ZYWang Lab @ UW Seattle

Neurobiology of Senescence and Death

Departments of Psychology and Biology; Graduate Program in Neuroscience

Death unites all living organisms. How do nervous systems organize, encode, and mediate end-of-life transitions and death? Our lab investigates the nervous systems of octopuses and bees, two ideal systems for studying this question from evolutionary and developmental perspectives. We use multiple high-dimensional omics, behavioral, and molecular approaches to uncover fundamental rules of aging, senescence, and death.

Octopus self-destruct system

Most octopus species are semelparous: they die after the first time they reproduce. After mating, female octopuses brood their clutch of eggs, stop feeding, and undergo rapid whole body decline. Then, usually before the eggs even hatch, the octopus dies. This entire behavioral sequence, including death, is reversibly controlled by the optic glands and the…

Death and the bumblebee

Bumblebees live and die on an annual cycle. In the spring, a founding queen establishes a new colony. The lifespan of her offspring is developmentally determined—offspring destined to remain in the colony as workers are short-lived while those destined to become future founding queens (gynes) live much longer. At the end of the colony cycle,…