Cross-Modal Sensory Fusion for Flight Control in Drosophila

该奖项支持的工作的主要目的是研究多感觉信号的融合和随后的感觉-运动整合，以控制苍蝇的飞行行为。 核心目标是1。确定视动飞行动作对视觉刺激的空间、时间和对比度结构变化的依赖性。2.研究嗅觉介导的飞行动作对气味线索的强度、同一性和空间分布的依赖性。3.研究多模态行为反应是否定量地代表单峰反应的线性和，或者跨模态条件是否协同增强运动反应，超越单峰线索诱发的反应。 国家的最先进的电子视觉虚拟现实飞行模拟器修改气味输送系统将被用来研究如何精确的机翼运动的电机控制的影响，在视觉和嗅觉线索的强度，身份和空间组织的系统变化。 通过这种综合系统水平的方法，将开发一个广泛的合成，以推动了解多感官线索如何增强生物体的能力，以应对往往是低强度和空间可变的关键环境刺激。研究结果的影响应该远远超出果蝇神经生物学的领域，并为感官生态学，生物力学，神经行为学的研究提供新的见解，以及不断增长的仿生工程领域。提供一个跨学科的培训环境，采用多种工程和生物学方法，以促进传统专业环境中无法获得的发现。2.通过积极参与加州大学洛杉矶分校本科生研究中心，将至少三名代表女性和少数民族的本科生带入实验室。3.为有意从事研究科学事业的新生举办讨论研讨会。 我们的目标是提供一个概念框架-在一个紧密集中，但多方面的研究计划的形式-这将吸引生理学，工程学和分子生物学的学生参与。 这样的研究计划将提供实际动手的机会，以弥合学科。 此外，有几个实验是专门为本科研究人员量身定制的。 这些本科生将受益于多学科实验室，其中包括分子遗传学博士后以及生物化学和神经工程研究生。 最后，将为对科学研究感兴趣的新生举办年度研讨会，并将研究计划作为讨论如何从智力和实践角度实际开展科学的案例研究。

The primary purpose of the work supported by this award is to examine the fusion of multisensory signals and subsequent sensory-motor integration for the control of fly flight behavior. The central aims are 1. To determine the dependence of optomotor flight maneuvers upon variation in the spatial, temporal, and contrast structure of visual stimuli. 2. To examine the dependence of olfactory-mediated flight maneuvers upon the intensity, identity, and spatial distribution of odor cues. 3. To investigate whether multimodal behavioral responses quantitatively represent the linear sum of unimodal responses, or alternatively whether crossmodal conditions synergistically enhance the motor responses beyond those evoked by unimodal cues. State-of-the-art electronic visual virtual reality flight simulators modified with odor delivery systems will be used to examine how the motor control of precise wing kinematics is influenced by systematic variations in the intensity, identity, and spatial organization of visual and olfactory cues. Through this integrative systems-level approach a broad synthesis will be developed to push forward the understanding of how multisensory cues enhance an organism's ability to respond to key environmental stimuli that are often low intensity and spatially variable. The results should have impact well beyond the domain of Drosophila neurobiology and provide new insights for the study of sensory ecology, biomechanics, neuroethology, as well as the growing engineering field of biomimeticsThis award will have the following additional education and training impacts: 1. Provide a cross-disciplinary training environment with a diversity of engineering and biological approaches to catalyze discoveries that would not have come from more traditionally specialized environments. 2. Bring at least three undergraduates representing women and underrepresented minorities into the lab through active participation in the UCLA Center for Undergraduate Research. 3. The development of discussion seminars to incoming freshman interested in pursuing a career in research science. The goal is to provide a conceptual framework - in the form of a tightly focused yet multi-faceted research program -that will entice students of Physiology, Engineering, and Molecular Biology to participate. Such a research program will offer practical hands-on opportunities to bridge the disciplines. Furthermore, several experiments have been specifically tailored to be accessible to undergraduate researchers. These undergraduates will benefit from a multidisciplinary lab that includes a molecular genetics postdoc as well as graduate students in biochemistry and neuroengineering. Finally, a yearly seminar to incoming freshman interested in scientific research will be developed, with the research program being pursued here as a case study for discussing how to actually do science - both from intellectual and practical standpoints.