CAREER: Infomechanics - The interdependence of animal information acquisition and mechanics

该奖项是根据2009年美国复苏和再投资法案（公法111-5）资助的。虽然神经系统与信息一起运作，但身体的力学和它所处的环境构成了一个力量的世界。研究人体力学和神经系统的工作很少以联合的方式进行，部分原因是难以比较这些量。神经信息获取与力学相关的理论目前还缺乏;没有信息力学的科学。本项目将使用弱电鱼的模型系统来推进对获得感官信息和运动力学之间联系的理解。最近的研究表明，与大多数向前偏置的动物不同，它们对前方物体的感知能力比其他方向更好，电鱼能够感知所有方向。补充这种独特的感觉能力是一个运动系统，使他们能够迅速到达身体周围的位置。这些动物的感觉和运动之间的高度耦合使它们成为阐明力学与感觉处理之间联系的理想对象。这个独特的电机系统的运动学和动力学将通过使用一个高度定型的机器人跟踪行为和先进的电鱼机器人的工作进行研究。将通过研究大脑中运动信号的编码来检查感觉引导运动的神经基础。最后，一个机器人模型的闭环感官跟踪行为存在于鱼将被用来测试假设的对象功能的处理是如何连接与运动控制。 这项工作将导致一个博士后助理和跨学科研究跨越行为，神经生物学，机器人和流体动力学的几个研究生的培训。

This award is funded under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (Public Law 111-5).While the nervous system operates with information, the mechanics of the body and the environment in which it is embedded constitute a world of forces. Work on the mechanics of the body and on the nervous system is rarely undertaken in a joint fashion, in part because of the difficulty of comparing these quantities. A theoretical umbrella under which neural information acquisition can be related to mechanics is currently lacking; there is no science of infomechanics. This project will use the model system of weakly electric fish to push forward an understanding of the linkages between obtaining sensory information and movement mechanics. It has recently been shown that, unlike most forward-biased animals which sense objects ahead better than in other directions, electric fish are able to sense in all directions. Complementing this unique sensory capacity is a motor system which allows them reach locations all around the body quickly. The very high degree of coupling between sensation and movement in these animals makes them ideal for elucidating the principles connecting mechanics to sensory processing. The kinematics and dynamics of this unique motor system will be studied through use of a highly stereotyped refuge-tracking behavior and work on an advanced electric fish robot. The neural basis of sensory-guided movement will be examined through a study of the encoding of locomotor signals in the brain. Finally, a robotic model of a closed-loop sensory tracking behavior present in fish will be used to test hypotheses of how the processing of object features is connected with movement control. This work will result in the training of one postdoctoral associate and several graduate students in interdisciplinary research spanning behavior, neurobiology, robotics, and fluid dynamics.