CAREER: Neural Dynamics, Olfactory Coding and Behavior

这个项目的重点是如何在相对简单的无脊椎动物的神经活动编码信息的气味？的身份和强度，以一种方式，是鲁棒的强度和背景的变化，其中感官刺激可以遇到。电生理学，计算和行为的方法相结合，在这方面的努力，以确定嗅觉信息处理的基本原则。确定的生物嗅觉原理也将导致开发新的人工嗅觉信号处理算法，即用于许多非侵入性化学传感应用的电子鼻。该项目的技术目标是确定单个神经元和群体水平的响应动力学如何保持/改变嗅觉不变性，并检查生理学和气味驱动行为之间的相关性。综合方法将利用果蝇（Drosophila melanogaster）中丰富的遗传工具库来研究单神经元动力学，并将其与蝗虫（Schistocerca americana）中已建立的多单位电生理方法结合联合收割机来研究神经回路动力学。生物数据将用于开发嗅觉信号处理的实验约束模型，以获得机械见解并促进电子鼻生物启发算法的开发。 这项研究将揭示神经活动的动态模式如何允许嗅觉系统以背景和浓度不变的方式表示气味。外部刺激和内在的神经动力学之间的相互作用的检查，也预计将告知更好地了解动态神经元网络。从拟议的工作中获得的数据和分析方法将用于开发新的神经工程模块的本科生和研究生课程，从而提高现有的生物医学工程课程。此外，K-12教师专业发展研讨会：？生物学与工程学在哪里相遇？将创建一个科学教育中心，为初中和高中教师提供内容和工具，使他们的学生有意义地接触科学教育的跨学科性质。

This project focuses on how neural activity in relatively simple invertebrates encodes information about an odorant?s identity and intensity, in a manner that is robust to variations in the intensities and background contexts in which sensory stimuli can be encountered. Electrophysiological, computational and behavioral approaches are combined in this effort to determine the basic principles of olfactory information processing. The identified biological olfaction principles will also lead to development of novel signal-processing algorithms for artificial olfaction, i.e. for electronic noses used in many non-invasive chemical-sensing applications.The technical goals of the project are to determine how response dynamics at the single neuron and population levels maintain/alter olfactory invariance and examine correlations between physiology and odor-driven behavior. An integrative approach will take advantage of the rich repertoire of genetic tools available in the fruit fly (Drosophila melanogaster) to study single neuron dynamics, and combine it with multi-unit electrophysiological approaches that are well established in locusts (Schistocerca americana) to examine neural circuit dynamics. The biological data will be used to develop experimentally constrained models of olfactory signal processing to gain mechanistic insights and facilitate development of bio-inspired algorithms for an electronic nose. This research will reveal how dynamic patterns of neural activity allow the olfactory system to represent odorants in a background- and concentration-invariant manner. Examination of the interactions between an external stimulus and intrinsic neural dynamics is also expected to inform a better general understanding of dynamical neuronal networks. Data and analytical approaches obtained from the proposed work will be used to develop new neural engineering modules for undergraduate and graduate courses and thereby enhance the existing biomedical engineering curriculum. Furthermore, a K-12 teachers professional development workshop: ?Where biology meets engineering? will be created to provide middle- and high-school teachers with content and tools to offer their students a meaningful exposure to the interdisciplinary nature of science education.