State-dependent vestibular response and neural processing

描述（由申请人提供）：先前的研究表明，感觉运动加工取决于其发生的行为环境。特别是，在运动过程中保持凝视和姿势稳定的前庭反应被环境以优化表现的方式调节。虽然前庭反应的适应性受到了广泛的关注，但环境特异性前庭反应的神经机制尚未得到很好的理解。我建议研究鸽子的特定情境前庭处理，鸽子是一种可以在实验室模拟离散和相关情境（飞行）的动物。为了研究情境对前庭加工的影响，笔者提出了两个具体目标：(1)确定模拟飞行情境对前庭头部和身体对旋转运动的稳定反应的影响；(2)研究模拟飞行对脑干前庭核旋转运动神经反应的影响。我将比较动物在休息和气流诱发的飞行姿势下的前庭脊髓反应。我将使用这些行为结果来记录前庭核的电生理记录，其中我将记录单个前庭反应的环境依赖性变化。为了了解上下文处理的损伤如何导致人类的姿势不稳定和相关疾病，我们需要更好地了解前庭反应的上下文依赖性调节的神经基质。我建议使用动物模型来研究优化前庭对离散和有意义的环境的反应的神经机制。这项研究将使我们深入了解环境在哪里以及如何对前庭系统产生影响。

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): Previous studies have demonstrated that sensorimotor processing depends on the behavioral context in which it occurs. In particular, vestibular responses that maintain gaze and posture stability during motion are modulated by context in ways that optimize performance. Although adaptation of vestibular responses has received extensive attention, the neural mechanisms for context-specific vestibular responses are not well understood. I propose to study context-specific vestibular processing in the pigeon, an animal for which a discrete and relevant context (flight) can be simulated in the laboratory. To investigate the effect of context on vestibular processing, I propose two specific aims: (1) To determine the effect of simulated flight context on vestibular head and body stabilization responses to rotational motion; (2) To characterize the effect of simulated flight on neural responses to rotational motion in the brainstem vestibular nuclei. I will compare vestibulospinal responses with the animal at rest and in airflow-evoked flight posture. I will use these behavioral results to inform my electrophysiological recordings in the vestibular nuclei, wherein I will document context-dependent changes in single-unit vestibular responses. In order to understand how impairments in contextual processing may contribute to postural instability and related disorders in humans, we need to have a better understanding of the neural substrates underlying context-dependent modulation of vestibular responses. I propose to use an animal model to study the neural mechanisms for optimization of vestibular responses to a discrete and meaningful context. This study will give us insights into where and how context exerts its effects on the vestibular system.