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Rhanor Gillette Professor of Molecular and Integrative Physiology and Biophysics Ph.D. 1974, University of Toronto Neural circuitry and cellular mechanisms of learning, arousal, and behavioral integration Rhanor Gillette 414 Burrill Hall, MC-114 407 S. Goodwin Urbana, IL 61801 217-333-0328 r-gillette@uiuc.edu

Complex behavior is organized by internal state and experience. Our research efforts are directed towards how this is done in terms of neural connectivity and the neuromodulatory factors that affect arousal states of neural networks. We use a simple model system, the predator marine sea slug Pleurobranchaea. This animal easily learns to avoid potentially dangerous prey (such as stinging organisms or electric shock paired with particular flavors) by smell, and bases its decisions to feed on its motivational state (hunger) and stimulus incentive. Its simple body form and nervous system are advantageous for studying mechanisms of transition between feeding and defense/avoidance behavior, i.e. how the animal successfully forages while avoiding predation itself. Our work integrates behavior, neural circuitry, and activity of ion channels and our approach broadly incorporates physiological and biochemical methods. As of this writing, we are investigating the roles of the neurotransmitters serotonin and nitric oxide as they act through cyclic AMP-gated ion channel in identified neurons in the feeding circuitry. We are also studying the network circuitry of adverse behaviors and how it interacts with the feeding circuitry.