Dynamic sensorimotor control for spatial orientation

描述（由申请人提供）：空间引导行为对人类的健康功能至关重要，当感觉运动整合不能正常发展或因疾病而中断时，更广泛的感觉运动整合知识将有助于治疗和康复。视觉功能受损的人主要依靠听觉来指导他们的运动，然而令人惊讶的是，盲人可能会表现出听觉运动整合受损，也许是因为他们缺乏通常用于校准这种感觉运动反馈系统的视觉输入。迄今为止，很少有研究致力于理解听觉信息与运动程序在哺乳动物空间引导行为中的整合，本提案中描述的研究将产生数据，促进我们对听觉信息处理和空间定向的自适应运动控制的一般理解。结合行为学和神经生理学实验，本研究计划利用回声定位蝙蝠的声成像系统，这种动物依靠对动态听觉场景的空间分析来指导其行为。提出了三个相互关联的研究方向：1)我们计划在复杂的空间任务中进行一系列自由飞行回声定位蝙蝠的实验，旨在研究空间定位、跟踪和避障。2)我们计划在蝙蝠的中脑听取模拟用于捕获昆虫的声纳信号的动态特性的合成声学刺激时进行神经记录实验。我们还将记录拴着的动物在一个平台上积极参与回声定位行为的中脑，使我们能够研究运动前和听觉诱发活动。这些实验将使我们能够研究蝙蝠的声纳信号是如何形成对回声的听觉反应的。3)最后，我们将收集、分析和解释自由飞行回声定位蝙蝠的第一次CNS记录。我们的方法是由其他系统的重要结果激发的，这些结果表明，神经系统的时空活动模式可以依赖于行为状态、任务和环境。总之，这些研究对神经科学、生物研究技术、机器人设计、控制理论和辅助医疗设备的发展有着广泛的影响。

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): Spatially-guided behaviors are central to the healthy functioning of humans, and a broader knowledge of sensorimotor integration will facilitate treatment and rehabilitation when it fails to develop normally or breaks down through disease. Individuals with impaired visual function depend largely on audition to direct their movements, and yet surprisingly, blind individuals may show impaired audiomotor integration, perhaps because they lack the visual input normally used to calibrate this sensorimotor feedback system. To date, little research effort has been directed at understanding the integration of auditory information with motor programs for spatially-guided behavior in mammals, and the studies described in this proposal will yield data that advance our general understanding of auditory information processing and adaptive motor control for spatial orientation. Combining behavioral and neurophysiological experiments, the proposed research program exploits the acoustic imaging system of the echolocating bat, an animal that relies on the spatial analysis of dynamic auditory scenes to guide its behavior. Three inter-related lines of research are proposed: 1) We plan a series of experiments with free-flying echolocating bats engaged in complex spatial tasks, designed to study spatial localization, tracking and obstacle avoidance. 2) We plan neural recording experiments from the midbrain of the bat as it listens to synthesized acoustic stimuli that mimic the dynamic characteristics of sonar signals used for insect capture. We will also record from the midbrain of tethered animals that are actively engaged in echolocation behavior on a platform, allowing us to study both premotor and auditory evoked activity. These experiments will allow us to examine how the bat's sonar signal production shapes auditory responses to echoes. 3) Finally, we will collect, analyze and interpret the first CNS recordings from a free-flying echolocating bat. Our approach is motivated by important results from other systems, which demonstrate that spatio-temporal activity patterns in the nervous system can depend on behavioral state, task and context. Together, these studies have wide-ranging impact for neuroscience, biological research techniques, robotics design, control theory and the development of assistive medical devices.