Multisensory integration and self-motion perception in primate vestibular cortex

灵长类动物前庭皮层的多感觉整合和自我运动感知

• 批准号: 10753017
• 负责人: Alejandra Gomez
• 金额: $ 7.37万
• 依托单位: JOHNS HOPKINS UNIVERSITY
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 财政年份: 2023
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2023-08-16 至 2025-08-15
• 项目状态: 未结题
• 来源: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10753017
• 关键词: Animals; Area; Auditory; Automobile Driving; Awareness; Behavior; Behavioral; Body part; Brain; Cells; Clinical; Cognitive; Cutaneous; Environment; Equilibrium; Ethology; Functional disorder; Gait; Goals; Head; Head Movements; Human; Impairment; Individual; Injury; Insula of Reil; Learning; Lesion; Modality; Modeling; Motion; Motion Perception; Motor; Movement; Musculoskeletal Equilibrium; Neuronal Differentiation; Neurons; Organism; Outcome; Parietal Lobe; Patients; Perception; Physicians; Play; Population; Posture; Primates; Process; Reporting; Research; Role; Scheme; Self Perception; Sensory; Signal Transduction; Skeletal muscle structure of neck; Space Perception; Stimulus; Stream; System; Tactile; Testing; Thalamic Nuclei; Thalamic structure; Vertebrates; Vestibular nucleus structure; Visual; clinically relevant; cognitive function; cognitive process; density; experience; experimental study; extracellular; gaze; imaging study; improved; insight; multimodality; multisensory; neural; neuromechanism; neurophysiology; nonhuman primate; response; sensory input; sensory integration; somatosensory; way finding

Project Summary In vertebrate animals, the vestibular system (primarily known as the “balance system” of the brain) interprets head-movement and orientation signals to provide organisms with a sense of self-motion. The vital contribution of vestibular system to reflexive control of posture, gaze, and gait is well characterized; however, far less is known about the neural substrates underlying higher-order vestibular functions, such as the perception of self- motion and the awareness of one's orientation in space. These functions rely on the cortical integration of vestibular input with somatosensory and visual input. In non-human primates, the parieto-insular vestibular cortex (PIVC) is uniquely suited to perform this multisensory integration. Unlike other vestibular-sensitive cortical areas, PIVC has direct access to vestibular, somatosensory, and visual input from the thalamus; indeed, it is hypothesized that other vestibular cortical areas receive their vestibular input from PIVC, thus making it a nexus for higher-order vestibular function. Despite its hypothesized importance, extremely little is known about the neural mechanisms by which PIVC integrates vestibular and extra-vestibular input, and whether this integration is context dependent. For example, it is unclear whether PIVC neurons differentiate between vestibular input generated during passive vs. active movements; such differentiation is seen in the vestibular nuclei and thalamus and is thought to be essential for producing a sense of motor agency. To investigate these issues, I propose to conduct high-density neurophysiological recordings in behaving primates during both passive stimulation and actively generated head and whole-body movement. In Aim 1, I will investigate how PIVC integrates passively applied vestibular and somatosensory input (Aim 1.1) and then vestibular and visual input (Aim 1.2). In Aim 2, I will investigate whether PIVC differentially processes vestibular input during passive and active movement. Specifically, I will examine how PIVC processes vestibular input generated during natural self-motion (i.e., self- motion relying on sensorimotor input in the form of a head-turning task, Aim 2.1). I will then examine how PIVC processes vestibular input generated during a learned, cognitively demanding motor task (Aim 2.2). In both aims, I will determine how individual neurons in PIVC encode vestibular and extra-vestibular input, as well as how this information is represented at the population level. The proposed experiments will resolve two questions which are fundamental to understanding PIVC function: 1) How does PIVC integrate multisensory input to construct a percept of self-motion? and 2) Is the processing of self-motion by PIVC neurons consistent with that required to provide a sense of motor agency? Furthermore, the proposed experiments will determine how sensorimotor and cognitive percepts of self-motion are represented in PIVC. This research will provide new insights into cortical vestibular function and how it supports the higher-order processes that allow primates (both human and non- human) to successfully perceive and navigate their environments.

项目摘要 在脊椎动物中，前庭系统（主要称为大脑的“平衡系统”）解释 头部移动和取向信号，以自我运动感提供有机体。重要的贡献 对姿势，凝视和步态的反射控制的前庭系统的特征是很好；但是，少得多 关于高阶前庭功能的神经元底物的了解，例如自我的感知 运动和对空间方向的意识。这些功能依赖于皮质整合 带有体感和视觉输入的前庭输入。在非人类隐私中 Cortex（PIVC）非常适合执行此多感觉集成。与其他前庭敏感的皮质不同 PIVC区域可直接访问丘脑的前庭，体感和视觉输入；确实，是 假设其他前庭皮质区域从PIVC接收前庭输入，从而使其成为Nexus 用于高阶前庭功能。尽管有假设的重要性，但对 PIVC通过其整合前庭和视术输入的神经机制，以及该整合是否 是上下文依赖性的。例如，尚不清楚PIVC神经元是否区分前庭输入 在被动和主动运动期间产生；在前庭核和丘脑中可以看到这种分化 被认为对于产生汽车代理感至关重要。为了调查这些问题，我建议 在被动刺激和 积极产生的头部和全身运动。在AIM 1中，我将研究PIVC如何被动整合 应用前庭和体感输入（AIM 1.1），然后使用前庭和视觉输入（AIM 1.2）。在AIM 2中，我 将研究PIVC在被动和主动运动过程中是否对前庭输入进行处理。 具体来说，我将研究PIVC如何处理自然自我运动过程中产生的前庭输入（即自我 运动依赖于感觉运动输入的运动形式，AIM 2.1）。然后，我将研究PIVC 过程中的前庭输入在学识渊博的，认知要求的运动任务（AIM 2.2）中产生。在两个目标中， 我将确定PIVC中的单个神经元如何编码前庭和视术输入以及如何编码 信息在人群层面表示。拟议的实验将解决两个问题， 是理解PIVC功能的基础：1）PIVC如何集成多感官输入以构建A 自我运动的感知？ 2）是PIVC神经元的自我运动的处理 提供汽车代理感？此外，提出的实验将决定感觉运动和 PIVC中表示自我运动的认知感知。这项研究将为皮质提供新的见解 前庭功能及其如何支持允许私人的高阶过程（人类和非 - 人）成功地感知和导航其环境。