Major research interests in this laboratory concern the genetic control of function and development of the nervous system. Currently we focus on mutants of the fruit fly Drosophila with altered nerve excitability and deficiencies in learning behavior.  The effects of single-gene mutations and their interactions in double mutants provide clues for the functional organizations of the ionic channels and second messenger pathways that govern neuronal activities and synaptic plasticity.
Mutant alleles and conditional expression of transients are analyzed to elucidate experience-dependent plasticity in the development of the functional organization in the nervous system. The effects of altered nerve activity and physiological actions on the path finding, arborization, and generation of neural connectivities are determined in neuronal cultures as well as in genetic mosaics.