Research
Proprioception, an animal’s sense of the position of its own body, is essential for almost all coordinated movement across the animal kingdom. However, despite its importance, we know little about the neural processing underlying limb proprioception. The Agrawal lab studies the neural computations underlying proprioceptive control of movement by combining Drosophila circuit neuroscience with quantitative behavior and comparative studies.
Specific research questions in the lab include:
Proprioceptive sensory neurons are diverse. To what degree are signals from different types or different clusters of proprioceptors combined to form a composite representation of the body?
How do proprioceptive circuits mediate complex, coordinated behaviors? In particular, how does proprioceptive information rapidly coordinate the movement of multiple legs so that animals can achieve stable landings?
Animals vary in size, shape, muscle types, locomotor gaits, and environments. How do such variations impact the function and organization of proprioceptive circuits? How have proprioceptors co-evolved with limb structure? What are fundamental biomechanical properties that mediate the transformation of limb movement to proprioceptor signalling?