optogenetics

Chapters from my graduate work using optogenetics in the zebra finch visual system to determine visual guidance strategies during flight. The thesis included anatomical work in the accessory optic system, vestibulocerebellum, and oculomotor cerebellum, electrophysiology in the accessory optic system, and flight behavior studies, some of which are represented in Zebra Finch Visual Guidance. All lab work was conducted in the Zoology Department, University of British Columbia, 2017-2021. More coming soon.

multi-unit recording figure during visual stimulus and laser stimulus of optogenetically manipulated LM neurons in a zebra finch
Optogenetically-driven spiking of optic flow neurons in the lentiformis mesencephali (LM). (A) Extracellular recording in LM (black) in response to dot-field global motion (left) and optogenetic activation (right) with a single cell isolated below (teal). (B) Raster plots and peri-stiumuls-time-histograms of the same single unit in reponse to light pulses of 5ms, 10ms, 15ms, and 30ms. (C) Anterograde and retrograde transport strategies targeting different optic flow pathways.