Münz, Thomas
Dr. Thomas Münz
Biozentrum
Am Hubland
Starting at the level of behavioural ecology and ranging to neurobiological questions my research interest comprises division of labour in social insect colonies in general but in particular of honeybees. As honeybee workers express an age-dependant polyethism which goes along with a shift from indoor to outdoor duties they represent an ideal model to investigate the influences of a dramatically changing sensory environment to the brain.
In my studies I primarily apply immunohistochemical staining techniques to analyse plastic changes at a synaptic level in higher sensory integration centres of the honeybee brain. Further on I am interested in in the role of exogenous factors like the primer pheromone ethyl oleate on brain maturation processes.
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3D subcellular localization with superresolution array tomography on ultrathin sections of various species in Correlative Light and Electron Microscopy III, T. Müller-Reichert, P. Verkade (eds.) (2017). (Vol. 140) 21–47.
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Neuronal plasticity in the mushroom body calyx during adult maturation in the honeybee and possible pheromonal influences in Developmental Neurobiology (2015). 75(12) 1368–1384.
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CaMKII is differentially localized in synaptic regions of kenyon cells within the mushroom bodies of the honeybee brain in The Journal of Comparative Neurology (2011). 519(18) 3700–3712.
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Visual experience and age affect synaptic organization in the mushroom bodies of the desert ant Cataglyphis fortis in Developmental Neurobiology (2010). 70(6) 408–423.
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Long-Term Memory Leads to Synaptic Reorganization in the Mushroom Bodies: A Memory Trace in the Insect Brain? in Journal of Neuroscience (2010). 30(18) 6461–6465.
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