MULTISENSORY INTEGRATION OF VESTIBULAR AND MAGNETIC SIGNALS

前庭和磁信号的多感觉整合

• 批准号: 8960930
• 负责人: J David Dickman
• 金额: $ 46.63万
• 依托单位: BAYLOR COLLEGE OF MEDICINE
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 财政年份: 2012
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2012-12-01 至 2017-11-30
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/8960930
• 关键词: Address; Animal Behavior; Animals; Beak; Behavior; Behavioral; Birds; Brain; Brain Stem; Brain region; Cells; Columbidae; Complex; Cues; Detection; Disease; Disorientation; Dorsal; FOS gene; Force of Gravity; Goals; Head; Health; Hippocampus (Brain); Home environment; Labyrinth; Lateral; Lesion; Location; Magnetism; Maps; Modeling; Motion; Neural Pathways; Neurons; Organ; Photoreceptors; Positioning Attribute; Process; Rest; Sensory; Signal Transduction; Space Perception; System; Testing; Thalamic structure; Time; Translations; Trauma; Vertebrates; Vestibular nucleus structure; Visual; association cortex; cryptochrome; directional cell; gaze; information processing; insight; loss of function; magnetic field; multisensory; otoconia; particle; receptor; relating to nervous system; research study; response; vector; way finding

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): Many animals can detect and use the Earth's magnetic field for orientation and navigation functions. We have recently discovered cells in the vestibular brainstem of pigeons that encode the direction and intensity of the magnetic field (MR cells); as well as being multisensory carrying vestibular linear motion signals. We have also characterized a magnetic sense neural pathway that includes regions in the brain known to be involved with spatial orientation and navigation tasks, including the vestibular nuclei, dorsal thalamus, hippocampus, and visual association cortex. The primary goal of the proposed project is to determine how multisensory convergence of vestibular and magnetic sense signals creates neural constructs that encode geopositional and heading direction information. First, we found that MR cells are spatially cosine tuned to magnetic field direction, thus these neurons encode a 3D magnetic field vector. In Aim 1, we will examine whether magnetic directional tuning is referenced to the world-fixed constant of gravity. We hypothesize that multisensory integration of vestibular and magnetic cues allows MR cell directional responses to be spatially stable and not change with head position. In Aim 2, we will determine if MR cell translational responses are fixed relative to the magnetic field direction, independent of head position. We hypothesize that MR cells provide directional heading information in magnetic field coordinates. We recently also discovered that the distinct state of gliding flight increases the sensitivity to motion in vestibuar neurons. In Aim 3, we will determine if flight increases the sensitivity of MR cells and provides for more complete reference frame transformations as outlined in Aims 1 and 2. Together, these experiments will uncover basic multisensory integration mechanisms for building neural representations of position and heading direction. These are vital functions for all animal behavior and are often compromised by vestibular trauma or disease in people. Understanding how a new magnetic sense uses vestibular motion cues through convergence to create complex information constructs will provide key insights into important brain functions and bring us closer to obtaining new treatment options disorientation maladies.

描述（由申请人提供）：许多动物可以检测并利用地球磁场来实现定向和导航功能。我们最近在鸽子的前庭脑干中发现了编码磁场方向和强度的细胞（MR细胞）；以及携带前庭线性运动信号的多感官。我们还描述了磁感神经通路的特征，该通路包括已知参与空间定向和导航任务的大脑区域，包括前庭核、背侧丘脑、海马和视觉关联皮层。该项目的主要目标是确定前庭和磁感信号的多感官融合如何创建编码地理位置和航向信息的神经结构。首先，我们发现 MR 细胞在空间上余弦调谐到磁场方向，因此这些神经元编码 3D 磁场矢量。在目标 1 中，我们将检查磁定向调谐是否参考世界固定的重力常数。我们假设前庭和磁信号的多感觉整合允许 MR 细胞定向反应在空间上稳定并且不随头部位置而变化。在目标 2 中，我们将确定 MR 细胞平移响应是否相对于磁场方向是固定的，与头部位置无关。我们假设 MR 细胞提供磁场坐标中的定向信息。我们最近还发现滑翔飞行的独特状态增加了前庭神经元对运动的敏感性。在目标 3 中，我们将确定飞行是否会增加 MR 细胞的敏感性，并提供目标 1 和 2 中概述的更完整的参考系转换。这些实验将共同揭示用于构建位置和航向方向的神经表征的基本多感觉整合机制。这些是所有动物行为的重要功能，并且经常受到人类前庭创伤或疾病的影响。了解新的磁感如何通过融合使用前庭运动线索来创建复杂的信息结构，将为重要的大脑功能提供关键的见解，并使我们更接近 以获得新的治疗方向障碍疾病的选择。