Welcome to the Lockery Lab at the University of Oregon
Seeking the biological origins of intelligent behavior
Our research
We study how the nervous system controls behavior by analyzing the simple neural networks that control spatial orientation and decision making in the nematode worm Caenorhabditis elegans. C. elegans has a small nervous system (302 neurons), whose neurons and connectivity pattern have been exhaustively characterized. Together with an entirely sequenced genome and high accessibility to genetic analysis, this organism provides a unique opportunity to study the neural, molecular, and genetic basis of intelligent behavior. Our research integrates a wide range of approaches, including quantitative analysis of behavior, neuronal ablation, computer modeling, electrophysiology, calcium imaging, optogenetics, and microfluidics.
Lockery Lab members demonstrating the Worm Wave.