Identification of mechanisms for motor pattern selection during multimodal sensory integration.

中枢模式发生器是动物和人类中的网络或个体神经细胞，负责管理身体的重要功能，包括呼吸，吞咽和咀嚼。它们的活动是强大的，但当身体或环境条件发生变化时，它们会在不同的状态之间切换。这种开关可以通过控制神经元释放神经调节剂来实现，神经调节剂是一种化学物质，可以显著改变网络行为。控制神经元收集来自所有感官的信息，但它们的联合活动以及它们的活动如何导致适当的行为反应尚不清楚。这个提议询问了这些神经细胞是如何编码感觉信息的，以及如何选择适当的行为反应。控制神经元的群体活动中编码适当的行为反应的假设将在螃蟹的口胃神经系统中进行测试，这是一个功能强大的模型系统，具有独特的神经元访问。研究人员将使用高端光学成像和细胞内电生理学的组合来测量和操纵大多数控制神经元，同时它们在感觉刺激期间选择适当的行为。预期的结果是，不同的感官输入之间的编码不同的感官刺激，这些差异是必要的，足以引起行为的开关。拟议的研究为处于职业生涯不同阶段（本科生，研究生和博士后）的学生提供全面的培训，并教授各种已建立和最近开发的科学技术。它将开辟新的研究领域，在这些领域，由于神经元的数量太多，控制网络的研究是不可行的。揭示行为选择的机制对于我们理解神经系统功能至关重要，并且最终是治疗自闭症和学习障碍等感觉障碍的先决条件。该项目还将指导工程师如何在没有专用路径的情况下进行决策，从而可能导致机器和机器人中新的高效神经网络。

Central pattern generators are networks or individual nerve cells in animals and humans that govern vital functions of the body, including breathing, swallowing and chewing. Their activity is robust, but switches between different states when body or environmental conditions change. Such switches can be achieved by control neurons that release neuromodulators - chemical substances that dramatically alter network behavior. Control neurons collect information from all senses, but their conjoint activity and how their activity leads to appropriate behavioral responses is unknown. This proposal asks how sensory information is encoded by these nerve cells and how appropriate behavioral responses are selected. The hypothesis that appropriate behavioral responses are encoded in the population activity of control neurons will be tested in the stomatogastric nervous system of crabs, a powerful model system with unique access to neurons. The researchers will use a combination of high-end optical imaging and intracellular electrophysiology to measure and manipulate most control neurons while they select the appropriate behaviors during sensory stimulation. Expected results are that the encoding of sensory stimuli differs between different sensory inputs and that these differences are necessary and sufficient to cause switches in behavior. The proposed research provides comprehensive training for students at different stages of their careers (undergraduate, graduate and postdoc) and teaches a variety of established and recently developed scientific techniques. It will open new lines of research in systems where the investigation of control networks is not feasible due to the sheer number of neurons. Revealing the mechanisms of behavioral selection is crucial to our understanding of nervous system function and, ultimately, a prerequisite for the treatment of sensory disorders such as autism and learning disabilities. This project will also instruct engineers about ways of decision making without dedicated pathways and may thus lead to new and efficient neural networks in machines and robots.