Trehan, Romita

I am interested in studying the flexible decision-making processes of animals. My research focuses on the interplay between sensory perception and decision-making in insects using the well-studied fruit fly, Drosophila melanogaster, as a model organism. My goal is to map the specific sensory conditions that trigger different navigational behaviours in Drosophila in the Haberkern Lab. I plan to achieve this by employing genetic tools, and virtual reality, and hope to link these behavioural shifts to specific neural circuits within the fly's brain. Additionally, my research will explore the influence of visual neuron responses in Drosophila's locomotion, highlighting the tight coupling between sensory input and motor output (sensorimotor integration). In the Ache Lab, I plan to utilise kinematics, optogenetics and leg tracking to understand how individual limbs contribute to navigational choices. This will provide insights into how the descending signals from the brain are received by the VNC and the leg muscles involved in movement to produce appropriate steering commands.

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