Miss Kimberly Meechan

Interests

Our group studies neural circuits involved in olfaction in Drosophila. Some neurons involved in these circuits are known to be sexually dimorphic. How these differences lead to different behaviours in male and female flies is not well understood.

For example, in Drosophila, the male pheromone cVA produces different responses when detected by male or female flies. In females, it elicits increased receptivity to courtship, while in males it results in increased aggression. Understanding the sexual dimorphism of the underlying circuit is our goal. To this end, we are now working to reconstruct this pathway at synaptic resolution in an electron microscopy volume (collected by Davi Bock’s group and collaborators at Janelia) of the entire female fly brain.

Research Focus

Equipment

Computational modelling