Research
I am interested in how the fly brain processes visual information to control steering maneuvers during flight. To study that question I perform patch-clamp recordings from motion-sensitive neurons in tethered flying Drosophila while simultaneously measuring their turning responses. In particular I want to know how the visual information is transformed on the way from the sensory to the motor system and how the fly’s own behavior affects the processing of this information.
Education
Ph.D, Max Planck Institute of Neurobiology, Germany, 2010.
Degree in Biology, University of Würzburg, Germany, 2006.
Publications
Schnell, B., Raghu, S.V., Nern, A., Borst, A. Columnar cells necessary for motion responses of wide-field visual interneurons in Drosophila. J. Comp. Physiol. A. 198, 389-395 (2012).
Eichner, H., Joesch, M., Schnell, B., Reiff, D.F., Borst, A. Internal Structure of the Fly Elementary Motion Detector. Neuron 70, 1155-1164 (2011).
Joesch, M.*, Schnell, B.*, Raghu, S.V., Reiff, D.F., Borst, A. ON and OFF pathways in Drosophila motion vision. Nature 486, 300-304 (2010). (*equal contribution)
Schnell, B., Joesch, M., Foerstner, F., Raghu, S.V., Otsuna, H., Ito, K., Borst, A., Reiff, D.F. Processing of horizontal optic flow in three visual interneurons of the Drosophila brain. J. Neurophysiol. 103, 1646-1657 (2010).
Hendel, T., Mank, M., Schnell, B., Griesbeck, O., Borst, A., and Reiff, D.F. Fluorescence changes of genetic calcium indicators and OGB-1 correlated with neural activity and calcium in vivo and in vitro. J. Neurosci. 28, 7399-7411 (2008).
Rister, J., Pauls, D., Schnell, B., Ting, C. Y., Lee, C. H., Sinakevitch, I., Morante, J., Strausfeld, N. J., Ito, K. & Heisenberg, M. Dissection of the peripheral motion channel in the visual system of Drosophila melanogaster. Neuron 56, 155-170 (2007).
Contact
bschnell@uw.edu