Action selection in insects: how a microbrain knows what to do

确定该做什么需要将感官信息与我们当前的生理状态和过去经验的记忆相结合，以选择最佳的行动。这就是行动选择问题。 我们的项目旨在发现微小的昆虫大脑如何解决这个基本问题。该项目结合了动物探索虚拟现实的神经记录，行为分析和计算建模。预期的结果是对大脑作为一个有效的行为控制系统的新理解。这将有利于系统和比较神经科学。我们的研究结果也可能启发机器人系统的解决方案，这些系统必须在偏远和具有挑战性的环境中自主操作，例如救灾或探索。

Identifying what to do demands integrating sensory information with our current physiological state and memory of past experience to select the best possible action. This is the action selection problem. Our project aims to discover how tiny insect brains solve this fundamental problem. The project combines neural recordings from animals exploring virtual reality, behavioural analyses and computational modelling. The expected outcome is a new understanding of the brain as an effective behavioural control system. This will benefit systems and comparative neuroscience. Our findings may also inspire solutions for robotic systems that must operate autonomously in remote and challenging environments such as disaster relief or exploration.