Animals detect physical/chemical cues in the surroundings, and react accordingly for survival and reproduction. The LUO laboratory investigates how the animal’s sensory systems convert these cues into neuronal signals and how the brain then makes sense of these signals.

        Throughout evolution, sensory circuits and modalities are, by and large, conserved across species. Among model systems, we utilize a genetically-malleable species, Drosophila, wherein we can label and manipulate specific neurons, to understand sensory perception by studying its cellular, circuitry and behavioral mechanisms. As such, we aim to understand sensory processing at all levels: from molecules to behavioral responses. The genetic approach is accompanied by a state-of-the-art integrated investigation involving sensitive behavioral assays, in vivo two-photon-based calcium imaging, and patch-clamp recordings (from brain neurons of a behaving fly, and from its peripheral sensory neurons).