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Rhanor Gillette

Professor Emeritus of Molecular & Integrative Physiology

Research Interests

Research Topics

Computational Biology, Ion Channels, Learning and Memory, Neurobiology, Pattern Formation, Sensory Processing

Disease Research Interests

Neurological and Behavioral Disorders

Research Description

Organisms are designed to engage three basic functions: resource acquisition, defense against accident (e.g., predation and disease), and reproduction. Their lifestyles represent economic strategies, and range in complexity from very simple solitary foraging to the complicated, multi-layered economies of the social vertebrates. The complexities of valuation, decision-making, and lifestyles are parallel over this range. What are the gradations of complexity in behavioral economy, and how are they traversed in evolution?

We describe neuronal circuitry for cost-benefit decisions in foraging behavior of the predatory sea-slug Pleurobranchaea and reproduce it in simulation. The computations resemble those of the most primitive parts of the mammal’s brain, onto which higher consciousness was grafted in evolution. We study the animal’s simple brain and behavior to understand the origins of the esthetic sense, reward experience, and addiction. How did the complexity for social behavior, abstract thought, and self-awareness evolve from the simpler brain?

We combine behavioral analyses, neurophysiological techniques, and computational modeling in an integrated approach to understanding how complex brains evolved from simple ones. A new research thrust analyzes sensory-motor computations of the peripheral nervous systems in Pleurobranchaea and the octopus to understand the coordination of behavior in animals without articulated skeletons, and how nervous system complexity evolved from simplicity.

We produce interactive computational simulations of foraging in virtual entities that make realistic economic decisions by weighing stimulus characters against motivation, and reward learning. Two may be freely accessed for experimentation from https://github.com/Entience/Cyberslug and https://github.com/Entience/ASIMOV. The version ASIMOV illustrates the emergence of addiction processes from the neuronal circuitry of foraging. The most recent addition is the Feature Association Matrix (FAM) to ASIMOV episodic memory, giving it awareness of the past and ability to cognitively map its environment; article link: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.neucom.2024.127812

Education

B.S. 1967 University of Miami
M.S. 1969 University of Hawaii
Ph.D. 1974 University of Toronto

Additional Campus Affiliations

Professor Emeritus, Molecular and Integrative Physiology
Professor Emeritus, Neuroscience Program
Professor Emeritus, Beckman Institute for Advanced Science and Technology
Professor Emeritus, National Center for Supercomputing Applications (NCSA)

Recent Publications

Gribkova, E. D., Chowdhary, G., & Gillette, R. (2024). Cognitive mapping and episodic memory emerge from simple associative learning rules. Neurocomputing, 595, Article 127812. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.neucom.2024.127812

Halder, U., Gribkova, E. D., Gillette, R., & Mehta, P. G. (2024). Passive elasticity properties of Octopus rubescens arms. Journal of Experimental Biology, 227(13), Article jeb247175. https://doi.org/10.1242/jeb.247175

Norekian, T., Liu, Y., Gribkova, E. D., Cui, J., & Gillette, R. (2024). A peripheral subepithelial network for chemotactile processing in the predatory sea slug Pleurobranchaea californica. PloS one, 19(2), 1-21. Article e0296872. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0296872

Zhao, Q., Gribkova, E., Shen, Y., Cui, J., Naughton, N., Liu, L., Seo, J., Tong, B., Gazzola, M., Gillette, R., & Zhao, H. (2024). Highly stretchable and customizable microneedle electrode arrays for intramuscular electromyography. Science Advances, 10(18), Article adn7202. https://doi.org/10.1126/sciadv.adn7202

Gribkova, E. D., Lee, C. A., Brown, J. W., Cui, J., Liu, Y., Norekian, T., & Gillette, R. (2023). A common modular design of nervous systems originating in soft-bodied invertebrates. Frontiers in Physiology, 14, Article 1263453. https://doi.org/10.3389/fphys.2023.1263453

View all publications on Illinois Experts

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