Icon for: Richard Williams IV

RICHARD WILLIAMS IV

University of Chicago
Years in Grad School: 5
Judges’ Queries and Presenter’s Replies
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Presentation Discussion
  • Icon for: Geoffrey Benn

    Geoffrey Benn

    Graduate Student
    May 23, 2012 | 11:36 p.m.

    Richard,
    Nice video – I found it quite interesting and easy to follow. Is fin proprioception is the sole means of proprioception in this type of fish? Is it possible to generate mutants deficient in fin proprioception to address this question?
    Geoff

  • Icon for: Richard Williams IV

    Richard Williams IV

    Lead Presenter
    May 25, 2012 | 10:35 a.m.

    Hi Geoff,

    Thank you for your question. It is unlikely that fin proprioception is the only form of proprioception that the bluegill is capable of. Other areas of the body likely provide proprioceptive feedback to optimize behaviors. Critical behaviors such as jaw opening and closing, and bending of the body wall during axial swimming at high speeds, would likely require proprioceptive sensory feedback.

    Were it possible to generate a mutant deficient in proprioceptive mechanoreceptors, it would be unlikely that one could target proprioceptors in the fin only. Mechanoreceptive mechanisms are rarely limb-specific and occur widely. A mutation which caused a lack of proprioception would be highly deleterious, making a larval preparation the most viable option for experimentation.

    Best,
    Richard

  • Icon for: Robert Full

    Robert Full

    Faculty: Project PI
    May 24, 2012 | 10:39 a.m.

    Wonderful work! What approach did you use for spike analysis?

  • Icon for: Richard Williams IV

    Richard Williams IV

    Lead Presenter
    May 25, 2012 | 10:49 a.m.

    Hi Robert,

    Thank you very much. I am using the Wave_clus software (Rodrigo Q. Qurioga 2004; http://www.vis.caltech.edu/~rodri/Wave_clus/Wav...) for spike detection and sorting.

    Best,
    Richard

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