Research Interests:

 For many years, my research interest has focused on the sense organs and the brains of cephalopods (octopuses, cuttlefishes, squids, and Nautilus). Special emphasis has been placed on equilibrium orientation and the control of compensatory eye movements, from the receptor input level, via the brain, to the motor output. In cephalopods, these systems reach levels of complexity in structure and function that are unique among invertebrates and in many aspects strikingly parallel the vertebrate vestibular and vestibulo-oculomotor system. Using a variety of techniques, our particular interest is on the morphology, physiology and pharmacology of the different types of receptor hair cells and first-order afferent neurons, the function of the efferent innervation of the receptor organs, the afferent and efferent brain pathways involved in oculomotor control, the organization of the various eye muscle systems, and the various eye movements these muscles produce. Additional research includes the structure and function of two recently discovered mechanoreceptive organs in cuttlefish and squid: one is a system analogue to the fish and amphibian lateral lines, and the other is a neck proprioceptive organ that monitors the position of the head relative to the body. Finally, some comparative research is being performed on the ultrastructure of invertebrate hair cells, with special focus on the mechanical basis of transduction in hair cells.

  Research during the past several years has focused on transmitters and modulators acting in cephalopod equilibrium receptor organs, including nitric oxide and cannabinoids, as well as on histologically labeled single cell magnetic resonance imaging.

  Selected Publications:

    Bullock TH, Budelmann BU.  Sensory evoked potentials in unanesthetized unrestrained cuttlefish: A new preparation for brain physiology in cephalopods. J Comp Physiol A 168:141-150 (1991)

    Budelmann BU, Young JZ.  The oculomotor system of decapod cephalopods: Eye muscles, eye muscle nerves, and the oculomotor neurons in the central nervous system. Phil Trans R Soc Lond B 340:93-125 (1993)

    Preuss T, Budelmann BU.  Proprioceptive hair cells on the neck of the squid Lolliguncula brevis: A sense organ in cephalopods for the control of head-to-body position. Phil Trans R Soc Lond B 349:153-178 (1995)

    Budelmann BU, Schipp R, Boletzky S von.  Cephalopoda. In: Microscopic Anatomy of Invertebrates, Volume 6A, Mollusca II. (Harrison FW, Kohn A, eds). New York: Wiley-Liss, pp 119-414 (1997)

    Neumeister H, Budelmann BU.  Structure and function of the Nautilus statocyst. Phil Trans R Soc Lond B 352: 1565-1588 (1997)

    Budelmann BU.  Kinociliary mechanoreceptors in the equilibrium receptor organs of cephalopods In Cell and Molecular Biology of the Ear (DJ Lim, ed), New York: Kluwer/ Plenum Press, pp. 3-17 (2000)

    Dickel L, Boal JG, Budelmann BU.  The effect of early experience on learning and memory in cuttlefish. Develop Psychobiol 36:101-110 (2000)

    Tu Y, Budelmann BU.  Effects of nitric oxide donors on the afferent resting activity in the cephalopod statocyst. Brain Res 865:211-220 (2000)

    Quast MJ, Neumeister H, Ezell EL, Budelmann BU.  MR Microscopy of cobalt-labeled nerve cells and pathways in an invertebrate brain (Sepia officinalis, Cephalopoda). Magn. Reson. Med. 45:575-579 (2001)

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