A Computational Study of the Crayfish Escape Circuit
Steven Versteeg
Friday, 24th September 2004
0930 - 1100
Abstract:
The crayfish escape circuit is a well studied circuit in neurobiology.
A massive and simultaneous stimulus, which is the signature of a
predator's attack, triggers a rapid stereotyped tail-flip. The circuit
is a case study of reflex behaviour in animals. Computational models of
the electrical characteristics of the escape circuit, based on
biological data, simulate the decision making of circuit. The models
demonstrate that the rectifying junctions, which connect the sensory
neurons to the command neuron, discriminate for highly coincidental
stimuli. Furthermore, the sensory neurons are directly connected to
form a lateral excitatory network, whereby stimulated neurons recruit
non-stimulated neurons. The models show that the network sharpens the
stimulus threshold required to trigger a tail-flip and enables the
escape circuit to discriminate between different combinations of
sensory inputs.
Biosketch:
Steven Versteeg completed his bachelor of Software Engineering
at Melbourne University. He is currently studying for his PhD
at the Department of Computer Science. He has spent 18 months
in Atlanta collaborating with Professor Donald Edwards at the
Department of Neurobiology at Georgia State University.