CAREER: Characterizing Neural Mechanisms of State Estimation in the Posterior Parietal Cortex

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This project is aimed at understanding how the brain combines different forms of sensory information in order to help plan and modify our movements. Information about the current state of objects in the world (i.e. their position and velocity) is transmitted to the brain by our senses, which describe this state using very different "languages". For example, our eyes provide information about the visual motion of a fly buzzing around us with respect to where we are currently looking, while our ears relay complementary information, the buzzing sound generated by the flapping of the fly's wings, with respect to our heads. Similarly, if we want to reach out and swat this fly, the brain must combine information from our eyes with information from the moving arm, which speaks yet another language altogether. Clearly some sort of "interpreter" is required to allow the senses to work together to solve this task. It is currently believed that the posterior parietal cortex (PPC) may serve this role, but precisely how this is accomplished is unclear. This project is aimed at understanding the role of the PPC in the perception of arm state, using electrophysiological recording techniques combined with a virtual reality based behavioral paradigm.This project also involves the development of a new biotechnology course at the high school level that will incorporate concepts and techniques relevant to systems neuroscience and neural engineering, which are currently underemphasized or not emphasized at all in high school level biotechnology curricula. Bioengineering graduate and undergraduate students will assist in developing and delivering various components of the course and select high school students will be given the opportunity for summer research internships. This will provide the groundwork for a continuous pipeline of well-prepared biotechnology students from high school to college to grad school/industry.