newsletter november 2006 - marine biological …and fly pushing: the theory and practice of...

International Society for Neuroethology 1

InternationalSociety for

NeuroethologyNewsletter

November 2006

Website. The Society is actively searching for apart-time web designer who can upgrade the appear-ance of the Society website and enrich its content. Wehave developed a job description for this position andposted it on our website. Th

The ISN President’s ColumnEdward A. Kravitz ([email protected])Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts, USA

A short President’s Report – March 2007The International Congress in Vancouver: The mostimportant item for consideration by the membership atthis time is our upcoming Congress in Vancouver, Can-ada (July 22-27, 2007). This is destined to be a spec-tacular meeting organized by Barb Beltz (Chair), RonHarris-Warrick and Sten Grillner (Vice Chairs), Cathy

T H I S I S S U E I N C L U D E S

1 The ISN President’s Column

3 Experiences and highlights during mytime in Seewiesen. Franz Huber

6 Flights into the Unknown. KaushikGhose

8 An open letter to members of the ISN.Willi Honegger

9 Cognitive and computational neuroethol-ogy: Roots of NS&B at Woods Hole.Alan Gelperin

12 Frog hearing and acoustic communica-tion: Satellite meeting of Vancouver Con-gress

13 Gastropod neuroscience: Friday HarborCentennial Symposium

13 Job ads, and more

ISN OfficersPresident: Edward A. Kravitz, Dept. Neurobiology, Har-vard Medical School, 220 Longwood Ave, Boston MA 02115USA. Phone: +1-617-432-1753; Fax: +1-617-734-7557;[email protected]

Treasurer: Peter M. Narins, Department of Physiologi-cal Science, University of California at Los Angeles, 621Charles E. Young Drive S., Room LSB 4835, Los Angeles CA90095 USA. Phone: +1-310-825-0265; Fax: +1-310-206-3987; [email protected]

Secretary: Ian A. Meinertzhagen, Life Sciences Centre,Dalhousie University, Halifax NS, B3H 4J1, Canada. Phone:+1-902-494-2131; Fax: +1- 902-494-6585; [email protected]

Past-President: Albert S. Feng, Dept. Molecular &Integrative Physiology, Univ. of Illinois, Urbana IL 61801USA. Phone: +1-217-244-1951; Fax: +1-217-244-5180;[email protected]

President-Elect: Martin Heisenberg, Theodor BoveriInstitut (Biozentrum), Lehrstuhl für Genetik und Neurobiolo-gie, Universität Würzburg, Am Hubland, D-97074 Würzburg,Germany. Phone: +49-931-8884450; Fax: +49-931-8884452;[email protected]

Councilors: Andrew Bass; Horst Bleckmann; ThomasJ. Carew; Sheryl Coombs; Allison J. Doupe; Martin Giurfa;Ronald M. Harris-Warrick; Eric I. Knudsen; William B. Kristan;Cynthia F. Moss; George D. Pollak; F. Claire Rind; MandyamV. Srinivasan; Harold Zakon

Next ISN Congress: Vancouver, Canada, in 2007.Local organizer: Catharine Rankin, Univ. British Columbia,Dept. Psychology, 2136 West Mall, Vancouver BC V6T1Z4,Canada. Phone: +1 604-822-5906; Fax: +1 604-822-6923;[email protected]

International Society for Neuroethology Voice: 1-785-843-1235P.O. Box 1897 (or 1-800-627-0629 Ext. 233)Lawrence, KS 66044, USA Fax: 1-785-843-1274Website: http://neuroethology.org/ E-mail: [email protected]

©2005 International Society for Neuroethology. Authors may freely use the materials they have provided.


Rankin (local Chair) and a very hard-working committeewho put together a series of outstanding Plenary Speak-ers (10) and Symposia (14). We owe them all a vote ofthanks for the hard work and effort that went into themaking of a super program. Add in a superb group ofYoung Investigators speaking at the Bullock Young In-vestigator Lecture Session and poster sessions thathopefully involve all of you, and we expect that thismeeting may even top the highly successful series ofearlier Congresses. Cathy Rankin has also arranged forseveral Congress-related ancillary events that you willnot want to miss. One is a wrap-up banquet at the fa-mous Museum of Anthropology on the Thursday eveningof the meeting. Another two are on Wednesday after-noon (a visit to the Aquarium) and Wednesday evening(a dinner boat ride in the harbor, dancing to a DJ, and afireworks display over the harbor). These are very likelyto sell out, so register early for the Congress and sign upfor the extra-scientific events as well. Go to the Con-gress website (http://neuroethology.org/meetings/) tolearn more and to sign up NOW. The deadline for ab-stracts is April 10. 2007 and the deadline for early regis-tration (and for a reduction of $100 in registration fees) isApril 20. 2007.

Travel awards to the Congress: We are awaiting word ontwo pending applications for funding for travel awards forthe Congress. We have high hopes that we will receiveat least one of these awards. Probably the bulk of theawards will target funding for younger investigators (stu-dents, post-docs, younger faculty), but hopefully we alsowill be able to fund awards for folks who do not havesufficient funding of their own to attend the Congress.As soon as we hear news of the status of these grantapplications, we will send an email to the membership.In the meantime, and right now, we have available theHeiligenberg travel awards for students, and informationon these awards is available at our website.

The 2010 Congress: At the Business Meeting at theCongress in Vancouver, we will select the site of the2010 Congress. Formal presentation will be made to themembership at the meeting by representatives from hostcities. We have one candidate site now and hope thatwe can offer the membership at least one additionalpossibility. If you think you would like to be a host for the2010 Congress, please get in touch with Martin Heisen-b e r g ( o u r P r e s i d e n t - e l e c t ) a [email protected] and he willdiscuss the next steps with you.

Until late July: See you at the Congress. I’m practicingmy disco, waltz and fox-trot steps starting now (I knowthey’re old fashioned), and promise to dance with who-ever is interested in dancing with me on the boat with thefireworks going off overhead --- (doesn’t that soundgreat!!) Ed Kravitz.

New Book TitleI. A. Meinertzhagen ([email protected])Dalhousie University, Halifax, NS, Canada

An Introduction to Nervous SystemsBy Ralph J. Greenspan, The Neurosciences Institute,San Diego, CA, USA

An Introduction to Nervous Systems presents the princi-ples of neurobiology from an evolutionary perspective —from single-celled organisms to complex invertebratessuch as flies — and is ideal for use as a supplementaltextbook. Greenspan describes the mechanisms thatallow behavior to become ever more sophisticated —from simple avoidance behavior of Paramecium throughto the complex cognitive behaviors of the honeybee —and shows how these mechanisms produce the in-creasing neural complexity found in these organisms.The book ends with a discussion of what is universalabout nervous systems and what may be required, neu-robiologically, to be human. This novel and highly read-able presentation of fundamental principles of neurobiol-ogy is designed to be accessible to undergraduate andgraduate students not already steeped in the subject.

2007, 184 pp., illus., bibliography, glossary, indexHardcover $65 ISBN 978-087969-757-0Paperback $45 ISBN 978-087969-821-8

About the author: Dr. Greenspan has worked on thegenetic foundations of behavior in the fruit fly Drosophilaalmost since the inception of the field, studying with one ofits founders, Jeffrey Hall, at Brandeis University, where hereceived his Ph.D. in biology in 1979. He subsequentlyconducted research at Princeton University, the RocheInstitute of Molecular Biology, and New York Universitybefore joining The Neurosciences Institute in San Diegoin 1997 where he is the Dorothy and Lewis B. CullmanFellow in Experimental Neurobiology. Dr. Greenspan'sresearch activities have included the demonstration thatthe fly has sleep-like and attention-like behaviors similarto those of humans, the molecular identification of genesunderlying natural variations in behavior, and studies ofthe principles governing gene networks underlying be-havior. Dr. Greenspan has been awarded fellowships bythe Helen Hay Whitney Foundation, the Searle ScholarsProgram, the McKnight Foundation, the Sloan Founda-tion and the Klingenstein Foundation. In addition to nu-merous research papers, he has also authored an articlefor Scientific American and several books, including Ge-netic Neurobiology with Jeffrey Hall and William Harrisand Fly Pushing: The Theory and Practice of DrosophilaGenetics.

For further information, please contact:Ingrid Benirschke, Marketing ManagerCold Spring Harbor Laboratory PressTel: 619-275-6021Fax: 619-275-2198Email: [email protected]


This issue of the NewsletterI. A. Meinertzhagen ([email protected])Dalhousie University, Halifax, NS, Canada

In this issue of the Newsletter, we present not only therecollections of one of the founders of our field, FranzHuber, but also the first article from a trainee neu-roethologist, Kaushik Ghose. Kaushik is a PhD graduatewho has remained as a postdoc in the lab of Cindy Mossat the University of Maryland, and he writes about theexcitement of discovery from the perspective of his firstexposure to research. So, we see in these two articles,the two ends of the spectrum of scientific experience.Kaushik writes about the training environment at theUniversity of Maryland in an article that I hope will serveas both an example and a challenge to other youngtrainees who might want to write about their early or cur-rent experiences in the lab, and the training environmentin which they work.

Experiences and highlightsduring my time in Seewiesen

1973-1993Franz Huber ([email protected])*Watzmannstr. 16 D 82319 Starnberg, Germany

PrologueAlready as a student in Munich I had become interestedin the behavior of insects and in my doctoral thesis hadmade an early attempt to bridge the gap between be-havior and its underlying neural mechanisms. This waslong before the field was called neuroethology, which isconcerned with the analysis of the neural bases that un-derlie natural behavior. Such an approach has to inte-grate ethological approaches with neurobiologial con-cepts and methods at all levels.

An attempt to reach this goal was already made in 1973.Before leaving my former position in Cologne, I orga-nized a scientific farewell symposium, entitled “NeuralBasis of Behavior”. Speakers from the US (amongthem, for the first time, Eric Kandel), the UK and Ger-many covered cellular and systems approaches to thenervous system in different groups of animals, includinghumans.

Reasons for taking the position in SeewiesenI had several reasons to accept an invitation of the Max-Planck-Society to take a leading position within the Max-Planck-Institute of Behavioral Physiology in Seewiesen,shortly after Karl von Frisch, Konrad Lorenz and Nico-laas Tinbergen were honored with the Nobel –Prize, andafter the retirement of Konrad Lorenz and his departurefrom Seewiesen:

(1) I was fascinated with the research of Karl von Frischon honeybees, with Konrad Lorenz’s comparative stud-ies on geese, ducks and fish and with his far-reachingconcepts in animal behavior, also with Nico Tinbergen`sfamous introduction to “The Study of Instinct” and finallywith Erich von Holst’s physiological approach, whichlater gave the name to the Institute for Behavioral Physi-ology in Seewiesen.

(2) The unexpected offer to take a position in Seewiesenafter 10 years of successful work in Cologne was mainlydue to the recommendation of an international commit-tee that included Ted Bullock, Nico Tinbergen, SeymourBenzer and Peter Marler, and not to the suggestions bymembers of Seewiesen at that time, who had otherideas for recruitment.

(3) After thorough discussions with my early mentorKenneth Roeder, and considering the high internationalreputation of the Institute in Seewiesen, I accepted theoffer, which also provided a firmer financial basis for myresearch, and filled a gap in Seewiesen for a “neu-roethological approach”.

(4) Perhaps my strongest impact of my moving fromCologne to Seewiesen was the full freedom it would giveme for research, and for the change in my scientific in-terests it would allow, away from sound productionmechanisms to hearing and central nervous processingof biologically important sounds in insects.

(5) Last but not least I was very lucky that ambitious co-workers, Ph.D. students and especially visiting scientistsfrom several countries (USA, UK, Russia, Poland, Por-tugal Israel and Slovenia) who later joined my groupcould introduce different approaches and methods.Physicists, neurobiologists and students of animal be-havior worked together and seven distinguished Alexan-der von Humboldt-Awardees incorporated their exper-tise. They all had complete freedom to select their ownfield of research (Fig. 1).

Figure 1. My team in the late 80’s, arranged like the Rembrandt pic-ture “The Anatomy of Dr. Tulp, Den Haag 1632


New experimental approachesCricket Phonotaxis on the Kramer Kugel. Shortly af-ter arriving in Seewiesen and after constructing a soundproof room in the new building, called Huber house (Fig.2), we adapted a method developed by Ernst Kramer, aspherical treadmill, the so-called Kramer Kugel. In co-operation with John Thorson, a physicist and formerPh.D. student of Ted Bullock and a friend since 1961, we

Figure 2. Huber house in Seewiesen

used a wide variety of experimental designs and testingprocedures to study female phonotaxis (Fig. 3).

Figure 3. Franz Huber in the sound-proof room with the Kramertreadmill and a cricket

One conclusion we drew from the outcome of our ex-periments was that pulse rate is the most important tem-poral property used in signal selection by female crick-ets. Females exhibit a behavioral tuning (a band passproperty) to the specific range of pulse rates emitted inthe songs.

Miniature angle detectors and the clockwork cricket.Already in Cologne, Harald Nocke, a biologist with greatinterest in physics and stimulated by Axel Michelsen whoas a postdoc in my lab had studied the biophysical prop-erties of hearing organs in locusts, showed that thenearly pure tone signals of cricket songs are mainly de-termined by a sharply resonant part of the wing calledthe harp. Later, Uwe Koch, a physicist with considerable

expertise in high-resolution electronics and interested inbiological questions, developed miniature angle-movement detectors. Together with Chris Elliott, a post-doc from England, he demonstrated that each tooth im-pact on the scraper (plectrum) elicits a single soundwave: thus the tooth impact rate determines the carrierfrequency of the cricket song radiated by the harp. Inthis respect, cricket stridulation is comparable to aclockwork system with an escapement mechanism.

Leg phones to study sound conduction in thecricket. Cricket ears are located in the proximal part ofthe foreleg tibiae and connected to each other by a spe-cialized tracheal system. This system combines theinternal surface of the tympanic membrane of one earwith that of the other ear and with the ipsilateral andcontralateral spiracular openings. Hans-Ulrich Kleindi-enst, another physicist who joined my group for Ph.Dwork in neurobiology, developed leg phones for each ear(Fig. 4).

Figure 4. Interference experiment to demonstrate sound conductionfrom one ear to the other

With such leg phones, each ear could be stimulated bysound separately. A highlight was the interference ex-periment carried out by Kleindienst David Wohlers, aPh.D. student from the US with skilled in intracellular


recording, and Ole Naesbye-Larsen, a postdoc fromMichelsen’s lab in Odense Denmark. In short: Soundgenerated within the closed chamber (leg phone) on oneside is guided through the tracheal tube and elicits tym-panal membrane vibration (measured with a laser vi-brometer) in the opposite ear. This vibration can becanceled by an external sound directed to it. Neural re-sponses are recorded simultaneously from omega cells,known to collect most of the auditory input. As soon astympanal membrane vibration ceases the response ofthe ipsilateral omega cell is lost.

On the history of the omega-neuron in crickets. Al-ready during my final years in Cologne cooperation withJohn Stout, a postdoc and later an Alexander von Hum-boldt-Awardee from the US, turned my interest to thecricket auditory pathway. The aim was to search for sin-gle neurons and to find out how such neurons copy andprocess species-specific sounds. Some influence to thisapproach came from Axel Michelsen and his pioneeringwork on insect ears, partly also from a highly activegroup of acousticians and neurobiologists in the nearbyBochum University led by Johann Schwartzkopff, andfrom Bob Capranica and his group at Cornell Universitywho studied the auditory pathway in frogs.

In Seewiesen the first intracellular recording of a localprothoracic interneuron, later called the omega-neuronbecause of its shape, was already made by John Stoutand his student Jim Hall in 1975, however withoutstructural characterization. This neuron became a cen-ter for a cellular approach in the cricket auditory path-way, mainly through David Wohlers, who was the first toidentify the omega-neuron and several ascending neu-rons within the auditory pathway of crickets by means ofintracellular recording and staining. It was he and laterAlan Selverston, another Alexander von Humboldt-Awardee, who demonstrated ipsilateral excitation andcontralateral inhibition in the two-cell omega network,with far reaching conclusions to sound processing andsound localization in crickets (Fig. 5).

Figure 5. Alan Selverston’s recording from both Omega neurons todemonstrate excitation and inhibition

The discovery of band-pass filters in the brain. Myinterest in the insect brain goes back to my doctoral the-sis in Munich and to the years in Tübingen where, firstwith local lesions and then with local electrical stimula-tion, songs and associated courtship and rivalry behaviorcould be elicited. In Seewiesen, phonotaxis of femalecrickets on the treadmill had shown a “Band pass prop-erty” to a specific range of pulse rates. This finding gaverise to search for correlates within the nervous systemhaving selective responses to species-specific pulserates. Earlier studies had shown that two types of as-cending auditory neurons send information to the brainbut that these are not specifically tuned to pulse ratesattractive for phonotaxis.

A breakthrough was achieved when local brain neuronswith low- high- and band-pass properties were identifiedby Klaus Schildberger during his time in Seewiesen.The neurons with band-pass properties make them mostlikely candidates for decoding pulse rate information: (a)they are sensitive to the calling song frequency; (b) theirpreferred pulse rate is relatively intensity independent;and (c) they transform the unselective synchronizationcode of ascending auditory neurons to a pulse-rate se-lective rate code. It is suggested that the band-pass isformed by low- and high- pass filters, but the mecha-nisms for this transformation await further studies (Fig.6).

Figure 6. Relative response magnitudes of auditory brain neuronswith band-pass responses to chirps varying in pulse rates (circles andcurve) correlate with band-pass behavior during phonotaxis (hatched

area)

Plasticity in the auditory pathway. An unexpecteddiscovery was made when studying phonotactic trackingof a female cricket which had lost one ear, probably as aresult of the regeneration of one foreleg during larvaldevelopment. The female nevertheless showed correcttracking to the sound source. Subsequent studies con-firmed that female larvae after the amputation of oneforeleg prior to the sixth instar regenerate that leg to itsfull length and size, but without an auditory organ. Thisled us to look for changes in known auditory interneu-rons, and we found structural as well as functional reor-ganization, a clear sign of neuronal plasticity. Dendritesgrew across the midline where central projections of


auditory nerve fibers from the intact ear terminate, andfrequency as well as intensity responses of such neu-rons were restored. Such a change connected monauralinput to the normally bilateral ascending auditory path-way and provided a basis for “monaural tracking” (Fig.7).

Schildberger and several technicians in my group thenstarted a set of experiments which led them conceptually

Figure 7. Right omega neuron as one example of structural plasticitywithin the auditory pathway

deeper to consider the events in neural developmentand differentiation that underlay the development ofcricket acoustic behavior.

In short: If the foreleg of a sixth-instar larva with a fullydeveloped ear and with projections to the prothoracicganglion, but without a tympanal membrane, is trans-planted on to the femur stump of the ipsilateral middleleg, the auditory organ previously existing disappearedin the adult animal and a subgenual organ was presentinstead, as in a normally developed middle leg. The re-ciprocal transplantation of the middle leg tibia with noauditory organ onto an ipsilateral femur stump of theforeleg revealed an ear in the adult. Obviously there arefactors in the prothoracic segment or the proximal partsof the foreleg favoring ear differentiation, factors that aremissing in the mesothoracic segment or leg. No one sofar has continued these experiments to gain a deeperinsight into “such a segmental induction processes”.

Initiation of several conferences in SeewiesenAlready in 1975 I founded together with Norbert Elsnerand Axel Michelsen the first Bioacoustic Meeting of In-sects, followed by many subsequent meetings insideand outside the country. In 1979 I was initiator of the so-called Insect-Brain conferences, again with subsequentmeetings until today.

Just before my retirement in 1993, Edward Kravitz, anAlexander von Humboldt-Awardee from Harvard, WilliHonegger (at present a scientist at Vanderbilt Universityin Nashville) and myself organized the first “Summerschool” in Seewiesen, a new course for graduate stu-dents concentrating on an “Interdisciplinary Approach toBehavior: Molecular biology, Integrative Neurobiology,

Ethology”. Foreign and German instructors were part ofthe faculty. Twenty selected outstanding graduate stu-dents from different Universities took part and our initia-tive gave rise to the continuation of summer schools inSeewiesen that has occurred since 1993.

EpilogueIn retrospect, I consider my time in Seewiesen as suc-cessful in research mainly because of the combination ofconcepts, methods and abilities and the cooperation ofhighly dedicated coworkers, students and guests. How-ever, the communication and exchange of ideas withother groups in Seewiesen was rather weak, so that as aresult we concentrated our efforts mainly within theHuber House and to institutions outside Seewiesen.

Finally I would like to repeat my view of neuroethologyas outlined in my first contribution to an ISN newsletter:“One should search for a suitable model system, studyits behavioral tactics in the field, select those that can betreated under controlled conditions, with no hesitationadopt a variety of methods to solve riddles at the mo-lecular, cellular and network levels. But behind all iscuriosity for the living world and how it evolved.”

LiteratureHuber, F. 1990: Cricket Neuroethology: Neuronal basisof intraspecific acoustic communication. Adv. Study Be-hav.. Vol.19: 299 - 356, Academic Press: New York,London.Huber, F. 1997: Cricket neuroethology and how it began.Newsletter ISN,1-2 November.Huber, F. 2004: Personal recollections to the history ofneuroethology. VII. Int. Congress Neuroethology, Ny-borg, Denmark.Huber, F., T.E. Moore, and W. Loher (eds) 1989: Cricketbehavior and neurobiology: 565 pp. Cornell UniversityPress: Ithaca, LondonGerhardt, H.C. and F. Huber 2002: Acoustic communi-cation in insects and anurans. Common Problems, Di-verse Solutions. 531 pp, University of Chicago Press:Chicago, London.

*My contribution is dedicated to the late Theodore H.Bullock who influenced my own research in neurobiol-ogy.

Flights into the unknownKaushik Ghose ([email protected])University of Maryland, College Park, MD, USA

When I came to Cynthia (Cindy) Moss' batlab at the Uni-versity of Maryland, "the bat" in my mind was an abstractconstruct. For the previous five years I had trained in afield in which people had spent a century understandingand distilling empirical knowledge into neat, analyticallytractable portions. I was trained to think of giant, com-


plex pieces of machinery in terms of simple 'equivalentcircuits'. A hydroelectric turbine - tons of wires andmetal scaffolding rotating thousands of times a minute,converting the kinetic energy of last year's rainfall intomegawatts of electricity - was represented on a regularsized sheet of paper by a few abstract differential equa-tions based on a little circuit diagram. It was a power-fully seductive way of looking at things. The reality wasviolent and chaotic. The abstraction was serene andunderstandable. The abstraction gave the comfortingvision that we understood and controlled some of thepowerful forces of nature and man. As sophomore elec-trical engineers, however, we had been shown, for ex-ample, that transformers would get hot, would hum andwould sometimes explode, behaviors that our little circuitdiagrams could not explain [1]. It had been my first tan-talizing glimpse into the unknown: into lands that lay be-yond the vague and short boundaries of what we knewand had plowed into equations and diagrams.

When I started my PhD course I wanted to model "thebrain". For my Master’s I had moved on from circuit dia-grams and transformer design to signal processing,computer vision and pattern recognition. These engi-neering problems were always being "solved". Theywould be solved for this dataset and that dataset, butthey would never be *solved* in the broad sense. Youcould write a program to recognize 90% of a set ofhandwritten digits, but not 95%. A human, on that set,would do about 100%. How could a human do 100%?What kind of program could model the human brain,when, for instance, it was analyzing speech? Thatseemed to be a good question to study. I did not know itat that time, but I had stumbled across one of the biggestmysteries of our time - a giant continent, largely untrav-eled and unmapped, full of mystery and surprise.

The first few months in the batlab I puttered around withthis abstract bat that had an abstract brain with abstractneurons and lived in a computer (well, mostly in a dog-eared notebook). Cindy quickly introduced me to Timo-thy (Timmer) Horiuchi who had just joined the Universityof Maryland. Timmer was planning to make robot batswith brains made of resistors, capacitors and transistors.He called it the 'microchipoptera' project. To say thiswas how the brain worked, and to put it on a robot andlet the robot loose in the hallway, was to put one’smoney where one’s mouth was. When everything satinside a computer, on the other hand, you could poten-tially "solve" and "explain" anything. You were modelingboth the brain and the environment it would interact with.The temptation to model the brain and the environmentso that they fit and worked would be great. But it wouldpossibly lead to a tautology, a circular argument hiddenunder layers of sophisticated mathematical reasoningand computer code. When you put your model brain ona robot and let it interact with the real world, there wouldbe less opportunity to succumb to this philosophical dis-ease. Until then, I had some vague idea of what batsdid. I had never seen a real bat before, I had never

done animal experiments, and I was a little afraid of thefact that bats bit and could carry rabies. And I didn'tknow if I could learn to do surgeries. On the other hand,I could code computer programs and design electricalcircuits. I got very excited by the idea of this robot bat.It seemed something I could do. A science fiction fancould hardly turn down the opportunity to build a robotbat! It turned out to be an excuse. I wanted to launchan expedition into uncharted territory, but I was afraid ofdark corners.

Some time into simulating electrical circuits that wouldbe used to model attention in Timmer's ComputationalSensorimotor Systems Lab I got my rabies pre-exposureshots, which meant that I could go into the animal area.More importantly I could sit in on behavioral experimentsthat people were running in the lab. I went in one daywhen Jeff Triblehorn was running one of his experi-ments. Jeff was researching down the hall in DavidYager's insect hearing laboratory. He was running acollaborative experiment with our lab, studying howpraying mantises responded to bat attacks. I went intothis darkened room where Jeff was releasing mantisesand video taping bats fly after them. I watched throughthe monitor. I watched the slow motion recording as thebat flapped its wings, as the mantis whirred, as the batdipped, weaved, looped and spiraled after it. I watchedas it reached out its wing in mid flight, as it tipped theflying mantis into its tail membrane, as it grabbed it in itsmouth, as it pulled up inches from the floor. "I want tostudy THAT", I said. "I want to know THAT, I want tounderstand THAT. I want to build a robot model ofTHAT. I want to know how neurons do THAT". The batwasn't an abstract concept anymore. It wasn't a "modelsystem", a "problem", a "research topic". It was an ani-mal, a living being that did something, and did it well.And I wanted to understand THAT. My desire to explorehad overcome my fear of the unknown.

It turns out that the University of Maryland is a greatplace in pursuit of THAT. In Timmer's lab while I wastrying to build a model of how a bat would use its echo-location system to deal with complex environments, I raninto many questions the answers to which were neces-sary to build a useful model. Cindy's lab with its behav-ioral and electrophysiological setups was the ideal placeto try and answer some of those questions. I made ex-tensive use of the high-speed cameras and large flightroom in the Batlab to study where bats directed theirsonar beam while chasing insects. During this time, an-other researcher in the lab, Murat Aytekin, got intenselyinterested in the question of how a bat can use echoinformation to localize objects. In collaboration withJonathan Simon at the Department of Electrical Engi-neering, Murat and Cindy came up with a general theoryof how animals could use sound alone to develop asense of space. A pertinent question, since in bats vi-sion is a low acuity sense, whereas echolocation seemsspatially to be an extremely fine-grained sense.


During the course of my experiments, Cindy introducedme to P.S. Krishnaprasad. PSK studies control systemsof both the inanimate and animate kinds. His particularspecialty is in taking complex real-world systems andapplying strange and wonderful results from the world ofmathematics to pull out (of the hat, as it were) an ana-lytical understanding of, say fish schooling, bats swarm-ing, or people on uni-cycles. Together, PSK, Timmer,Cindy and I showed mathematically how the trajectorybats follow when chasing an erratically moving prey istime-optimal, a useful thing if you only have a fraction ofa second to catch your lunch.

During this period, as I was eagerly foraging in thismysterious land of bat behavior I was impressed by howimportant the whole community is to one's research.Every Friday at 11:00am, during the school year, every-one in Maryland interested in the neural basis of behav-ior gathers to hear talks by people at Maryland. Thisdiversity of ears makes for a challenging presentation,since a talk on bat echolocation should be accessible topeople working on molecular mechanisms of learning inrats (Betsy Quinlan's lab) as well as people mappingspatio-temporal receptive fields in ferret auditory cortex(Shihab Shamma's tribe). However, from this diverseand lively group come diverse and lively comments onyour approach and your results. I have received, onseveral occasions, questions and comments that forcedme to think outside my box. Jens Heberholz, for exam-ple, who is currently studying social interactions in cray-fish, looks at my results on sonar beam patterns inecholocating bats and thinks of evolutionary questions.Stephen V. David looks at the same data and thinks ofparallels to the visual system in primates, which hestudied before joining here. Kate McCloud, from Cath-erine Carr's lab asks challenging questions about ana-tomical substrates of sonar beam shape. Todd Troyerlooks at some pursuit data from bat-insect chases andthinks of patterns of play in American Football. Not onlyis doing the science fun, but so is presenting it to such alateral-thinking audience.

Right, now, as I write this I'm trying to build a model of asubset of neurons in the inferior colliculus of the bat.People suspect that these neurons have something todo with sound localization in the bat, but they have somepuzzling timing properties. I'm wondering if I put to-gether a model of these neurons, whether their projectedpopulation response will tell me something that is notobvious from their known single-unit properties. But I'mstymied by some conflicting reports in the literature I'mgoing through. Perhaps a quick presentation at one ofthose 11:00am Friday meetings will help me come upwith some ideas to get unstuck. It might even help meavoid a certain philosophical disease that afflicts peoplemaking computer models...

[1] These particular phenomena are actually reasonably well under-stood and modeled, unlike the human brain.

An open letter to members

of the ISNWilli Honegger ([email protected])Vanderbilt University, Nashville, TN, USA

Proposal to establish a fund to support the under-graduate Neuroethology program at the UniversidadSan Francisco in Quito, Ecuador.

In the November 2006 ISN newsletter I found the articleby Winfried Wojtenek describing his efforts to establishan undergraduate curriculum in Neuroethology at theUniversidad San Francisco in Quito, Ecuador. I knowWinfried from his Ph.D. work in Germany with HorstBleckmann, and I admire him for his courageous en-deavor in a country where very little infrastructure isavailable to support such a science program. I alsoknow some details about the project that Winfried hasnot mentioned, i.e. that he is paying for some of the op-erating expenses out of his own pocket and also hassupported some of the students financially. I thereforewould like to propose that the Society become a partnerin his efforts and establish a fund to support his program.The creation of such a fund would require the financialparticipation of many ISN members and the readiness topledge a certain amount per year to make the fundingpermanent. I, for example, would be willing to contribute$200 or more annually. If only 50% of the ISN memberswould follow my example a sizable fund could be estab-lished. From the fund, the neurobiology program in Ec-uador could draw money for equipment, running ex-penses and/or tuition or travel, but only after justifying toan ISN panel why and for what purpose the money isneeded. Such support by a distinguished internationalsociety would definitely raise the status of Wojtenek’sneurobiology/ethology program at Universidad SanFrancisco and might initiate a willingness on the part ofthe university administration to match the funded money.(Matching could actually be set as a prerequisite for ISNto fund the program.)

In discussing this idea with some friends, it became clearthat if such a fund were established, other groups in “de-veloping countries” should also have access, perhaps ona competitive basis.

I know that my request will be received by some mem-bers with a moan about yet another cause requesting apledge of money at a time when each of us receivestons of mail to support all kinds of charities, graduateand other programs. However, to support the hope ofyoung people in one developing country to be part of aprivileged group that contributes to the advancement ofscience and knowledge would have my highest priority.We are all privileged to pursue science in a wealthy envi-ronment, and many of us might consider it as one of ourduties to help students in poorer countries to do re-search under similar circumstances.


I would like to encourage the members of ISN to expresstheir opinions about my proposal, either to me directly, tothe President, Secretary or other members of the Ex-ecutive Committee or ISN Council. Maybe we can dis-cuss this topic in a forum at the next ISN meeting inVancouver, but the earlier the Society takes action, thebetter.

Cognitive and Computational

Neuroethology: Roots of the

NS&B course at Woods Hole

Alan Gelperin ([email protected])Monell Chemical Senses Center, Philadelphia, PA 19104, USA

“Perhaps these insects are little machines in a deep sleep, butlooking at their rigidly armored bodies, their staring eyes, and

their mute performances, one cannot help at times wondering ifthere is anyone inside.”

This sentence concludes a remarkable paper publishedin 1964 by Vincent Dethier, in which he considers theevidence that the cognitive abilities of insects areequivalent to those of mammals (Dethier, 1964). Sincethat time, the comparative study of cognition has ex-panded considerably, particularly in the area of linguis-tics, tool use and social organization. For example,arousal and cognition are now studied in flies and bees.The neurochemistry of aggression has been dissected incrayfish and Drosophila. These recent advances werepresaged by Dethier who took seriously the evolutionaryprediction that elements of complex mammalian behav-iors were to be found in other branches of the tree of life.It was within this framework, while a student in Dethier’slaboratory at the University of Pennsylvania, that I de-veloped my own views of the heuristic value of a com-parative approach to cognition, which would later findexpression during the creation of the Neural Systemsand Behavior (NS&B) course at the Marine BiologicalLaboratory (MBL) in Woods Hole, USA.

The birth of the NS&B course at the MBL is bound upwith the evolution of other courses at the MBL and theevolution of the field of neuroethology in the 1960s and1970s. It is also bound up with my own evolutionarytrajectory as a combination of these general and per-sonal intellectual antecedents led me to propose crea-tion of the NS&B course in 1977. I therefore beg yourindulgence for a short biographical journey.

As the Dean of the University of Kansas medical schoolwelcomed me back to his office after a day of interviewsat his medical school, he told me in quite cheery tones “Iam going to admit you to make your own mistake”.When pressed for some amplification of this pithy state-ment, he added that he did not think me unfit for medicalschool but rather thought it a mistake to forsake my

senior year of college to enter medical school after myjunior year. With this comment he effectively saved mefrom a career choice that would have pleased my fatherbut probably led to a life as a street person. Since I hadgone to college with no high school diploma, leavingcollege with no college diploma and then finding medicalschool did not suit me, I would have been on the streetwith no credentials of any kind. Happily I took theDean’s statement cum advice quite seriously and de-clined the offer of admission to the University of Kansasmedical school. By the end of the ensuing summer, mysecond spent in full-time research in the laboratory of mycollege Biology professor, I knew quite firmly that re-search, not medicine, was the life for me.

Two encounters with eminent neuroethologists duringmy college years had a vital impact on my research tra-jectory. Vincent Dethier give a talk at Carleton and in-troduced me and the assembled students to the wondersof chemosensory science and its linkage to studies offeeding behavior in the blowfly Phormia regina. Duringmy second summer of research at Carleton, our ecologyprofessor led a cavalcade of students to the summermeeting of the Animal Behavior Society at Purdue Uni-versity, where I was mesmerized by Kenneth Roederand his lecture relating nerve cell activity to insect be-havior, particularly during courtship and mating in thepraying mantis. Who could escape being captivated bymovies of a headless male mantis completing its matingbehavior and insemination of a female mantis who hadjust dined on its head, thereby removing cephalic inhibi-tion of the male mating motor program? The encounterwith Vince Dethier led me to apply to the University ofPennsylvania for graduate study under the joint auspicesof the Department of Biology and the Institute of Neuro-logical Sciences. Upon completion of my doctoral work Ibecame a postdoctoral fellow with Kenneth Roeder.

The Institute of Neurological Sciences at the Universityof Pennsylvania was one of the first neuroscience train-ing programs that was truly interdisciplinary and interde-partmental, bringing together a group of legendary intel-lects united by a shared interest in brain science, mutualrespect for the intellectual prowess of their colleaguesand a social network of personal relationships which al-lowed cohesion to survive heated disagreements onmatters of scientific interpretation. I internalized thismodel of how to think about problems from multiple per-spectives and integrate analytical approaches at manylevels, behavioral, cellular and biophysical, in attacking aparticular phenomenon. This approach would also findexpression in the construction of the NS&B.

My training a the University of Pennsylvania occurred inthe early 1960s, during the flowering of data from multi-ple invertebrate model systems showing how bits of be-havior could be understood in cellular terms, whether incrayfish swimming, mollusk feeding, leech swimming,cricket singing, fly vision, locust flying, honeybee com-munication, and many other situations in which the ac-tivity of single nerve cells could be tightly linked to be-


havioral acts or perceptual decisions. Even the cellularanalysis of learning, my passion since college days, wasbeginning to yield some of its secrets in both mammalianhippocampus and molluscan ganglia. These events ledto the emergence of the field of neuroethology, charac-terized by a focus on how cellular interactions in thenervous system account for species-typical behaviorrelevant to adaptation of an animal to its Umwelt orcharacteristic sensory world. These were heady dayswhere in our hubris we wrote about “simple systems,”thinking that functional dissection of a nervous systemcontaining a few thousand neurons would be “simple”compared with analysis of the mammalian brain. At thispoint it is not clear that even “simpler systems” is an ac-curate characterization, as we learn of the multiple func-tions carried out by different parts of a single neuron.We can confidently talk about “compact” nervous sys-tems but we are wise enough now to avoid naïve termlike “simple”.

My own first encounter with the idea that insects hadmany of the classes of behavior ordinarily thought of asstrictly mammalian was during the weekly “feedingseminars” under the auspices of the Institute of Neuro-logical Sciences at the University of Pennsylvania. Acollection of local luminaries, such as Eliot Stellar, JohnBrobeck, Jim Sprague, Vince Dethier and Alan Epstein,would gather with graduate and postdoctoral students toshare data and ideas on the control of feeding behavior.Vince and Alan Epstein had a particularly interesting setof exchanges over the course of many weeks duringwhich Alan Epstein championed the view that whatseparated mammals from insects was the operation of ahigher-order behavioral mechanism called motivation.Motivation was in some ways like pornography. It washard to define but you knew it when you saw it. AlanEpstein would construct a definition of motivation de-signed to make clear the separation of insects andmammals. Vince Dethier would take this as a challengeto design experiments probing the feeding behavior ofthe blowfly Phormia to see whether evidence of moti-vated behavior could be found, and in due course returnto the feeding seminar to present data showing that thelatest version of the definition of motivation appliedequally well to rats and Phormia (Dethier, 1966). Thisexchange went though several cycles, resulting in a se-ries of insect studies on higher-order aspects of flyfeeding behavior, such as central excitatory states set upby brief intense taste stimuli. As you can readily imag-ine, this set of interactions was extremely educational toa young graduate student still constructing the intellec-tual framework within which to understand how to opti-mally proceed with cellular analysis of higher-order cate-gories of behavior (Gelperin et al., 2006).

Another strand in the tapestry that would become NS&Bwas the hubris of the “simple systems” approach to thecellular analysis of behavior, which flowered during the1960s and 1970s. The demonstration that many inver-tebrates possessed sensory, motor and interneurons

that could be repeatedly identified from animal to animal,coupled with the notion that having thousands of neu-rons rather than millions would make the completeanalysis of behavioral control circuits practical, producedgreat enthusiasm for the enterprise of cellular circuitanalysis. It seemed that if we could mobilize a suffi-ciently clever and determined army of neuroethologistsarmed with sharp microelectrodes and fluorescent dyesfor intracellular injection, we would soon have completecellular and circuit understanding of crayfish swimming,locust flight, leech swimming, lobster stomatogastricganglion, slug feeding, honeybee navigation, fly vision,and sundry other circuit bytes and behavioral bits.Feeding this euphoria was the demonstration that certaininterneurons, called command neurons in their early in-carnation, seemed to be the sites of decision making asto whether a piece of behavior (e.g., crayfish tail move-ment, seaslug defensive swim, goldfish swim initiation)would be elicited by an epoch of relevant sensory input.Although modified by later analysis, the concept of thecommand neuron encouraged the view that intensivecellular analysis of selected behavioral control circuitscould reveal general rules of circuit function of wide gen-erality, including relevance to mammalian behavioralcontrol systems.

Figure 1. Charles Otis Whitman on Oct. 10, 1908, in his pigeon cagefeeding a hand-reared flicker taken by Whitman from a nest on a pre-

vious field trip


The MBL in Woods Hole has a long tradition of work inevolutionary studies, animal behavior and cellular neu-rophysiology. The first director of the MBL, Charles OtisWhitman (1842-1910) had been a student of LouisAgassiz, whose admonition to “Study animals, notbooks” is prominently displayed at the MBL to this day.Whitman enjoyed natural history fieldwork, and had anuncanny ability to successfully rear a variety of delicatebird species, such as ringdoves and passenger pigeons.

He is shown in Fig. 1 with a flicker he had hand reared inorder to study its color pattern. In the last half of the20th century neurophysiological work at the MBL onelectrogenesis in the squid axon, basic aspects ofchemical synaptic transmission at the squid giant syn-apse, discovered by Ted Bullock and Susumu Hagiwaraat the MBL, among many other aspects of neuronal bio-physics, made the summer neuroscience community atthe MBL extraordinarily stimulating and attractive to bothstudents and established researchers in the field. Ste-phen Kuffler established a legendary Neurobiologycourse at the MBL that focused on cellular neuroscience,and provided a model for how to organize an intensivelecture and laboratory summer course that would attractboth first-class faculty and students from around theworld.

It was my great good fortune to start a relationship withthe MBL in 1966, as a Grass Fellow in Neurophysiology.This summer as a Grass Fellow was tucked neatly be-tween the completion of my postdoctoral study withKenneth Roeder at Tufts University and the start of myacademic career at Princeton University. This summerfellowship provided the intellectual equivalent of drinkingfrom a fire hose. I learned much from my fellow GrassFellows, particularly Bill Kristan, from attending lecturesin the MBL summer courses, the Monday evening lec-ture series in neuronal biophysics (also known as theMonday night fights) and the fabled Friday evening lec-ture series. This was combined with access to a worldclass open-stack biomedical library, situated adjacent toEel Pond, which allowed thorough and efficient explora-tion of the biomedical literature while listening to thegulls call and watching the sailboats swinging at anchor.This was literature consumption before the World WideWeb was invented and internet access to the biomedicalliterature became the norm. The combination of world-class science and the sea was intoxicating and addic-tive.

Imagine my surprise to be invited to teach the followingsummer in a new incarnation of the first course to beoffered at the MBL in 1888, originally called Experimen-tal Zoology. The course traditionally surveyed thestructure and function of marine invertebrates repre-senting the full range of invertebrate phyla. The labora-tory component of the course revolved around the fruitsof weekly field trips to diverse ecological domains tocollect living creatures of every type and size and bringthem to the laboratory for identification. The new versionof this venerable course, to be called Experimental In-

vertebrate Zoology, would condense the phylogeneticsurvey into two weeks and use the other ten weeks forlectures and laboratory exercises in comparative physi-ology. Jim Case was the course director, and fellowfaculty such as Michael Greenberg and Bob Josephsonhelped guide my initial forays into this new terrain. I wasassigned the Echinoderms for my lecture contribution tothe phylogenetic survey, which gave me new apprecia-tion for the amazing bioengineering incorporated intothese armored creatures. My experience in this courseand its next iteration directed by Bob Josephson fur-thered my understanding of the potential for creativepedagogy offered by the summer course format at theMBL.

Michael Greenberg followed Bob Josephson as Directorof the Experimental Invertebrate Zoology course. AsGreenberg’s tenure as course Director came to a closein 1977, I anticipated being considered as a candidatefor the next Director. Stimulated by this possibility I de-signed a new course that I thought would fit logically asa summer course offering, to complement the cellularNeurobiology course and bridge the gap between cellu-lar neurobiology and behavior. The outline for the NS&Bcourse was thus in my mind when the Director of theMBL, Paul Gross, called me to his office. As I antici-pated, he offered me the Directorship of the Experimen-tal Invertebrate Zoology course. I countered with myproposal for a new course, NS&B, with an explanationas to why the new course would fit naturally with the ex-isting Neurobiology course, my initial suggestions forcourse faculty, and the nature of the laboratory exercisesthe suggested faculty would implement. With remark-able prescience and alacrity, Paul Gross agreed to myproposal and marshaled the needed resources to beginrecruiting faculty for the new course. Then a miraclehappened. Each and every one of the potential faculty Icalled agreed to join me in this new venture. The sirencall of the neurobiology community at the MBL and theprospect of teaching a group of extraordinarily talented

Fig. 2. Faculty and students of the Neural Systems and Behaviorcourse, 1978.


students selected from an international pool of candi-dates proved irresistible. It was also an auspicious time

in the evolution of work in cellular and systems neurobi-ology – the field was growing, the future looked bright,grant funds were available and enthusiasm was high. If Ihad not invented NS&B, someone else would have, as itwas a logical next step in the development of the disci-pline of neuroethology.

The first year of NS&B was a heady and hectic affair.Course lectures were given by James Gould, AdKalmijn, Ron Hoy, David Prior, John Nicholls, Bill Kris-tan, Alan Gelperin, Randolf Menzel, Tom Eisner andFernando Nottebohm. It is left as an exercise for thereader to find these individuals in Fig. 2. In addition tothese regular course lectures at 8:00 AM, NS&B spon-sored a Wednesday evening lecture series, which fea-tured lectures by George Gerstein, Robert Capranica,William Quinn, Eric Kandel, Tom Eisner and LarryCohen during our first iteration of NS&B. Further intel-lectual seasoning was provided by Special Lectures fromMichael Bennett, Donald Griffin, Eduardo Macagno,John Arnold, who demonstrated an orgy of squid mating,and Gunther Stent. We had a closet full of canaries andboxes and hives full of invertebrate brain donors match-ing the many and varied interests and expertise of ourcourse faculty. Our 8:00 AM lecture series also nucle-ated one neurobiological union whose F1 attendedCarleton College, thus bringing the story full circle.

Two fields with significant overlap with neuroethology,namely comparative cognition and computational neu-roethology, are now growing apace and cross-fertilizingneuroethology. There is a Comparative Cognition Soci-ety that will have its 14th annual international conferencein Melbourne, Australia, on March 14-17, 2007. Moregenerally, cognitive science as a field bridging psychol-ogy, linguistics, neuroscience and computer science israpidly growing, aided and abetted by the application offunctional magnetic resonance imaging techniques tothe domain of brain computations occurring during cog-nitive tasks.

Computational neuroscience is another area of rapidgrowth, currently represented by a summer course at theMBL called Methods in Computational Neuroscience, inwhich I have enjoyed giving lectures on computationalolfaction for the last several years. A subdivision of thisarea, computational neuroethology, seeks to meld cel-lular studies of neural interactions controlling behaviorwith mathematical models of the neural interactions toboth understand the computation carried out by knowncircuit elements and clarify deficiencies in current under-standing, particularly the roles of hierarchy and multiplefeedback loops in behavioral control systems. An es-sential contribution of the neuroethological perspective isthe constant focus on the natural stimuli the neural sys-tem is built to process and the need to analyze naturalunits of behavior with some understanding of the eco-logical niche to which the animal containing the circuit of

interest is adapted. The use of recording methods inawake behaving animals while they perform computa-tions involving the circuit being monitored is an increas-ingly common way to insure that the recorded cellularinteractions are relevant to the normal operation of thecircuit. This is not a new idea but recent work has in-volved many channels of simultaneous neural recordingand new algorithmic approaches to interpreting multiunitactivity.

I had completed planning for the second summer of theNS&B course when family circumstances in the Springof 1979 led me to relinquish the Directorship of thecourse and turn to my friend and course colleague RonHoy to take over the Directorship position. Ron wiselydecided to share the Directorship with EduardoMacagno. They jointly improved the course and put it ona firm foundation for growth and evolution into the future.It is with some satisfaction, perhaps even a bit of nachis,that I have observed the NS&B course mature and be-come one of the most highly regarded summer coursesat the MBL, as judged by both student ratings of theirexperiences and ratings by the NIH panels that evaluatethe periodic applications for student support. Will asummer course at the MBL in cognitive neuroscience benext?

Frog Hearing and Acoustic

Communication: Satellite

Meeting to 8th International

Congress of Neuroethology,

Saturday, 21st July 2007Seth Horowitz ([email protected])Brown University, Providence, RI, USA

Call for Presenters: DEADLINE MAY 1, 2007The Frog Hearing and Acoustic Communications Satel-lite Meeting will be an opportunity for the anuran auditionand communication community to hear, present and dis-cuss new directions and opportunities for research in thiswidely known but still little understood group of organ-isms. We are organizing 12 oral presentations focusingon entirely new work and directions for research usingthe frog model, as well as a DataBlitz. This invitation isextended to people at all stages of their career, fromstudents through senior faculty. We would like to inviteyou to present a 15-minute talk (with 5 minutes for ques-tions following) on your current research in frog commu-nication and hearing. The scientific organizing commit-tee (Mark Bee, Sabrina Burmeister, and Seth Horowitz)will select speakers from among submitted abstracts.Themes can include but are not necessarily limited to:• Perception and sensation • Hearing in the real world •Recent advances in neuroanatomy • Mechanisms of vo-cal production • Hormonal influences • Evolution of


communication systems

Our general guidelines are: 1) If you are presenting atthe main Neuroethology meeting, your frog satellitemeeting presentation cannot be based on the samedata. 2) We are only soliciting presentations of new data(as opposed to old stories). 3) Submission for a talkshould be in the form of an abstract (250 word limitplease).

The DataBlitzIn addition to the invited talks, everyone is invited to theFrog Communications Datablitz, which will take placeafter the reception. For those unfamiliar with the format,all participants will get 1 minute to present 1 data slide.This data slide can be a chart, an image, an animation, avideo or a sound file, but you are strictly and harshly lim-ited to 1 minute to get the point across. At the end of thedatablitz, everyone will receive a CD with all of the col-lected slides and contact information for the presenter.We hope this will be a fun and interesting way to getpeople communicating about and cross-fertilizing theirresearch within (and beyond) the frog hearing and com-munication community. The slide can be submitted em-bedded in a Powerpoint (PPT) format or as individualfiles (<10M please). If submitting individual files, pleaseuse DOC or TXT (for text), JPG/TIFF (for graphic), AVI,MPG or MOV (for video), or WAV, AIFF, MP3 (foraudio). Submission for both presentations and Datablitzshould be sent by 1 MAY 2007 to:[email protected].

Gastropod Neuroscience: Past

Successes and Future Prospects

Friday Harbor Laboratories

Centennial Symposium June

5- June 9, 2007Paul Katz([email protected]) Department of Biology, Georgia State Uni-versity, Atlanta, GA 30302-4010, USA

Applications are now available online to attend the Fri-day Harbor Labs Centennial Symposium entitled:http://depts.washington.edu/fhl/centsymp/2007gastropods.html

The purpose of this multi-day symposium is to summa-rize the important contributions of neuroscience researchusing gastropod molluscs and to lay out ideas for futuredirections. Gastropods such as Tritonia, Aplysia, Heli-soma, Helix, Lymnaea, Clione, Melibe, Hermissenda,and Pleurobranchaea have served as important modelsystems in neuroscience, in particular for studying motorpattern generation, learning, memory, development, ion

channels and signal transduction. What future do thesemodel systems hold? By gathering together some of theleaders in this field, we hope to create an opportunity tobrainstorm about which directions Gastropod neurosci-ence show go and plot courses to get it there.

There are over twenty invited speakers, representing abroad range of gastropod preparations and approaches.The speakers will summarize the important advancesthat have been made using their model systems. Wewill have round-table discussions that unite the themesof the talks and address the questions of “Where do wego from here?” and “What tools do we need to getthere?”

The schedule for the meeting, including a list of invitedspeakers, is posted as a pdf file at the following address:http://depts.washington.edu/fhl/assets/nonImageResources/gastroschedule.pdf

Please note that the size of the meeting is limited. Thedeadline for applying is March 15, 2007. Applicants willbe selected based upon relevance to the meeting. Wewill also try to accept a diversity of participants based onother factors. The registration fee for the meeting is$150. On-campus housing is $60/day. Meal serviceduring the meeting is $185. We are offering up to $400travel reimbursement for a limited number of studentsand postdocs. Participants, particularly students andpostdocs, are invited to give a poster presentation oftheir work. Please fill out the registration form at the fol-lowing address

http://depts.washington.edu/fhl/centsymp/GastropodApp.html

and include a title and abstract for the poster. If youwould like to receive news about Gastropod Neurosci-ence, even if you won't be attending the symposium,please join the GastropodNet list serve.http://mailbox.gsu.edu/mailman/listinfo/gastropodnet.

Paul KatzDepartment of Biology Tel: 404-651-0922Georgia State University Fax: 404-651-2509P.O. Box 4010 E-mail: [email protected], GA 30302-4010 http://www2.gsu.edu/~biopskUSA http://biology.gsu.edu/pkatz

Positions AvailablePostdoctoral positions in Drosophila neuroscienceand behavior

Two postdoctoral positions are available in my laboratory(http://www.hhmi.org/research/fellows/reiser.html) at the


Janelia Farm Research Campus of the Howard HughesMedical Institute (http://www.hhmi.org/janelia/). Thework in the lab draws upon experimental and theoreticalapproaches to investigate the processing of multisensoryinformation in the flight control system of Drosophila.We use tethered-flight experiments in a variety of virtual-reality flight simulators to quantify motor responses tocontrolled multisensory stimuli; models of these behav-iors are used to constrain the computational propertiesof the supporting neural architecture.

The postdoctoral researchers will be involved in design-ing and conducting quantitative behavior experiments.The work will include a significant component of dataanalysis, which will require creative application of a vari-ety of techniques. Over the course of the appointment,the project will proceed to an investigation of the neu-ronal circuits controlling identified multisensory process-ing using molecular-genetic tools and imaging.

Candidates for the first position should have a strongbackground in biology, with a focus on Drosophila ge-netics, electrophysiology, biological imaging, and/orquantitative behavior. The second position will empha-size computational approaches and the design of labo-ratory instrumentation. Those with a technical back-ground in Engineering/Physics/Mathematics and a keeninterest in Neuroscience are especially encouraged toapply. A strong applicant should have some experiencein several of the following areas: signal processing, con-trol theory, machine learning, computer vision, embed-ded system design, laboratory instrumentation, and/orscientific computer programming (especially MATLABexperience).

Applicants should have a Ph.D. in Neurosci-ence/Biology/Engineering or a related field. Interestedapplicants should contact me by email. Please includeyour curriculum vitae and a letter of research interests,and arrange for three letters of reference to be sent to:

Michael ReiserHoward Hughes Medical InstituteJanelia Farm Research Campus19700 Helix DriveAshburn, VA 20147USAEmail: [email protected]

Postdoctoral position(s) in auditory neurophysiol-ogy and behavior

Applications are invited for one or more NIH-fundedpostdoctoral positions to study the neuroethology ofauditory perception and acoustic communication insongbirds. Join the UCSD neuroscience community andour growing group to examine the neural mechanismsthat guide the perception and cognition of complex, tem-porally patterned sounds. Candidates should have aPhD in neuroscience, psychology, or a related disciplinewith technical experience in one or more of the followingareas: in vivo electrophysiology in anesthetized and/or

behaving animals, computational neuroscience, or ani-mal behavior. One-year appointment with opportunityfor annual extensions up to five years. Pay commensu-rate with experience.

Interested applicants should send a CV, a cover letterstating professional goals and interests, and three refer-ences to: Timothy Q. Gentner, Department of Psychol-ogy, University of California, San Diego, 9500 GilmanDr. MC0109, La Jolla, CA 92093-0109, USA. For moreinformation contact: [email protected]

Postdoctoral position in cellular and systems neuro-science, Howard University College of Medicine,Washington, DC, USA

An NIH-funded post-doctoral position is available imme-diately to study neurons and circuits of the olfactory andlimbic system. We are looking for a scientist to performelectrophysiological (patch-clamp) studies in olfactorybulb and amygdala slices from rats and mice. Experi-ments will examine mechanisms of neuronal interactionsand signaling. Experience with electrophysiology is re-quired. Initial appointment is for 1 year with renewalcontingent on performance. Interested applicants shouldsend curriculum vitae, statement of research interests,and names and addresses of three references to:Dr. Thomas Heinbockel, Howard University College ofMedicine, Dept. of Anatomy, 520 W St., N.W., Wash-ington, DC 20059, USA.Phone: 202-806-9873;Fax: 202-265-9873;E-mail: [email protected]. Websites: www.gs.howard.edu/gradprograms/anatomy;www.test.med.howard.edu/hucm/index.php/anatomy

Howard University is an Equal Opportunity Employer.

Research Associate, Department of Biology, Univer-sity of Leicester, U.K.

Available for up to 2 years. Salary Grade 7- £27,465 to£31,840 per annum. Ref: R3145

Applications are invited for a 2-year BBSRC-fundedpostdoctoral position to work on the neuronal control ofaimed limb movements in insects. The post will be filledby an electrophysiologist, preferably trained in sharp-electrode recording techniques and behavioural analy-ses. You will work alongside a computational neurosci-entist who is skilled in computer modelling and pro-gramming. Together you will analyse neuronal plasticityand the role of joint stiffness in the control of aimed legmovements.

Applicants should have a PhD in an appropriate areaand enthusiasm for solving biological questions. Theproject offers the opportunity to join a very active re-search group working in modern facilities. There areadditional funds available for substantial research visitsto our collaborator’s lab in Cologne.


Informal enquiries are welcome and should be made toDr. Tom Matheson ([email protected] or telephone: 0116223 1263). Further information is available at:http://www.le.ac.uk/biology/tm/Matheson.htm.

Downloadable further particulars and application formsare available by following the links. If you require ahardcopy please contact Personnel Services. Tel: 0116252 5110; fax: 0116 252 5140; e-mail: [email protected]; web-link: www.le.ac.uk/personnel/jobs

Please note that CVs will only be accepted in support ofa fully completed application form. Closing date: 2March 2007.

Post-doctoral position, Louisiana State University

Applications are invited for a post-doctoral positionstudying auditory physiology in vertebrates. Technicalexperience in either cellular or systems neurophysiologyis required. An interest in neuroethology, computationalneuroscience and psychoacoustics is beneficial. Re-search for this position will focus on the underlyingmechanisms of auditory filtering and complex processingin central auditory nuclei and auditory hair cells. Tech-niques will include sharp and whole-cell patch clamprecordings. Position holds a two-year appointment withthe potential for extension.

Applicants should send (email is preferred) their CV, abrief description of research interests and expertise, andtwo letters of reference to:

Dr. Hamilton Farris, Research Assistant Professor,Center for Neuroscience, Louisiana State UniversityHealth Science Center, 2020 Gravier St., New Orleans,LA 70112, USA.

[email protected]

http://www.medschool.lsuhsc.edu/neuroscience/

Postdoctoral Position (Akademische/r Rätin/Rat aufZeit) in Auditory Neuroscience, at the Institute for CellBiology and Neuroscience in Frankfurt a. M., Germany,beginning immediately. The position is available for 3years with an option for additional 3 years. Applicantsare encouraged to conduct independent research pro-jects in auditory neuroscience of mammals and/or in-sects. For information on our research please see:http://www.uni-frankfurt.de/fb/fb15/institute/inst-2-zellb-neuro/AK-Koessl/index.html

The following methods are currently available in ourgroup: electrophysiology (in vivo single-cell and multipleelectrode recordings), neuropharmacological and his-tological techniques, In vitro techniques (intracellular,patch-clamp), measurement of cochlear mechanics andotoacoustic emissions, bioacoustical methods, psycho-acoustic techniques.

Participation in teaching (for students in the BiologyBachelor/Master program, language: German) is ex-pected and to pursue an Habilitation is encouraged.

Please direct further inquiries and applications (includinga CV and a statement of research interests) to:

Prof. Manfred KösslInstitut für Zellbiologie und NeurowissenschaftSiesmayerstr.70A60323 Frankfurt/M.Phone: +49 69-78624761

[email protected]

Material for Future ISNNewslettersThe Editor would welcome, indeed wholly dependsupon, material for future newsletters to fill the varioussections of each issue. Reference to past issues willreveal the scope and style of contributions, the breadthof their variation and the depth of their originality. Mate-rial is solicited for meetings, courses, and job opportuni-ties which might include some aspect of neuroethologyand therefore be of interest to readers of the Newsletter.Advertisements for positions (faculty or trainees) shouldgenerally aim to be not longer than 200 words, or 300words for multiple jobs advertised in a single submission.Announcements of new books (copyright 2005) writtenor edited by ISN members should include the full citationinformation (including ISBN) plus a 40-50 word descrip-tion of the book. (Note that books containing chapterscontributed by an ISN member are not appropriate forinclusion.) We also welcome announcements of awardsto ISN members, and of courses and future meetings,reports on recent meetings, discussions of research ar-eas or topics of interest to neuroethologists, laboratoryprofiles, and editorials. We also regretfully publish occa-sional obituaries and memorials. Word limits depend onthe type of article.

Material should be submitted no earlier than one monthbefore the next issue (in this case, July, 2007). Havean idea for an article that you or someone else wouldwrite? Contact the Secretary prior to submission to de-termine the length and suitability of material to be sub-mitted. For those who may feel their particular interest(research field, geographical region, chromosomal com-plement, age group, whether to dress to the left or right,etc) has been under-represented in past Newsletters,please see this as both an invitation and challenge tooffset the perceived lack of representation. Remember:the Newsletter represents us all, but an empty Newslet-ter represents nobody, or worse still, may actually repre-sent nothing. All material must be submitted electroni-cally, preferably as an attached file to an e-mail preparedin MS Word and sent to Ian Meinertzhagen [email protected]


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