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SUMMARY:Neuronal correlates of behavioral plasticity in social insect brai
 ns -  approaching the next level of detail - Dr Thomas S. Muenz\, Universi
 ty of Würzburg
DTSTART:20190220T130000Z
DTEND:20190220T140000Z
UID:TALK120499@talks.cam.ac.uk
CONTACT:Kate Criswell
DESCRIPTION:Social-insect colonies often comprise thousands of individuals
  and have been described as “superorganisms”. The workers\, as the mai
 n individual ‘unit’ for the functioning of the superorganism\, show a 
 highly adaptive behavioral repertoire enabling the colony to express emerg
 ent responses to varying environmental conditions. Variations in behavior 
 such as the transition from an indoor worker to a forager\, or learning an
 d memory processes\, have been correlated with neuroplastic changes in the
  brain. These changes in turn are influenced by age- and task-related proc
 esses and may be controlled by internal programs and environmental stimuli
 . After having taken volumetric analyses of neuropils as a widely used mea
 sure for neuroplasticity to the level of synaptic complexes\, we now aim t
 o gain a more detailed understanding of changes in synaptic circuits at th
 e subcellular level. We currently push the limits of the so far achieved r
 esolution in all three dimensions\, and apply: 1) The correlative light el
 ectron microscopy technique “array tomography” to explore the distribu
 tion of synaptic proteins. The resulting identification and localization o
 f molecular key components for neuronal plasticity provides an essential p
 re-requisite to manipulate behavior at the level of plasticity-related gen
 es. 2) Electron tomography based 3D reconstructions to analyze the connect
 ivity of pre- and postsynaptic partners\, vesicle cargos and the precise 3
 D structure of active zones. We hypothesize that the reorganization of pre
 - and postsynaptic partners plays an important role in age- and experience
 -related changes in sensory processing and memory formation. Taken togethe
 r these new approaches will allow us to further unravel the underlying mec
 hanisms of neuronal plasticity in the hymenopteran brain.
LOCATION:Part II Lecture Theatre\, Department of Zoology
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