Eye Movements: The Motor System that Sees the World

描述(申请人提供)：眼球运动系统可以说是最好的了解运动控制系统，这归功于研究其复杂机制的众多子专业的科学家的共同努力。传统上，眼球运动研究人员从特定的技术角度(如神经生理学)孤立地研究每个眼球运动子系统，但最近有人推动寻求一种综合的方法来研究该系统，并探索眼球运动系统如何与控制头部、身体甚至手臂的系统整合。此外，该领域已经开始利用研究眼球运动的方法作为理解中枢神经系统决策过程的工具。2005年，我们举行了有史以来第一次动眼运动戈登研究会议(GRC)，题为动眼系统生物学。由于第一次会议的成功，GRC在2007年再次发起了一次会议。2007年会议的重点是眼外周、动眼神经和前庭神经系统的整合、认知过程和神经行为学。这次会议非常富有成效，为处理该领域有争议的问题提供了一个论坛，并在与会者之间产生了新的合作。我们希望通过第三届动眼运动戈登会议：眼球运动：2011年看到世界的运动系统来捕捉同样的精神。本次会议的主题将包括：1.作为注意力、感知和决策机制的探测器的眼动，其中演讲者将探索眼动系统现在如何被用作工具来探索视觉感觉信息在决策过程中被利用的机制；2.眼动之间的作用，将探索微扫视这一鲜有研究的领域的特征和控制机制；3.健康和疾病中的中央和外周动眼神经系统，将评估关于外周感觉和运动过程在控制眼球方向中的作用，以及斜视等疾病中下运动神经元和上运动神经元的行为的新发现；4.动眼运动系统中的运动学习、校准、可塑性和奖赏，其中将探索小脑和基底节在调节和加强动眼运动行为方面的作用；以及5.理解动眼神经回路的新方法，范围从使用切片准备和基因修改的研究，到利用非传统动物模型的研究。因此，这项提议要求支持召开一次会议，其目标是将科学家和医生聚集在一起，重新审视动眼神经系统的不同组成部分是如何相互作用的，并促进更多的跨学科研究。在NIH的支持下，我们将把很少居住在同一地点的想法和研究人员聚集在一起，努力推动该领域朝着新的方向发展。 公共卫生相关性：眼球运动系统障碍包括斜视、眼球震颤和核间性眼肌麻痹。此外，许多运动控制性疾病(帕金森氏症、斜颈)、感觉综合征(眩晕)以及认知缺陷(空间忽视)都会导致眼动反应紊乱。其他疾病，如先天性纤维化，可以改变眼外肌本身的机械特性。因此，激发和指导关于眼球运动系统如何在健康和疾病中发挥作用的综合、尖端研究，这是本次会议的主要目标，眼球运动：看到世界的运动系统与公共卫生具有极大的相关性。

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): The oculomotor system is arguably the best understood motor control system due to the combined efforts of scientists in numerous subspecialties who have studied its complex mechanisms. Traditionally, oculomotor researchers have investigated each oculomotor subsystems in isolation, and from a specific technical view point (e.g. neurophysiology), but recently has there been a push to pursue an integrated approach to the system, and to explore how the oculomotor system integrates with systems controlling the head, body and even arms. Moreover, the field has begun to utilize approaches developed to study eye movements as a tool to understand CNS decision making processes. In 2005, we held the first oculomotor Gordon Research Conference (GRC) ever, entitled Oculomotor System Biology. The success of the first meeting resulted in another sponsorship by the GRC in 2007. The emphasis of the 2007 meeting was on the extraocular periphery, integration of oculomotor and vestibular subsystems, cognitive processes, and neuroethology. This conference was extremely productive, providing a forum for dealing with controversial issues in the field, and engendering new collaborations amongst the participants. We hope to capture this same spirit with a third oculomotor Gordon Conference: Eye Movements: The Motor System that Sees the World in 2011. This meeting's themes will include: 1. Eye Movements as a Probe for Attention, Perception, and Decision Making Mechanisms, in which the speaker's will explore how the oculomotor system is now used as a tool to explore the mechanism by which visual sensory information is utilized in the decision making process; 2. The Action between Eye Movements, which will explore the characteristics and control mechanisms for the little studied field of microsaccades; 3. Central and Peripheral Oculomotor Subsystems in Health and Disease, which will evaluate new findings about the role of peripheral sensory and motor processes in controlling eye orientation, as well as the actions of lower and upper motoneurons within the context of diseases like strabismus; 4. Motor Learning, Calibration, Plasticity, and Reward in the Oculomotor System, in which the roles of the cerebellum and basal ganglia in adjusting the performance of, and reinforcing oculomotor behaviors will be explored; and 5. Novel Approaches for Understanding Oculomotor Circuits, which will range from studies using slice preparations and genetic modifications, to studies utilizing non-traditional animal models. Thus, this proposal requests support for a conference, whose objective is to bring together scientists and physicians to take a fresh look at how the diverse components of the oculomotor system interact, and to stimulate increased interdisciplinary research. With the support of NIH we will bring together ideas and investigators that rarely inhabit the same venue in an effort to advance the field in new directions. PUBLIC HEALTH RELEVANCE: Disorders of eye movement systems include strabismus, nystagmus and internuclear ophthalmoplegia. Moreover, oculomotor responses are disturbed in many motor control diseases (Parkinson's, torticollis), sensory syndromes (vertigo), and as a consequence of cognitive deficits (spatial neglect). Other disorders, such as congenital fibrosis, can alter the mechanical properties of the extraocular muscle itself. Consequently, energizing and directing integrated, cutting edge research on how the oculomotor system functions in health and disease, which is the primary goal of this meeting, Eye Movements: The Motor System that Sees the World, is of immense relevance to public health.