Dr Peter Simmons
Reader in Neurobiology & Behaviour
- Email: p.j.simmons@ncl.ac.uk
- Telephone: 0191 222 6457
- Website: http://www.staff.ncl.ac.uk/p.j.simmons/
- Address: School of Biology
Ridley Building
Newcastle University
Newcastle Upon Tyne
NE1 7RU
Research Interests
Insect vision and neuroethology
Synaptic structure and function
Current Work
1. How do nerve cells communicate with each other? I am investigating this by recording signals from pairs of interconnected nerve cells attached to the simple eyes, or ocelli, of the locust. These cells are part of an autopilot system that regulates flight attitude. With Prof. Rob de Ruyter van Steveninck (Indiana), I am examining the transformations that small electrical signals undergo during processing in the ocellar system.
2. How do nerve cells control behaviour? With Claire Rind and Roger Santer, I am recording responses by the 'DCMD' nerve cell of locusts to objects approaching the locust on a collision course. We are discovering how the DCMD cell triggers approporiate evasive responses.
Selected Publications
- Santer, R. D. Yamawaki, Y. Rind, F. C. Simmons, P. J. Preparing for escape: An examination of the role of the DCMD neuron in locust escape jumps. Journal of Comparative Physiology A: Neuroethology, Sensory, Neural, and Behavioral Physiology 2008, 194, 69-77.
- Santer RD, Rind FC, Stafford R, Simmons PJ. Role of an Identified Looming-Sensitive Neuron in Triggering a Flying Locust’s Escape. Journal of Neurophysiology 2006, 95(6), 3391-3400.
- Santer, R.S. Simmons, P.J. Rind, F.C. Gliding Behaviour Elicited by Lateral Looming Stimuli in Flying Locusts. J. Comp. Physiol. A 2005, 191, 61-73.
- Simmons, P.J. de Ruyter van Steveninck, R. Reliability of Signal Transfer at a Tonically Transmitting, Graded Potential Synapse of the Locust Ocellar Pathway. Journal of Neuroscience 2005, 25(33), 7529-7537.
- Leitinger, G. Pabst, M. A. Rind, F.C. Simmons, P.J. Differential Expression of Synapsin in Visual Neurons of the Locust Schistocerca gregaria. Journal of Comparative Neurology 2004, 480(1), 89-100.
- Simmons, P.J. Presynaptic Depolarization Rate Controls Transmission at an Invertebrate Synapse. Neuron 2002, 35(4), 749-758.
Projects
- An Insect Autopilot: how Locust Ocelli Work
Project Leaders: Dr Peter Simmons
Funding
2003-6, BBSRC (PI, with Dr Claire Rind; post-doctoral RA, Dr Roger Santer)
Undergraduate Teaching
Degree Programme Director for Zoology
Honours Degrees in Zoology, Marine Biology and Biology
Module Leader:
Mechanisms of Behaviour
Comparative Animal Physiology
Biology Research Communication