Conference: 2012 CSHL Course on Neurobiology of Drosophila, Cold Spring Harbor, NY

Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory, Cold Spg Hbr NY

Investigators

Abstract

The primary objective of the Drosophila Neurobiology: Genes, Circuits & Behavior course is to provide state-of-the-art training in modern and emerging experimental approaches to study the nervous system of a major invertebrate model system, Drosophila melanogaster. The course is designed to introduce students to a wide variety of topics and techniques, including the latest approaches to study fly nervous system development, connectivity and behavior. Daily research seminars present comprehensive overviews of specific subfields of nervous system function and behavior, or focus on specific techniques and approaches to study diverse aspects of fly neurobiology. The course takes full advantage of the genetics of the fly as an experimental system for analyzing neural development, neuronal physiology and behavior. The course emphasizes the relevance of this powerful model system to advancing our understanding of the function and dysfunction of human brain. Significant emphasis will be placed on the disruption and reorganization of neural circuits upon chronic exposure to alcohol and drugs of abuse. The broader impact of the course is the training of researchers from throughout the world in the most recent findings and techniques in Drosophila neurobiology. In addition, they are introduced to the available resources and tools of advanced research in fly neurobiology. The students are chosen to include those who will disseminate information acquired in the course most broadly. Many of the students are likely to have educational and supervisory responsibilities in the near future; others are already professors or post-doctoral fellows, who will pass on what they have learned in the course. Many of the students who take the course go on to lead their own laboratories and the course provides a foundation of knowledge for these new lab heads.