Professor Dr Mandyam V. Srinivasan

Research Priorities: Biology, neurophysiology, behavioural biology, orientation, visual neuroscience
Mandyam V. Srinivasan is an Indian neurobiologist and behavioural scientist. He investigates the behaviours of flying insects, such as honey bees, and how they process visual stimuli. The biologist has been able to show how insects, despite their tiny brains that comprise a fraction of the nerve cells of a human brain, can carry out complex orientation and memory tasks.
Mandyam V. Srinivasan recognised early on how bee brains have excellent recognition abilities.. It consists of only a million nerve cells, a fraction of the nerve cells in a human brain. Despite their very small brain, the social, nectar-gathering honey bees are capable of extraordinary feats of orientation and communication. Srinivasan was able to show that bees can find their way in labyrinths, remember smells and associate these with food sources, and warn fellow bees about dangers. Another distinctive feature of the honey bee helped to advance research: they can be fed and trained. In this way the biologist was able to show how the bees’ relatively small neural networks work to coordinate complex orientation and communication tasks.
Another research area of the behavioural biologist is the question of whether bees are conscious beings. Up until now it has been assumed that insect behaviour is controlled by reflexes, meaning that a stimulus triggers a specific reaction. The work of Srinivasan clearly indicates that bees could have higher levels of perception and recognition than previously assumed.
In addition, Mandyam V. Srinivasan’s research on the navigation of honey bees has also led to the development of new, biology-inspired algorithms for steering pilotless flight devices.