Collaborative Research: Navigation and the Neural Integration of Multimodal Sensory Information in the Brain of an Arthropod

许多动物在环境中导航的能力远远超过人类在没有技术帮助的情况下所能做到的。非凡的导航能力不仅限于鸟类和哺乳动物等大脑发达的动物。它也可以在神经系统较简单的动物身上发现。这种热带弱水兽，一种类似蝎子的动物，能够在夜间穿过茂密的热带森林林找到回家的路。研究不同类型的感觉信息(视觉、化学、触觉)在解决导航问题时是如何被弱鱼处理的，这一研究可以揭示简单神经系统的基本设计特性，这些神经系统以某种方式能够控制复杂的学习行为。这些设计特性可以启发适用于机器人和人工智能系统的工程解决方案。对富有魅力的热带弱鱼的研究也是教师向K-12学生介绍神经科学对了解生物体如何从环境中获取和处理信息以及这些信息如何影响学习和记忆的重要性的诱人途径。为了支持与K-12学生、他们的教师和公众的互动，这笔赠款支持的研究人员将开发基于互联网的英语和西班牙语教材。通过进行行为学实验，评估从家庭避难所流离失所后的Amblypygid(Phrynus Posoparverus)的运动，研究人员将评估视觉、化学和机械信息在支持导航方面的相对重要性。这些实验要么涉及对动物感官的操纵，要么涉及环境中的感官线索。这项神经生物学研究将聚焦于被称为“蘑菇体”的大脑区域，该区域被认为支持空间记忆。在进行行为研究的同时，研究人员将探索神经系统途径，通过这些途径，来自不同感官刺激的信息被发送到蘑菇体。我们将特别关注蘑菇体如何“设计”或“整合”不同的感官输入。感官输入的集成被认为是支持复杂导航所必需的，并可能在设计复杂的人工系统方面具有应用潜力。最后，除了使用蘑菇体受损的动物外，将在与上述行为实验相同的条件下测试蘑菇体在导航中的重要性，以及它们结合不同来源感官信息的能力。

The ability of many animals to navigate through their environment far exceeds what humans are able to do without the help of technology. Exceptional navigation is not limited to animals with large brains, like birds and mammals. It can also be found in animals with simpler nervous systems. The tropical amblypygid, a scorpion-like animal, is able to find its way home at night through dense, tropical forest understory. The study of how different types of sensory information (visual, chemical, tactile) are processed by amblypygids as they solve navigation problems can reveal fundamental design properties of simple nervous systems that are somehow capable of controlling complex, learned behavior. These design properties can inspire engineering solutions applicable to robotic and artificial intelligence systems. The study of charismatic tropical amblypygids also serves as an alluring gateway for teachers to introduce K-12 students to the importance of neuroscience for understanding how organisms acquire and process information from their environment and how this information influences learning and memory. To support engagement with K-12 students, their teachers and the general public, researchers supported by this grant will develop internet-based educational materials in both English and Spanish. By conducting behavioral experiments that assess amblypygid (Phrynus pseudoparvulus) movements after displacement from a home refuge, researchers will assess the relative importance of visual, chemical and mechanical information in supporting navigation. These experiments will either involve manipulation of animal sense organs or the sensory cues in their environment. The neurobiological work will focus on a brain area known as "mushroom bodies", which are thought to support spatial memory. In parallel with the behavioral work, researchers will explore the nervous system routes by which information from different sensory stimuli is sent to the mushroom bodies. Particular attention will be given to how the mushroom bodies "engineer" or "integrate" the different sensory inputs. The integration of sensory inputs is hypothesized to be necessary to support complex navigation and will likely have applied potential for design of sophisticated artificial systems. Finally, the importance of the mushroom bodies in navigation, and their capacity to combine different sources of sensory information, will be tested under the same conditions of the behavioral experiments noted above, except using animals whose mushroom bodies are impaired.