Dr Mikko Juusola: Electrophysiological and behavioural set-ups
We have currently six custom designed electrophysiological set-ups for studying visual information processing in vivo Drosophila photoreceptors and interneurones, sponsored by The Royal Society, The Wellcome Trust, BBSRC, The Gatsby Charitable Trust and The Academy of Finland. The rigs are controlled by a custom written software (BIOSYST, co. Mikko Juusola, 1999-2006), which also provides both fast and easy ways of analysing the obtained results. Together with Prof. Shiming Tang (Beijing, China) and local workshops we are improving continuously the designs of our set-ups and inventing novel ways of studying neural signalling. For example, we are currently constructing (1) an ultra-fast calcium imaging system that allows simultaneous monitoring of intracellular voltage and calcium of motion-sensitive neurones in Drosophila brain (sponsored by The Gatsby Charitable Trust) and (2) a novel flight simulator system for Drosophila that allows behavioural experiments together with conventional electrophysiology (sponsored by BBSRC). |
Above is a picture of our new imaging/electrophysiological setup constructed around Olympus BX51. In vivo Drosophila sees visual motion stimuli from a dome matrix, which slides into the custom-built steel table. Below is a picture of our latest design - a fully motorised and computerised, remote controlled set-up that allows presentation of moving images via a projection fibroscope. |
