Bio:
Tom Daniel received his Ph.D. in 1982 from Duke University where he worked with Steven Vogel and Stephen Wainwright on animal locomotion and biomechanics. He followed this with a Bantrell Postdoctoral Fellowship in Engineering Sciences at the California Institute of Technology under the guidance of Ted Wu where he continued working on the fluid dynamics of animal movement. In 1984 he joined the Department of Zoology at the University of Washington. He is the proud recipient of the UW Distinguished Teaching Award,the UW Distinguished Gradaute Mentor Award, and a MacArthur Fellowship.
Research Interests:
Flight Control in Manduca sexta
Neurons and neuronal networks decide, remember, modulate, and control an animalšs every sensation, thought, movement, and act. The intimate details of this network, including the dynamical properties of individual and populations of neurons, give a nervous system the power to control a wide array of behavioral functions. We want to know more about neuronal dynamics and networks; about synaptic interactions between neurons; about how neuronal signaling and behavior and control and environmental stimuli are inextricably linked. Consequently, we have begun in a multi-university, multi-disciplinary, multi-sponsor research program to integrate silicon electronics with neurobiology. Recent research by Jordanna Sprayberry has focussed on visual image processing and the patterns of descending motor signals that respond to moving images. Additional work has focussed on stimulating motor patterns in ventral ganglia with the goal of path control of live hawmoths.
Flexible Filaments and the Dynamics of Muscle Contraction
For some time, we have been concerned with the dynamics of muscle contraction -- at the level of whole muscle and at the level of the molecular motors that drive contraction. In one set of studies we focus on how motor molecules may interact through a compliant network of actin filaments. In a current study, we are focusing on the total mechanical power output of the dominant flight muscle of Manduca sexta, a muscle whose behavior is remarkably similar to cardiac muscle (Tu and Daniel). In collaboration with Mike Regnier (Bioengineering), we are focussing on multiple filament interactions along with spatially explicit models of Calcium regulation of the thin filament. This work has been part of a long term collaboration with the laboratory of Mike Regnier.
Bio-gyroscopes: an new spin on flight research in the Daniel lab.
As part his postdoctoral research Sanjay Sane has proposed the notion that insects may encode gyroscopic forces by antennal vibration. This in turn has driven a number of related research projects including a blend of finite element analyses, neurobiological approaches and biomechanical approaches to see how antennae or other structures can encode gyroscopic forces. This summer we have started to examine crane fly halteres, the largest dipteran gyroscopes in the world. We are particularly interested in the stress and strain distributions (see an example movie by Barry Wark) in compliant gryoscopes. Might these be elastic structures whose responses are tunable? |
Selected Publications:
Past five years:
Daniel, T.L., Dieudonne, A., Fox, J.L., Myhrvold,C.A.,Sane, S.P., and Wark,B. (2008) Inertial guidance systems in insects:from the neurobiology to the structural of biologocial gyroscopes.;J. Navigation. (in press), J. Navigation.
Fox, J.L. and Daniel,T.L. (2008).A neuralbasis for gyroscopic encoding in the halteres of Holorusia.Journal of Comparative Physiology A 194: 887-897.
Tanner, B.C.W, Regnier, M., and Daniel,T.L.(2008).A spatially-explicit model of muscle contraction explains a relationship betwen activation phase, power, and ATP utilization in insect flight. J. Exp. Biol. 211:180-186.
Tanner, B.C.W, Daniel, T.L. andRegnier, M..(2007) Sarcomere lattice geometry influences cooperative myosin binding in muscle. PLOS Computational Biology 3:
Sprayberry, J.and Daniel,T.L.(2007)Flower tracking in hawkmoths: behavior and energetics. J. Exp. Biol. 210:37-45
Biewener, A.A.,Aerts, P., Ahn, A.N., Chiel, H.J., Daley, M.A., Daniel,T.L., Full, R.J., Hale, M.E., Hedrick, T.L., Koditschek, D.E.,Lappin, A.K., Nichols, T.R., Quinn,R.D., Ritzman, R.E., Satterlie, R.A., Szymik, B.(2007) Neuromechanics: an integrative approach for understanding motor control. Integrative and Comparative Biology. 41:16-54.
Sane, S.P.,Dieudonne, A, Willis,M.A., and Daniel, T.L. (2007) Antennal mechanical sensors mediate flight control in Lepidoptera. Science. 315:863-866
Tanner BCW, Macpherson JM, Xu X, Wang Q, Regnier M, Daniel TL and Chase PB. 2007.Spatially explicit, nano-mechanical models of the muscle half-sarcomere: Implications for biomechanical tuning in atrophy and fatigue.Acta Astronautica 60:111-118.
Hedrick, T.L. and Daniel, T.L. (2006). Flight control in the hawkmoth Manduca sexta: thin inverse problem of hovering. J. Exp. Biol. 209:31143130.
Combes, S. and Daniel, T.L. (2005). Flexural stiffness in insect wings: effects of wing venation and stiffness distribution on passive bending. American Entomotologist. 42-45.
Tu, M.S. and Daniel, T.L. (2004) Submaximal power output from the dorsolongitudinal flight muscles of the hawkmoth Manduca sexta. J. Exp. Biol. 207,4651-4662
Chase, P.B.,, MacPherson, J.M, and Daniel, T.L. (2004). A spatially explicit model of the half sarcomere: myofilament compliance affects Ca2 regulation. Ann. Biomed. Eng. 32,1559-1568.
Tu, M.S. and Daniel, T.L. (2004). Cardiac like behavior in insect flight muscle. J. Exp. Biol. 207,2455-2464.
Combes, S. and Daniel, T. 2003a. Flexural stiffness in insect wings I: scaling and the influence of wing venation.J. Exp. Biol. 206(16).
Combes, S. and Daniel, T. 2003b. Flexural stiffness in insect wings II: spatial distibution and dynamic bending.J. Exp. Biol. 206(16).
Combes, S. and Daniel, T. 2003c Into thin air: the role of inertia in wing deformations. J. Exp. Biol. 206(16).
Daniel, TL. 2003. Flying with animals II: Integrating computer electronics with biology. Nat. Acad. Eng. The Bridge 33:16-18.
Teaching Interests:
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