Neural Processing of Native and Prosthetic Vestibular Signals for Postural Control

用于姿势控制的天然和假体前庭信号的神经处理

• 批准号: 10607477
• 负责人: Olivia Marie Elaine Leavitt
• 金额: $ 4.68万
• 依托单位: JOHNS HOPKINS UNIVERSITY
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 财政年份: 2022
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2022-09-01 至 2025-08-31
• 项目状态: 未结题
• 来源: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10607477
• 关键词: Address; Affect; American; Animal Model; Animals; Automobile Driving; Behavior; Behavioral; Bilateral; Biomimetics; Brain; Brain Stem; Bypass; Cell Nucleus; Data; Development; Devices; Emerging Technologies; Equilibrium; Felis catus; Freedom; Frequencies; Functional disorder; Gait; Goals; Head; Human; Labyrinth; Lead; Macaca; Macaca mulatta; Measurement; Modeling; Monkeys; Motion; Musculoskeletal Equilibrium; Neurons; Numbness; Organ; Patients; Peripheral; Physiological; Postural response; Posture; Process; Prosthesis; Pulse Rates; Quality of life; Reaction; Reflex action; Research; Risk; Role; Series; Signal Transduction; Silicon; Stimulus; Surface; System; Testing; Vestibular Nerve; Vestibular loss; Vestibular nucleus structure; Vision; Visual; Work; behavioral response; body position; density; efficacy testing; experience; experimental study; free behavior; functional improvement; hexapod; improved; motor learning; neural implant; neuroadaptation; neuromechanism; neuroregulation; novel; relating to nervous system; response; somatosensory; spinal reflex; vestibular prosthesis; wireless

ABSTRACT The primary goal of this project is to further our understanding of the contribution of the vestibular system to balance control, particularly the neural mechanisms driving reflexive responses to postural perturbations. Visual, proprioceptive, and vestibular signals are the primary means for sensing the position of the body and maintaining balance. However, the central neural mechanisms of postural control remain elusive, as such research requires recording single neurons in the brainstem during free behavior. In order to understand the vestibular component of central postural control, I will first establish baseline postural responses in an animal model, the rhesus macaque, which has proven to be a valuable model for understanding the neural control of human vestibular function and processing. I will then characterize behavioral and neural responses during these posture-stabilizing behaviors in healthy animals, bilateral vestibular loss animals, and vestibular loss animals with replacement-of-function using a vestibular prosthesis. Aim 1 of this project is to characterize behavioral responses to support surface perturbations. For postural perturbation experiments, the animal is acclimated to a behavioral chamber mounted on a 6-degree-of-freedom hexapod motion platform. The hexapod delivers support surface perturbations, and the animal’s motion is tracked using inertial measurement units, a force plate, and markerless video motion tracking. These perturbations are repeated in normal and bilateral vestibular loss animals, and the animals’ postural responses are quantified in order to build a model of the vestibular contribution to balance control. Aim 2 is to characterize responses of vestibular-sensitive neurons that drive postural reflexes to support surface perturbations. I will leverage emerging technology in wireless, high-density neural recording to characterize the responses of neurons in the vestibular nuclei (VN) to postural perturbations in order to elucidate the contribution of vestibulo-spinal reflexes, which are driven by VN cells, to postural corrections. Finally, for Aim 3 I will repeat these experiments and recordings with an animal fitted with a multichannel vestibular prosthesis in order to assess improvements in posture caused by the vestibular prosthesis, as well as neural adaptation to novel and/or modified vestibular inputs delivered by the prosthesis. This work has the potential to contribute to our understanding of the role of vestibuloception in maintaining upright posture, as well as improve quality-of-life for patients experiencing bilateral vestibular loss by providing data on the best modulation strategies for vestibular prostheses.

摘要 这个项目的主要目标是进一步了解前庭系统的贡献 平衡控制，特别是驱动对姿势扰动的反射反应的神经机制。 视觉、本体感受和前庭信号是感知身体位置的主要手段， 保持平衡。然而，姿势控制的中枢神经机制仍然难以捉摸， 研究需要在自由行为期间记录脑干中的单个神经元。为了解 中枢姿势控制的前庭部分，我将首先在动物中建立基线姿势反应 模型，恒河猴，这已被证明是一个有价值的模型，了解神经控制的 人类前庭功能和处理。然后，我将描述这些过程中的行为和神经反应， 健康动物、双侧前庭丧失动物和前庭丧失动物的姿势稳定行为 用前庭假体恢复功能该项目的目标1是描述行为 支撑面扰动的响应。对于姿势扰动实验，使动物适应 一个安装在六自由度六足运动平台上的行为室。六足动物 支持表面扰动，并使用惯性测量单元，测力板， 和无标记视频运动跟踪。这些扰动重复在正常和双侧前庭损失 动物，并量化动物的姿势反应，以建立前庭贡献的模型 平衡控制。目的2是表征前庭敏感神经元驱动姿势反射的反应 以支持表面扰动。我会利用无线高密度神经记录的新兴技术 描述前庭核（VN）神经元对姿势扰动的反应， 阐明前庭脊髓反射的贡献，这是由VN细胞驱动，姿势校正。 最后，对于目标3，我将重复这些实验和记录与动物配备了多通道 前庭假体，以评估前庭假体引起的姿势改善，以及 对由假体递送的新的和/或修改的前庭输入的神经适应。这项工作有 也有助于我们理解前庭感受在保持直立姿势中的作用， 通过提供关于最佳治疗方法的数据， 前庭假体的调制策略。