Tom Allen

Data Scientist and Researcher
MSc Data Science and AI, BA Experimental Psychology

[Tom Allen @tomallen_]

1 #AnimBehav2021 Adult #drosophila take flight in response to light-off stimuli, a #behaviour crucial for evading looming #ecological threats. Using a #novel #videotracking method to study this #startle response in #widtype #flies, we are first to show #ppi in adult drosophila

[Tom Allen @tomallen_]

Fantastic developmental #neuroscience Research Associate opportunity on the Wellcome LEAP 1kD team! Anyone wanting to collaborate internationally on a world-leading research should take a look: https://t.co/yDQvLBs7sf

[Zantiks Ltd @_zantiks]

We have been developing fully #automated #odour delivery. Many thanks to @tomallen_ for this lovely #Drosophila video and all the hard work. Interested in learning more? Get in touch #BehaviourSimply

https://t.co/LwaoPUuIYj

[Laurence Hunt @LHuntNeuro]

Nice work from final year @OxExpPsy undergrad Tom Allen on pre-pulse inhibition in Drosophila! (...and he has done more great work in our lab this year, in his project with @KJuechems)

[Tom Allen @tomallen_]

So pleased to have this #research out there for everyone to read! I hope it shows just how easy conducting #reproducible experiments can be with the right kit. It has been a pleasure working with everyone @_zantiks, with special thanks to Bill for all his help #BehaviourSimply

[Zantiks Ltd @_zantiks]

Yet another new paper out! #replication of the #startle response in the fruit fly #Drosophila, using the #zantiks MWP unit. Great work @tomallen_! #BehaviourSimply

https://t.co/pZimvTNftQ

[Zantiks Ltd @_zantiks]

New paper out! Investigating the #startle response of #mosquito larvae to vibration stimuli in the #zantiks MWP. #BehaviourSimply
https://t.co/i2PCI54o4l

[Zantiks Ltd @_zantiks]

Well done @tomallen_ for presenting some excellent work at #AnimBehav2021 twitter conference. It was a fun new platform to see lots of interesting #behaviour #research

[Tom Allen @tomallen_]

@ginnygreenway In the unit there is an overhead infra-red camera. IR light, shone from below the animals, passes through the IR-transparent equipment, but not the animals (which appear dark in the video) Hope that answers your question! See tweet no 2 or https://t.co/qs7KnjScxM for more detail

[Tom Allen @tomallen_]

1 #AnimBehav2021 Adult #drosophila take flight in response to light-off stimuli, a #behaviour crucial for evading looming #ecological threats. Using a #novel #videotracking method to study this #startle response in #widtype #flies, we are first to show #ppi in adult drosophila

[Tom Allen @tomallen_]

@AMCELL To explain a little further, we can currently track multiple animals concurrently if each are in a separate enclosure. I.e. the 24 wells in the above video. However, @_zantiks are developing software which will track multiple animals in a single enclosure!

[Tom Allen @tomallen_]

@AMCELL To explain a little further, we can currently track multiple animals concurrently if each are in a separate enclosure. I.e. the 24 wells in the above video. However, @_zantiks are developing software which will track multiple animals in a single enclosure!

[Tom Allen @tomallen_]

@HayleyMReeve @AMCELL @_zantiks It would be fascinating to see if flies startle more in a single enclosure though! Perhaps they startle when they see another fly do the same? We briefly investigated this, comparing flies in the middle enclosures/wells to those on the outside, but found no difference

[Tom Allen @tomallen_]

@HayleyMReeve @AMCELL @_zantiks It would be fascinating to see if flies startle more in a single enclosure though! Perhaps they startle when they see another fly do the same? We briefly investigated this, comparing flies in the middle enclosures/wells to those on the outside, but found no difference

[Tom Allen @tomallen_]

@HayleyMReeve @AMCELL I'm not familiar with this software but I'm sure the answer is yes you could. The benefit of using the @_zantiks unit is that the video-tracking (camera, lighting and software) is integrated!

[Lydia Hopper @LydiaMHopper]

Using video technology to automatically record and monitor the behavior of flies!! Elegant study design and great example of open science from @tomallen_ #AnimBehav2021

[Tom Allen @tomallen_]

@LydiaMHopper With this in mind, red-green contrasts are also relevant for finding fruit amongst vegetation... Then why do they not startle to red? So really the answer is we don't know yet!

[Tom Allen @tomallen_]

@LydiaMHopper Thank you! I think the most likely answer is that green wavelengths are prioritised by the Drosophila visual system. This is important in their natural environment, as they would likely be standing on leaves (reflecting green light) when attacked

[Tom Allen @tomallen_]

@NicoleWalasek Yes! Thank you for such a clear explanation. Fascinating to see this form of model applied to development!

[Tom Allen @tomallen_]

6 #AnimBehav2021 We advocate for #replicable #science using #newtechnologiesandmethods. All our procedural scripts, raw data and R scripts are here https://t.co/ZtxMKNNp4q We hope others will build upon our #research into this fundamental #behaviour and its underlying mechanisms

[Tom Allen @tomallen_]

5 #AnimBehav2021 Studying #habituation and #ppi mechanisms promotes #ecological, #neurological and #genetic understanding, with #translational applications. Fenckova et al. (2019) link light-off startle habituation in drosophila to intellectual disability: https://t.co/q6nPaddUf4