BIO 159, titled Seminar in Neuroscience, is a class taught by Dr. Joyce Fernandes and focussed on familiarizing students with ongoing Neuroscience research at Miami University.
In order to become acquainted with ongoing research, the class worked in groups to identify a lab of our choice. Our group chose to examine the research lab of Dr. Killian in the Biology Department. The class assignments included learning how to concisely communicate research topics and findings to a more general audience. Dr. Killian’s research utilizes the cricket Acheta Domesticus as a model organism to study the neural basis of behavior. Of particular interest to us was a project relating the unequal displays of aggression of male and female crickets to different bacteria found in their gut’s microbiome as well as uneven rates of neurogenesis. Through the use of behavioral and immune system assays as well as histology, Dr. Killian’s lab was able to show the relationship between neurogenesis, gut microbiome, and antagonistic behavior in crickets. Our review found Dr. Killian’s projects lead to significant changes in the understanding of aggression and associated biochemical signals. Our work on this topic underlines the importance of communicating complex scientific findings to broader audiences and undoubtedly translates to future societal roles as students of STEM.
Authors: Alexander Szymczak, Nikki Cox, Hunter Wells
Faculty Advisor: Joyce Fernandes, Biology
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