Posted on Thursday, April 29, 2010
Dr. Katherine Robertson, Westminster College assistant professor of biology, presented a seminar at Youngstown (Ohio) State University's Department of Biology April 23.
Robertson's seminar, "Investigations of Adult Brain Plasticity in Insects," presented evidence of "silent" pathways in the brains of lab-raised insects that are inactive under normal circumstances but become activated if the insects' living conditions are altered.
"These pathways may form part of an adaptive mechanism that allows insects to survive unpredictable environmental changes and may be similar to adaptive mechanisms found in humans," Robertson said.
Robertson, who has been with Westminster since 2005, earned an undergraduate degree from Paddington College, U.K., and master's and Ph.D. from the University of London.
Contact Robertson at (724) 946-7213 or e-mail robertkl@westminster.edu for additional information.
