Associate Fellow in Experimental Neurobiology
vanswinderen@nsi.edu
brunovs@sbcglobal.net

http://www.nsi.edu/users/bvs

My primary interest is consciousness and the measurable phenomena associated with it, such as selective attention, memory, sleep, and general anesthesia. I have developed approaches to study each of these consciousness-related variables in the genetic model system, Drosophila melanogaster. These approaches include both brain recording paradigms and behavioral assays. I focus on measures of visual perception, and have identified electrophysiological and behavioral measures of visual selective attention in fruit-flies. By studying these perceptual correlates in a genetic context, I hope to understand the mechanism underlying selective attention in the insect brain, and to understand how this mechanism may be related to other arousal states such as learning, sleep and general anesthesia. One hypothesis in this regard is that global “binding” processes occur in the brain during perception and learning, and that “unbinding” of these processes occur during general anesthesia and sleep. Brain recordings and perceptual assays in flies provide a fruitful approach to understanding these complex processes in a simpler yet powerful system. I am also interested in evolution in general, and specifically in how behaviors in Drosophila are affected by genetic context. Behavioral effects of genetic interactions are addressed by classical quantitative genetic approaches, such as the diallel cross, empowered by new molecular tools such as gene expression arrays. These approaches should highlight suites of genes relevant to the control of different behaviors. I am particularly interested if subsets of such genes are involved in controlling diverse behaviors, thereby providing candidate systems for further in-depth study of arousal states.

Education:

• B.A., Brandeis University (Biology)
• Ph.D., Washington University (Evolutionary and Population Biology)
• Postdoc: NSI

Selected Publications:

van Swinderen, B. Attention-Like Processes in Drosophila Require Short-Term Memory Genes. (2007) Science 315 (5818): 1590-1593.

van Swinderen, B. and Flores, K. Attention-like processes underlying optomotor performance in a Drosophila choice maze. (2006) Journal of Neurobiology, in press.

van Swinderen, B. (2006) A succession of anesthetic endpoints in the Drosophila brain. Journal of Neurobiology 66: 1195-1211.

van Swinderen, B. and Greenspan, R.J. (2005) Flexibility in a gene network affecting a simple behavior in Drosophila melanogaster. Genetics 169: 2151-2163.

van Swinderen, B. (2005) The remote roots of consciousness in fruit-fly selective attention? BioEssays 27: 321-330.

van Swinderen, B., Nitz, D.A., and Greenspan, R.J. (2004) Uncoupling of brain activity from movement defines arousal states in Drosophila. Current Biology 14: 81-87.

van Swinderen, B. and Greenspan, R.J. (2003) Salience modulates 20-30 Hz brain activity in Drosophila. Nature Neuroscience Vol 6, #6: 579-586.

IN THE NEWS:

Scitizen Online Magazine, April 5, 2007. "Fly Attention." http://www.scitizen.com/screens/blogPage/viewBlog/sw_viewBlog.php?idTheme=23&idContribution=494&PHPSESSID=4c5d58b820bb14f3be6a8d4c531e7acc

Discover Magazine, January 10, 2007.  "Consciousness in a cockroach." http://discovermagazine.com/2007/jan/cockroach-consciousness-neuron-similarity

New Scientist Magazine, February 14, 2004. "Do fruit flies dream of electric bananas?"  http://www.newscientist.com/contents/issue/2434.html

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