Emergence of Neural Activity During Development

All brains must transition from inactive to active during development. How the brain "turns on", and how this initial activity influences circuit formation, remain unclear. We combine imaging of neural activity in the fruit fly embryo, behavioral assays, computational analysis, and advanced genetics to gain insight from the organismal level to the molecular level. Our long-term goal is to understand how the nervous system of an animal becomes active, and how this initial activity shapes nervous system function.