Rachel Wilson wants to understand how neural computations are implemented at the level of network connectivity patterns, synapses, and ion channels. Wilson and her team are currently focusing on the neural computations involved in Drosophila navigation behavior. They use electrophysiology and optical physiology to monitor neural activity in behaving flies, as well as brain-wide connectomics analyses and computational modeling. Their goal is to develop an integrated mechanistic understanding of how navigation paths are guided by multimodal external sensory cues, internal drives, and remembered information.
For the first time, scientists have shown exactly how a fly brain creates a mental map of the body’s movement through the world. Flies use visual cues to finesse their mental maps of the environment. Two new studies use virtual reality to show how.  Thirteen HHMI scientists have been elected to the National Academy of Sciences.  Ten HHMI investigators are elected to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences.