缅北禁地

Introduction

I am interested in how nerve cells work to control behaviour, and the focus of my research is insect vision and flight.

In 2010, 'Nerve Cells and Animal Behaviour' , co-authored by David Young of Melbourne University, was published in its third edition by Cambriadge University Press. It is aimed primarily at final year undergraduates, providing an introduction to current research in Neuroethology.

Google Scholar page:

Research Interests

My research focuses on insects - particularly how dragonflies and locusts fly, how cicadas sing, and how locusts use their eyes. Locusts have two types of eye: compound eyes, which are used for seeing shapes and movmenets; and ocelli or simple eyes, which register movements of the visual horizon to act as a kind of stabilising system for attitude during flight.   I am interested in synapses, and the roles they play in transforming signals - the locust ocellar system is an extremely good subject for studying the Natural History of synapses.  One of my most recent discoveries is that neurons in the ocellar pathway can deliver extremely precisely timed signals, and I am investigating how those are generated and used.   In working on the compound eye I collaborate with Claire Rind. We investigate a unique, identifiable nerve cell that  responds to approaching objects, and can warn of collision or capture by a predator. Currenlty I am performing experiments to find out how well that neuron works in young locusts compared with mature adults.

Undergraduate Teaching

Stage 1: Animal Kingdom

Stage 2: Animal Physiology

Stage 3: Mechanisms of Behaviour

• Simmons PJ, van Steveninck RD. . In: Journal of Physiology: Conference of the Physiological Society. 2002, Liverpool: Wiley-Blackwell Publishing Ltd.
• Simmons PJ. . Neuron 2002, 35(4), 749-758.
• Simmons PJ. . Microscopy Research and Technique 2002, 56(4), 270-280.
• Leitinger G, Simmons PJ. . Journal of Neurobiology 2002, 50(2), 93-105.
• Leitinger G, Simmons PJ. . Journal of Comparative Neurology 2000, 416(3), 345-355.
• Leitinger G, Simmons PJ. Three-dimensional features of synapses that tonically release neurotransmitter. In: EUROPEAN JOURNAL OF NEUROSCIENCE. 2000.
• Leitinger G, Masich S, Neumüller J, Pabst MA, Pavelka M, Rind FC, Shupliakov O, Simmons PJ, Kolb D. . Journal of Comparative Neurology 2012, 520(2), 384-400.
• Simmons PJ. . Journal of Comparative Physiology A 2011, 197(11), 1083-1096.
• Simmons PJ, Rind FC, Santer RD. . Journal of Insect Physiology 2010, 56(8), 876–883.
• Simmons P, Young D. . Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2010.
• Simmons PJ, de Ruyter van Steveninck RR. . Journal of Experimental Biology 2010, 213(15), 2629-2639.
• Santer RD, Yamawaki Y, Rind FC, Simmons PJ. . Journal of Comparative Physiology A 2008, 194(1), 69-77.
• Santer RD, Rind FC, Stafford R, Simmons PJ. . Journal of Neurophysiology 2006, 95(6), 3391-3400.
• Simmons PJ, De Ruyter Van Steveninck R. . Journal of Neuroscience 2005, 25(33), 7529-7537.
• Leitinger G, Pabst MA, Rind FC, Simmons PJ. . Journal of Comparative Neurology 2004, 480(1), 89-100.
• Simmons PJ. . Journal of Experimental Biology 2001, 204(1), 127-138.
• Pérez M, Simmons PJ. Localización de motoneuronas de dos músculos de vuelo en el ganglio mesothorácico de cucarachas hembras. Revista Biologia 2000, 14, 182-184.
• Leitinger G, Simmons PJ. . Journal of Physiology 1999, 520, 39-40.
• Simmons, Peter. Young, David. Cambridge University Press, 1999.
• F. C. Rind and P. J. Simmons. Local circuit for the computation of object approach by an identified visual neuron in the locust. Journal of Comparative Neurology 1998, 395, 405-415.
• G. Leitinger and P. J. Simmons. Synaptic sites on lateral ocellar L-neurones of the locust Schistocerca gregaria stain for acetylcholinesterase. European Journal of Neuroscience 1998, 10, 18001.
• P. J. Simmons and F. C. Rind. Responses to object approach by a wide field visual neurone, the LGMD2 of the locust: Characterization and image cues. Journal of Comparative Physiology a-Sensory Neural and Behavioral Physiology 1997, 180, 203-214.
• F. C. Rind and P. J. Simmons. Signalling of object approach by the DCMD neuron of the locust. Journal of Neurophysiology 1997, 77, 1029-1033.
• Simmons P.J. The transfer of signals from photoreceptor cells to large, second-order neurones in the ocellar visual system of the locust, Locusta migratoria. J. Exp. Biology 1995, 198, 537-549.
• Simmons PJ, Sztarker J, Rind FC. . Journal of Experimental Biology 2013, 216, 2266-2275.
• Santer RD, Rind FC, Simmons PJ. . PloS One 2012, 7(11), e50146.
• Simmons PJ. . Journal of Comparative Physiology A 2011, 197(11), 1083-1096.
• Rind FC, Simmons PJ. . Trends in Neurosciences 1999, 22(5), 215-220.
• Rind FC, Simmons PJ. . Trends in Neurosciences 1999, 22(10), 438-438.
• Simmons PJ. . Journal of Neuroscience 1999, 19(23), 10584-10594.