The Horch lab uses the cricket model system to examine the molecular neurobiological basis of a number of areas including regeneration, behavior, and development. Mainly, the lab will focus on the regeneration of interneurons in the auditory system of the cricket. Removing one ear induces auditory interneurons to sprout new dendrites, grow abnormally across the mid-line, and form synapses with intact auditory neurons from the opposite ear, both in developing as well as adult crickets. This is one of the most elegant and complex examples of neuronal regeneration known. Techniques such as dextran backfills, immunohistochemistry, and confocal microscopy will be used to understand the molecular cues involved in this phenomenon. Other projects include examining the role of octopamine on male cricket aggression and attempting to create transgenic crickets in order to examine the development of individual neurons.
