NSF Postdoctoral Fellowship in Biology FY 2021: Linking biomechanics to neurobiology: how coordinated bird flight emerges from visual motion processing

该行动资助了2021财年的NSF生物学博士后研究奖学金，即调查基因组，环境和表型之间相互作用的生命规则的综合研究。该研究金支持研究员的研究和培训，以创新的方式为生活规则领域做出贡献。大脑如何解释视觉信息以引导安全运动通过环境是生物学中最突出的问题之一。了解这一过程将有助于指导更安全的自动驾驶汽车的设计。利用鸟类飞行作为模型系统，这项研究将揭示控制障碍物周围运动和与其他个体协调的基本原则。鸟类是最容易识别的动物之一，依靠视觉信息来指导它们的运动;人类和自动驾驶汽车也是如此。这项研究将确定鸟类飞行是如何通过使用真实世界的视觉刺激在大脑中进行处理而出现的。描述鸟类飞行和协调的数据将与来自Lummi国家的学生合作收集。因此，该项目将为美国原住民学生-STEM中代表性最小的群体-提供实践，地理相关，接触科学。通常，视觉处理是通过在实验室环境中将动物暴露于简单模式来研究的。虽然这些方法可以严格控制实验设计，但简单的图案缺乏自然条件提供的视觉刺激的许多特征。这极大地限制了我们对动物行为如何通过视觉信息处理出现的洞察力。在视觉神经科学领域的两位知名专家的培训下，研究员将利用他们在生物力学方面的经验，将动物行为与视觉神经生物学联系起来。研究将使用成对的头戴式摄像机系统来确定自由飞翔的鸽子所经历的视觉刺激的自然统计数据在飞行环境中的差异。动物还将配备GPS跟踪器和加速度计，以便特定于上下文的视觉刺激可以与鸽子的瞬时运动学和轨迹联系起来。最后，将鸽子暴露于视觉刺激，同时使用电生理学研究大脑活动，将揭示自然视觉刺激的特征如何编码在视觉运动神经元的活动模式中。因此，这项研究将弥合提供给感觉系统，处理，个人运动反应和协调的群体运动的信息之间的差距，同时为研究员提供神经科学的高级培训。该项目的数据将与美国原住民学生合作收集，以促进和鼓励他们攻读STEM高级学位。该奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的智力价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

This action funds an NSF Postdoctoral Research Fellowship in Biology for FY 2021, Integrative Research Investigating the Rules of Life Governing Interactions Between Genomes, Environment and Phenotypes. The fellowship supports research and training of the Fellow that will contribute to the area of Rules of Life in innovative ways. How the brain interprets visual information to guide safe movement through the environment is one of the great outstanding questions in biology. Understanding this process will help direct the design of safer self-driving cars. Using bird flight as a model system, this research will uncover fundamental principles for the control of movement around obstacles and in coordination with other individuals. Birds are among the most maneuverable animals and rely on visual information to guide their movement; as do humans and self-driving cars. This research will determine how bird flight emerges through processing in the brain using real-world visual stimuli. Data describing bird flight and coordination will be collected in collaboration with students from the Lummi Nation. Thus, this project will provide Native American students – the least represented group in STEM – with hands-on, geographically relevant, exposure to science.Typically, visual processing is studied by exposing animal subjects to simple patterns in laboratory settings. Though these methods allow for tight regulation of experimental designs, simple patterns lack many features of visual stimuli provided by natural conditions. This dramatically limits our insight into how animal behaviors emerge through the processing of visual information. With training in visual neuroscience from two renowned experts in the field, the Fellow will build upon their experience in biomechanics to connect animal behavior to visual neurobiology. Research will determine how the natural statistics of visual stimuli experienced by free-flying pigeons differ across flight contexts using a paired, head-mounted camera system. Animals will also be equipped with GPS-trackers and accelerometers, such that context-specific visual stimuli can be linked to instantaneous kinematics and trajectories of pigeons. Finally, exposing pigeons to visual stimuli while using electrophysiology to study brain activity will uncover how features of natural visual stimuli are encoded in the activity patterns of visual-motion neurons. This research will thereby bridge the gaps between the information provided to the sensory system, processing, individual motor responses, and coordinated group movement, while providing the Fellow with advanced training in neuroscience. Data for this project will be collected in collaboration with Native American students to facilitate and encourage them to pursue advanced degrees in STEM.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.