CAREER: The Virtual Whisking Rat: Linking Mechanics and Sensory Neuroscience

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The rat whisker system is one of the most commonly-used systems in neuroscience to study how the brain combines sensory information with movement information. To date, however, the small size and rapid movements of the whiskers have made it difficult to quantify their dynamics. This work will quantify how the whiskers move and interact with objects during rat exploratory behavior. Improved understanding of the rat whisker system will provide considerable insight into the general functional principles that govern the neural circuits mediating sensing and control. A dynamic model of the isolated whisker moving in free air and during object collisions will be developed. This will be incorporated into an anatomically accurate 3-dimensional simulation environment. Finally, behavioral experiments will identify the patterns of mechanical input across the array associated with the rat's ability to distinguish between flat and curved surfaces. The ultimate goal is to determine how the brain might represent the shape of an object based entirely on the patterns of forces and moments at the base of each whisker across the array. The simulation environment will be distributed widely, so that researchers working on any brain structure involved in rat whisking behavior can predict whisker-object contact patterns. The simulation environment will also be used in conjunction with previously developed robotic systems in a classroom environment and to aid in the recruitment of underrepresented minority engineering applicants. Students will be engaged in understanding how basic mechanical principles must be applied to sensory neuroscience. Simultaneously, the PI will develop a coordinated program for undergraduate research across the McCormick school of Engineering at Northwestern University. The success of these initiatives will be carefully evaluated with the help of Northwestern's Searle Center for Teaching Excellence.