Ian Davison

Ian migrated south from Canada after joint undergraduate degree in Biology and Physics at St. Francis Xavier University in Nova Scotia, followed by Ph.D. work on synaptic transmission with Kerry Delaney at Simon Fraser University, British Columbia.  His postdoctoral work with Larry Katz and Mike Ehlers at Duke Medical School focused on basic coding principles in early olfactory processing and the functional architecture that supports cortical odor coding.  Ian joined the Dept. of Biology at Boston University in 2011, where his lab focuses on the sensory signals that guide natural behaviors, as well as the physiological consequences of mild TBI.

Dr. Ian Davison will be leading a discussion on Sensory-Guided Navigation with Odor Cues.All of our movements are guided by ongoing sensory feedback.  During navigation, we use cues from our environment to decide how successfully we are approaching our intended target and correct our path as necessary. In many animals, odor signals are critical sources of information about both the presence and location of food, social partners, and predators.  Using new ‘miniscope’ tools that allow visualization of large brain areas, we are measuring the sensory signals used by mice localizing a food reward based solely on olfactory signals. Imaging in freely moving animals allows us to begin to decode the computations and strategies used during odor-guided search.