of collisions with wind-farms, posing an unsolved and controversial conservation issue. The proliferation of wind-farms in Australia will exacerbate the problem. Birds rely on vision to negotiate static and moving objects. Wind-farms, currently coloured to meet human aesthetic criteria, may be 'invisible' t ....Colour vision in birds: consequences to fatal collisions with wind farms. Wind-farms represent a key component of sustainable energy generation world-wide. However, many birds die as a result of collisions with wind-farms, posing an unsolved and controversial conservation issue. The proliferation of wind-farms in Australia will exacerbate the problem. Birds rely on vision to negotiate static and moving objects. Wind-farms, currently coloured to meet human aesthetic criteria, may be 'invisible' to birds since they see colours differently from humans. We will determine bird spectral sensitivities and compare them to the spectral reflectance of wind-farms. We will then develop modifications improving the visibility of wind-farms to birds, thereby reducing fatalities.Read moreRead less
Visual processing in a unique modular system - how can a simple cognitive architecture be used to solve complex visual tasks? The proposed interdisciplinary study of the visual system of jumping spiders will provide novel insights into how a simple cognitive architecture can be used to solve complex visual tasks. This will be the first comprehensive study of motion sensitivity in a spider. The insights obtained will be important for the development of artificial intelligence systems. We will pro ....Visual processing in a unique modular system - how can a simple cognitive architecture be used to solve complex visual tasks? The proposed interdisciplinary study of the visual system of jumping spiders will provide novel insights into how a simple cognitive architecture can be used to solve complex visual tasks. This will be the first comprehensive study of motion sensitivity in a spider. The insights obtained will be important for the development of artificial intelligence systems. We will provide a stimulating environment to train a postdoctoral fellow with state-of-art skills ranging from single-cell neurophysiology through to using 3D animation for sophisticated behavioural assays. The proposed work is a hot topic and will attract considerable attention, raise the profile of Australian science, and support postgraduate students. Read moreRead less