Nicolaidou, Andrea Rafaela

The integration of different sensory modalities is essential in perceiving the natural environment around oneself. In the honeybee, the olfactory and visual modalities play a vital role in foraging behaviour, while both are integrated in the mushroom bodies, high-order integration centres in the brain. To investigate whether mushroom body output neurons (MBONs) modulate olfactory perception by recurrent feedback integrating visual-olfactory input, I carry out electrophysiological recordings combined with visual-olfactory stimulation, as well as neuroanatomical tracings of circuits.

Current research projects are:

• Modulation of olfaction by recurrent circuits of mushroom body output neurons after olfactory-visual convergence

• Analysis of individual synaptic microcircuits in the mushroom body

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