CAREER: Neural Dynamics, Olfactory Coding and Behavior

这个项目的重点是相对简单的无脊椎动物的神经活动如何编码关于气味的信息？S的身份和强度，以一种对强度和背景环境的变化具有鲁棒性的方式，在其中可能遇到感觉刺激。电生理学、计算和行为学方法被结合在一起，以确定嗅觉信息处理的基本原理。已识别的生物嗅觉原理还将导致开发用于人工嗅觉的新的信号处理算法，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种群水平的反应动力学如何维持/改变嗅觉不变性，并检查生理和气味驱动行为之间的相关性。一种综合的方法将利用果蝇可用的丰富遗传工具来研究单个神经元的动力学，并将其与在蝗虫(Schistocerca Americana)中很好地建立的多单位电生理方法相结合来检测神经回路动力学。这些生物数据将被用来开发受实验约束的嗅觉信号处理模型，以获得机械方面的见解，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一种背景和浓度不变的方式表示气味。研究外部刺激和内在神经动力学之间的相互作用也有望使人们对动态神经网络有更好的总体理解。从拟议工作中获得的数据和分析方法将用于为本科生和研究生课程开发新的神经工程模块，从而加强现有的生物医学工程课程。此外，K-12教师专业发展研讨会：？生物学在哪里遇到工程学？将为初中和高中教师提供内容和工具，让他们的学生有意义地接触到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.