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Karen Mesce, Ph.D. Professor, Department of Entomology E-mail: mesce001@umn.edu

Research Interests:

We are investigating the neural mechanisms underlying the generation of behavior in simpler invertebrate "model" systems. Currently, we are studying the structure and function of neurons in the medicinal leech, Hirudo medicinalis and the hawkmoth, Manduca sexta. These preparations were chosen for study because individual neurons can be identified from animal to animal and followed through development.

Many of our research projects involve an examination of how neurons change during development to give rise to adult-specific behaviors. As Manduca develops from the larval to adult form, dramatic changes in its nervous system are observed. Some larval neurons (not needed by the adult) undergo developmentally programmed cell death, while others are retained and re-modeled; their morphology and synaptic contacts become altered. In addition, many new neurons are generated de novo and are used only in the adult stage. Our goals are to understand how all of these changes, which are under hormonal regulation, contribute to the "construction" of particular adult behaviors. We have focused on the re-use of larval interneurons and the cellular mechanisms that enable "old" neurons to be incorporated into the adult nervous system to generate new behaviors.

Our methods include: intra- and extracellular electrophysiological techniques, intracellular dye injection, laser scanning confocal microscopy, immunocytochemistry, and behavioral analysis.

Selected Publications:

(For a comprehensive list of recent publications, refer to PubMed, a service provided by the National Library of Medicine.)

*Mesce*, K.A., Esch T, Kristan, W.B. Jr. 2008. Cellular Substrates of
Action Selection: A Cluster of Higher-Order Descending Neurons Shapes
Body Posture and Locomotion. J Comp Physiol A 194:469-81.

Crisp KM, Mesce KA. Beyond the central pattern generator: amine modulation of decision-making neural pathways descending from the brain of the medicinal leech. J Exp Biol. 2006 May;209(Pt 9):1746-56.

Goode K, Huber Z, Mesce KA, Spivak M. Hygienic behavior of the honey bee (Apis mellifera) is independent of sucrose responsiveness and foraging ontogeny. Horm Behav. 2006 Mar;49(3):391-7. Epub 2005 Oct 12.

Fahrbach SE, Mesce KA."Neuroethoendocrinology": integration of field and laboratory studies in insect neuroendocrinology. Horm Behav. 2005 Nov;48(4):352-9. Epub 2005 Jun 13. Review.

Crisp KM, Mesce KA. A cephalic projection neuron involved in locomotion is dye coupled to the dopaminergic neural network in the medicinal leech. J Exp Biol. 2004 Dec;207(Pt 26):4535-42.

Spivak M, Masterman R, Ross R, Mesce KA. Hygienic behavior in the honey bee (Apis mellifera L.) and the modulatory role of octopamine. J Neurobiol. 2003 Jun;55(3):341-54.

Current Graduate Students:

Josh Puhl (Neuroscience, University of Minnesota).

Former Graduate Students:

Therese Amos (Ph.D. 1993, Neuroscience, University of Minnesota).

Kevin Crisp (Ph.D. 2003, Neuroscience, University of Minnesota).

Laura Gilchrist (Ph.D. 1996, Neuroscience, University of Minnesota).

Katherine Himes (Ph.D. 2007, Neuroscience, University of Minnesota).