Dr Atticus Pinzon-Rodriguez (seated with laptop), who worked on animal navigation for around a decade, joined the Heinze Lab about two years ago. Valentin Gillet (seated at the computer) did his master’s thesis on the honeybee brain and is halfway through his PhD. Griffin Badalamente (standing) started his PhD over a year ago, focusing on the connections between neurons.
A piece of Otago equipment that enables researchers to see the minuscule details of a bug’s brain is making a major difference to international research.
Researchers from the Vision Group of Lund University in Sweden travelled to Dunedin in September to use the Electron Microscopy unit, based in the Research Infrastructure Centre, to help them discover how insects navigate the world around them.
Dr Atticus Pinzon-Rodriguez, PhD candidate Valentin Gillet, and PhD student Griffin Badalamente were based here for two weeks.
Atticus says most animals on Earth move to find food, mates and homes, and insects are no exception.
They achieve this by collecting information about their surroundings, such as landmarks, familiar smells, and even by using the Earth’s magnetic field as global directional reference, he says.
“Navigation like this is due to their small but powerful brains where different regions specialise in detecting different information.
“We’re focusing on a very special region of the brain called the central complex, where all that external information is collected and used to tell the insect what to do next.
“We see the central complex as ‘the brain inside a brain’, because it dictates the decision-making process of a moving insect.”
The team’s work involves behavioural observations of the insect as well as brain tissue analysis to determine how different neurons in the central complex connect to form circuits and can show how insects navigate.
This is where the University of Otago comes in.
Otago’s Electron Microscopy (EM) unit, based in the Research Infrastructure Centre, has unique equipment that can help advance the team’s research.
Valentin says the scanning electron microscope has specific, built-in tools that allow them to acquire experimental data at a higher speed without sacrificing visual detail.
“That, as well as the expertise, support, and interest shown by Richard, Niki, Rob, Rose, Fatima and everyone else at the EM unit made this facility the ideal place to process our samples."
Griffin says they look forward to continuing the collaboration and hope to visit again because studying the brain is a “never-ending task”.
Electron Microscopy Manager Richard Easingwood and Electron Microscopy Technician Niki Hazelton say they were elated to support the Lund University researchers during their time here and look forward to more opportunities for collaboration in the future.
~ Kōrero by the Division of Health Sciences Communications Adviser, Kelsey Swart.