Coding properties of Vibrissal-Responsive Trigeminal Ganglion Neurons

触须响应三叉神经节神经元的编码特性

• 批准号: 9317557
• 负责人: Mitra J Hartmann
• 金额: $ 32.03万
• 依托单位: NORTHWESTERN UNIVERSITY
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 财政年份: 2015
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2015-07-01 至 2020-06-30
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/9317557
• 关键词: Afferent Neurons; Animals; Area; Behavior; Behavior Control; Brain; Cells; Characteristics; Code; Coffee; Complex; Data; Development; Dimensions; Disease; Equation; Exploratory Behavior; Frequencies; Gatekeeping; Genetic; Geometry; Glare; Goals; Head; Hearing; Impairment; Investigation; Laboratories; Length; Light; Location; Mechanics; Mechanoreceptors; Modeling; Motion; Movement; Neocortex; Neurons; Neurosciences; Pathway interactions; Patients; Pattern; Phase; Physics; Physiological; Positioning Attribute; Problem Solving; Property; Rattus; Reaction; Research; Retinal Ganglion Cells; Rodent; Role; Rotation; Sensory; Signal Transduction; Stimulus; Stroke; Structure of trigeminal ganglion; Study models; Surface; System; Testing; Thalamic structure; Time; Touch sensation; Trigeminal System; Vibrissae; Work; awake; barrel cortex; base; design; experience; experimental study; ganglion cell; grasp; kinematics; loved ones; optogenetics; predicting response; public health relevance; receptor; relating to nervous system; response; somatosensory; sound; spiral ganglion; vibration

 DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): We see because retinal ganglion cells respond to light. We hear because spiral ganglion cells respond to sound. We feel because primary somatosensory neurons respond to "touch." But what is "touch?" Whereas light and sound can be characterized by physical parameters (amplitude, frequency, phase, and polarization), the mechanics of touch, and the manner in which primary sensory neurons encode the parameters of touch, are largely unquantified. This is a glaring gap within the entire field of somatosensation, and it occurs because mechanics are difficult to quantify. To close this gap we will use the rat vibrissal (whisker) system as a model to directly relate the responses of primary sensory neurons to the quantified mechanics of touch. Paralleling the increased use of rodents in genetic and optogenetic research, the rodent vibrissal array has become an increasingly important model for the study of touch and sensorimotor integration. In the past few years, our laboratory has made rapid progress in characterizing vibrissal mechanics, and we are now uniquely positioned to determine how 3D whisker deflections and vibrations are represented in the firing patterns of primary sensory neurons of the trigeminal ganglion (Vg) during natural whisking behavior. The central goal of our investigation is to predict the responses of Vg neurons during both contact and non-contact whisking by appropriately combining 3D dynamic and quasistatic models of mechanical signals. Our three aims move from the outside of the rat inwards, from whisker, to follicle, to Vg neurons. In Aim 1, we will develop models of mechanical coding by the whisker, quantifying the 3D mechanical signals at the vibrissal base during both contact and non-contact whisking. In Aim 2, these models will be used to predict responses of mechanoreceptors within the follicle and thus to identify classes of Vg neurons based on the mechanical transformation they perform. Finally, in Aim 3 we will quantify the responses of Vg neurons during natural whisking behavior in awake animals. Exploiting the cell classes identified in Aim 2, and consistent with the modeling of Aim1, we will test the hypothesis that Vg responses are more linearly correlated with mechanical signals during whisking than they are with the geometry and kinematics of whisking behavior. The proposed work will be the first to record from Vg neurons in awake behaving animals while fully characterizing the mechanical input during both contact and non-contact whisking. We aim to solve a large portion of the "coding problem" for the vibrissal-trigeminal system. Solving this problem will provide a better understanding of what a Vg spike "means" for more central stages of the trigeminal system, including sensory thalamus and barrel cortex.

 描述（由应用程序提供）：我们看到，因为常规神经节细胞对光的反应。我们之所以听到，是因为螺旋神经节细胞会响应声音。我们感到是因为原发性体感神经元对“触摸”做出了反应。但是什么是“触摸”？虽然光和声音可以以物理参数（振幅，频率，相位和极化）的特征，但触摸的力学以及主要感觉神经元编码触摸参数的方式，在很大程度上没有量化。这是整个体感应领域内的一个明显差距，并且由于力学难以量化而发生。为了缩小此间隙，我们将使用大鼠振动（Whisker）系统作为模型直接将主感觉神经元与量化的触摸机制联系起来。啮齿动物颤动阵列与遗传学和光遗传学研究中的使用增加了使用，已成为触摸和感觉运动整合研究的越来越重要的模型。在过去的几年中，我们的实验室在表征振动力学方面取得了迅速的进步，现在我们在自然搅拌行为期间，在三叉神经节（VG）的原发性神经元的发射模式中，我们处于独特的位置，以确定3D晶须示范和振动如何表示。我们调查的核心目的是通过适当组合机械信号的3D动态模型，预测接触和非接触搅拌过程中VG神经元的响应。我们的三个目标从大鼠的外部向内移动，从晶须，植物到VG神经元。在AIM 1中，我们将通过晶须开发机械编码的模型，并在接触和非接触式搅拌过程中量化纤维化基部的3D机械信号。在AIM 2中，这些模型将用于预测叶子内机制受体的响应，从而根据它们执行的机械转换来识别VG神经元的类别。最后，在AIM 3中，我们将在清醒动物的自然搅拌行为中量化VG神经元的反应。利用AIM 2中确定的细胞类，并与AIM1的建模一致，我们将测试以下假设：VG响应在搅拌过程中与机械信号更线性相关，而不是与质量的几何形状和搅拌行为的运动学相关。拟议的工作将是第一个从VG神经元中记录在清醒的动物中的作品，同时充分表征了在接触和非接触式搅拌过程中的机械输入。我们旨在为葡萄片 - 三络系统解决大部分“编码问题”。解决此问题将更好地了解三叉神经系统（包括感觉丘脑和桶形皮质）的更中心阶段的VG尖峰“含义”。