The simplicity and accessibility of the olfactory systems of insects underlie a body of
research essential to understanding not only olfactory function but also general principles of …

Plant defense compounds occur in floral nectar, but their ecological role is not well
understood. We provide evidence that plant compounds pharmacologically alter pollinator …

Pesticides that target cholinergic neurotransmission are highly effective, but their use has
been implicated in insect pollinator population decline. Honeybees are exposed to two …

Highly interconnected neural networks perform olfactory signal processing in the central
nervous system. In insects, the first synaptic processing of the olfactory input from the …

The Drosophila antennal lobe (AL) has become an excellent model for studying early
olfactory processing mechanisms. Local interneurons (LNs) connect a large number of …

How does the sensory environment shape circuit organization in higher brain centers? Here
we have addressed the dependence on activity of a defined circuit within the mushroom …

Odorant receptors in the periphery map precisely onto olfactory glomeruli (" coding
channels") in the brain. However, the odor tuning of a glomerulus is not strongly correlated …

Insects communicating with pheromones, be it sex-or aggregation pheromones, are
confronted with an olfactory environment rich in a diversity of volatile organic compounds of …

Gain control is a process that adjusts a system's sensitivity when input levels change. Neural
systems contain multiple mechanisms of gain control, but we do not understand why so …

Among the cues that a mosquito uses to find a host for blood-feeding, the smell of the host
plays an important role. Previous studies have shown that host odors contain hundreds of …