CAREER: Probing the Neural Integration of Sensorimotor Signals for Limb Motor Coordination and Perception

PI：Joiner，Wilsaan提案编号：1553895人类大脑发出指令来产生运动。然而，仅仅依靠运动产生的感觉不足以快速调整和更新未来的运动计划，因为中枢神经系统内的通信和处理存在固有的延迟。有强有力的行为证据表明，为了确保足够的控制，大脑使用有关发出的运动命令的信息来预测身体运动产生的预期感觉。尽管有这些证据，大脑如何将这些感觉反馈的预测与实际的运动诱导感觉结合起来进行运动控制和自我运动感知，在很大程度上仍然是未知的。这个职业生涯的建议，通过学生的参与和推广活动，奠定了长期的研究和教育事业的基础，以解决这些知识的差距。利用一套不同的技术，研究者将系统地检查实际和预测的感觉反馈上肢行为的贡献。推论放电（CD，也称为传出复制）是在运动信号产生的同时发出的运动命令的内部复制。该信号用于预测身体的未来状态以及由于运动而产生的预期感官后果。这种内部状态信息与延迟的感觉信号的整合对于精确的运动控制和运动感知至关重要。然而，很少有人知道这个信号在人类的属性或如何将这种内部运动信息与传入的感觉反馈。尽管了解甚少，内部状态估计仍然是肢体运动和前馈控制的计算模型的关键特征。为了直接解决目前的知识差距，拟议的研究旨在（1）量化本体感觉和内部肢体状态估计的准确性和灵敏度，（2）计算描述这些信号如何组合以帮助感知和运动协调，以及（3）确定行为和神经处理这些信号之间的因果关系，通过应用经颅磁刺激区域顶叶皮层和小脑中的神经元追求项目目标将利用不同的技术（计算建模，非侵入性神经刺激和定量行为分析），以推进感觉运动整合和控制的计算框架。增加对这种神经整合的理解可能（1）为理解实际和预测的感觉信息如何有助于复杂行为（例如，眼-手和双手协调），（2）帮助定义约束（例如，时间和敏锐度）的不同感觉信息所需的有效神经假体和大脑？机器接口控制和（3）帮助区分几种神经疾病中前馈运动控制缺陷的基础。重要的是，该项目促进对来自不同背景的学生，特别是少数民族学生的包容和培训，并鼓励向社区内从小学生到退休人员的广泛参与者推广和传播科学研究。

PI: Joiner, Wilsaan Proposal Number: 1553895The human brain issues commands to produce movement. However, relying solely on the sensations that result from movement would be insufficient to quickly adjust and update future motor plans due to the inherent delays in the communication and processing within the central nervous system. There is strong behavioral evidence that to ensure sufficient control the brain uses information about the issued motor commands to form a prediction of the expected sensations that result from body motion. Despite this evidence, it remains largely unknown how the brain combines these predictions of sensory feedback with actual motion-induced sensations for movement control and self-movement perception. This CAREER proposal, through student involvement and outreach activities, lays the foundation for a long-term research and educational career to address these gaps in knowledge. Utilizing a diverse set of techniques, the investigator will systematically examine the contributions of actual and predicted sensory feedback to upper limb behavior.Corollary discharge (CD, also referred to as efference copy) is the internal duplicate of a motor command made at the same time the motor signal is generated. This signal is used to predict the future state of the body and the expected sensory consequences due to movement. The integration of this internal state information with delayed sensory signals is critical for accurate movement control and motion perception. However, little is known about the properties of this signal in humans or how this internal movement information is integrated with reafferent sensory feedback. Despite being poorly understood, internal state estimation remains a critical feature of computational models of limb movement and feedforward control. To directly address the current gaps in knowledge, the proposed studies aim to (1) quantify the accuracy and sensitivity of proprioception and internal limb state estimation, (2) computationally describe how these signals are combined to aid perception and motor coordination, and (3) determine the causal relationships between behavior and the neural processing of these signals through the application of transcranial magnetic stimulation to areas within the parietal cortex and cerebellum. Pursuing the project goals will utilize different techniques (computational modeling, noninvasive neural stimulation and quantitative behavioral analysis) in order to advance the computational frameworks for sensorimotor integration and control. Increasing the understanding of this neural integration could potentially (1) provide the foundation for understanding how actual and predicted sensory information contribute to complex behaviors (e.g., eye-hand and bimanual coordination), (2) help define the constraints (e.g., timing and acuity) of the different sensory information required for effective neural prostheses and brain?machine interface control and (3) assist in distinguishing the basis of feedforward motor control deficits in several neurological diseases. Importantly, the project promotes the inclusion and training of students from various backgrounds, particularly minority students, and encourages the outreach and dissemination of the scientific research to a broad spectrum of participants within the community, from grade school students to retired individuals.