EAGER: Integration of magnetic and visual cues by C57BL/6 mice in a 4-armed ('plus') water maze

摘要哺乳动物空间认知的研究主要集中在相对短距离的视觉地标和自产生的线索（光流、前庭线索等）上，而忽略了地球磁场提供的全局参考，地球磁场可用于将局部视觉地标阵列放置到寄存器中，以形成熟悉空间的地图。有证据表明，鸟类和至少一些啮齿类动物（如小鼠和大鼠）的磁罗盘可能是由视网膜上的磁敏感光感受器介导的，这导致人们猜测，磁场可能被感知为叠加在动物周围环境上的一种复杂的、三维的光强度或颜色模式。这种模式可以作为一个简单的球面网格或坐标系统，帮助编码来自其他感官模式的方向和空间输入。行为学研究表明，老鼠有一个发达的磁罗盘，但没有关于老鼠或任何其他哺乳动物的磁性和非磁性线索如何相互作用的信息。该研究将使用小鼠水迷宫实验来研究磁场和视觉地标线索在两种线索同时存在时的相对显著性，并确定学习磁场定向反应的小鼠是否会将学习到的关系转移到视觉地标上，反之亦然。本研究的更广泛影响包括：(1)理解一种新的感觉输入（磁线索）在广泛用于生物医学研究的行为分析中的作用（例如，研究阿尔茨海默病和其他形式的痴呆症），(2)为来自不同背景的本科生提供跨学科研究培训，(3)与国内公认的跨学科培训和评估专家合作，开发评估本科生研究的材料。

AbstractStudies of mammalian spatial cognition have focused primarily on visual landmarks and self-generated cues (optic flow, vestibular cues, etc.) that operate over relatively short distances, and largely ignored the global reference provided by the earth's magnetic field that can be used to place local arrays of visual landmarks into register to form a map of familiar space. Evidence that the magnetic compass of birds and at least some rodents (i.e., mice and rats) may be mediated by magnetically sensitive photoreceptors in the retina has led to speculation that the magnetic field may be perceived as a complex, 3-dimensional pattern of light intensity or color superimposed on the animal's surroundings. This pattern could function as a simple spherical grid or coordinate system that helps to encode directional and spatial input from other sensory modalities. Behavioral studies have shown that mice have a well-developed magnetic compass, but there is no information for mice or any other mammal on how magnetic and non-magnetic cues interact. The proposed research will use a mouse water maze assay to investigate the relative salience of magnetic and visual landmark cues when both types of cues are present, and to determine whether mice that learn a directional response relative to the magnetic field will transfer the learned relationship to visual landmarks, and vice versa. Broader impacts of this research include: (1) understanding the role of a novel sensory input (magnetic cues) in a behavioral assay widely used in biomedical research (e.g., to study Alzheimer's disease and other forms of dementia), (2) providing undergraduate students from diverse backgrounds with interdisciplinary research training, and (3) collaborating with a nationally recognized expert on interdisciplinary training and assessment to develop materials to assess undergraduate research.