The Emergence Persistence and Plasticity of Neural Codes for Self-Selected Goal-Directed Navigation

项目总结 目标导向导航通常发生在可以实现相同目标的复杂、大型环境中 从不同的起点出发，通过不同的路线，往往是自己选择的。海马体是 人们认为它在导航中发挥着核心作用，但人们对它如何支持规划和 在目标导向的行为中执行自然出现的导航模式。埃及果蝠是一种 由于空间导航的专业化，尤其是它的自然特性，弥补了这一差距的强大模型 渴望融合到自己选择的、刻板的和高度结构化的导航模式。在这里，我们利用 蝙蝠的自然行为，并显著扩展了研究蝙蝠如何 海马体有助于规划、出现和维持以目标为导向的结构化导航 行为。为了做到这一点，我们开发了新颖的全自动环境，旨在让蝙蝠参与到自定进度中来 以及在严密监控的实验室条件下自主选择的自然导航。通过这样做，我们发现 蝙蝠很容易进行目标导向的觅食行为，这类似于在自然环境中观察到的行为。 为了研究神经动力学、计算和海马体在这种行为中的参与，我们整合了 广泛的无线神经技术，其中许多对于BAT模型系统来说都是全新的。这些 包括无线电生理学、无线细胞分辨率钙成像和无线光遗传学 自由飞翔的蝙蝠。我们的初步结果提供了蝙蝠在 以目标为导向的行为，并开始揭示海马结构中的神经计算 可以促进这一功能。这些神经元包括功能上离散的一组神经元，这些神经元在 觅食行为的离散阶段，包括目标导向的计划、执行和评估 导航以及特定于不同导航路线的神经元序列。结合起来，我们就结婚了 受控的，但与行为相关的，行为体系的发展，具有广泛的切割性- 用边缘神经生理学方法彻底研究蝙蝠海马区的作用和计算 这可以削弱蝙蝠对结构化目标导向导航行为的天生能力。在这样做的过程中， 研究旨在提供一种新的海马神经计算模型，该模型可以支持自我选择和 复杂的目标导向导航。

PROJECT SUMMARY Goal-directed navigation often occurs in complex, large environments where the same goal can be reached from different starting point and through different routes which are often self-selected. The hippocampus is believed to play a central role in navigation yet it remains poorly understood how it supports the planning and execution of naturally emerging navigation patterns during goal-directed behaviors. The Egyptian fruit bat is a powerful model for bridging this gap due to specialization for spatial navigation and in particular, its natural desire to converge onto self-selected, stereotyped and highly structured navigation patterns. Here, we leverage the bat natural behavior and significantly extend the arsenal of tools and approaches to study how the hippocampus contributes to the planning, emergence and sustainment the goal-directed, structured navigation behavior. To do so, we develop novel fully automated environments aimed at engaging the bats in self-paced and self-selected, natural navigation under closely monitored laboratory conditions. In doing so, we find that the bats readily engage in goal directed foraging behavior which resembles that observed in the natural setting. To study the neural dynamics, computations and involvement of the hippocampus in this behavior we integrate a wide range of wireless neuro-technologies, many of which are entirely novel for the bat model system. These include, wireless electrophysiology, wireless cellular resolution calcium imaging and wireless optogenetics in freely flying bats. Our preliminary results provide a detailed account of the bat's navigational strategies during goal-directed behavior and are beginning to reveal the neural computations in the hippocampal formation that could facilitate this function. These includes functionally discrete set of neurons that are participating during discrete stages of the foraging behavior including, planning, execution and evaluation of goal-directed navigation as well as neuronal sequences that are specific to distinct navigational routes. Combined, we marry the development of the controlled, yet ethologically-relevant, behavioral setup with a wide range of cutting- edge neurophysiological methods to thoroughly examine the role and computations in the bat hippocampus that can subserve that bat's natural ability for structured goal-directed navigation behavior. In doing so, this research aims to provide a new model the hippocampal neural computations that can support self-selected and complex goal-directed navigation.