Wagenaar's lab studies the neuronal basis of sensory processing and sensory-guided behavior, with a specific focus on cross modal sensory integration in the leech and on functional and anatomical circuit mapping. The relatively simple nervous system of the European medicinal leech is perfectly suited to develop insights about how the activity of all the cells in a nervous system together produce individual behaviors from overlapping functional networks, a phenomenon that—at a much larger scale and undoubtedly with many complexities added—is also crucial to human brain function.
Dr. Wagenaar also directs the Neurotechnology Laboratory, a resource for the Caltech neuroscience community aimed at collaborative development of novel technologies as well as adaptation of existing technologies for new applications in the realms of microscopy, electrophysiology, and more.
Research Website