About his PhD Project

 I study how Drosophila melanogaster sensory neurons grow and organize their dendritic arbors to efficiently cover space. Using live imaging, analytical modeling and numerical simulations, I focus on class IV dendritic arborization neurons (nociception), whose dendrites expand in a quasi-2D environment and fill space homogeneously. Taking a coarse grained approach, I describe the stochastic growth of such neurons as a dynamical population system. Secondly, I aim to show how tension and an exploration-exploitation system converges to a near-optimal spatial coverage. I also compare class IV with class I neurons to describe cytoskeletal “memory” mechanisms that may constrain or sustain branch growth.