Our experimental animals are insects (flies and honeybees). They show virtuosic visually guided behaviour and, despite their  small brains, outperform artificial man-made machines in many respects. We analyse the underlying computations by quantitative behavioural approaches as well as a wide range of neurophysiological techniques.

Electrophysiological and pharmacological methods as well as intracellular imaging can be applied in many insects under in vivo conditions where the system can still be stimulated with its natural input.

 

This allows us to interpret computational properties of neurons and neuronal networks directly in a behavioural context.

Our experimental analysis is complemented by computational modelling and by implementing biological principles of information processing in robots. Although these projects are mainly concerned with basic research, they are likely to be eventually relevent for artificial autonomous visual systems.