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Principal Investigator

Dr. Kathleen Killian
Associate Professor
Ph.D. Physiology and Neurobiology, Rutgers University, 1990

Kathleen Killian is a neurobiologist interested in sensorimotor integration and the neural basis of behavior. She is examining how changes in the efficacy, or strength, of specific synaptic connections or neural pathways can be linked to the production of an appropriate behavioral output by an animal. She is especially interested in how synaptic strength can be modified during simple forms of learning, or through the action of neuromodulators. She and her students use the cricket, Acheta domesticus, as their model system. Insects are excellent model systems for such studies since it is possible to identify and characterize a complete neural circuit in terms of its sensory inputs, its central integrating neurons, and its efferent outputs. Significant insight can thus be gained into the mechanisms by which the nervous system transforms complex sensory information into an appropriate behavioral response. Techniques currently used in her laboratory include: intracellular and extracellular electrophysiological recordings; single cell dye injection; light and electron microscopy; HPLC/ECD; and time-lapse video recordings of behavior.