CAREER: The Virtual Whisking Rat: Linking Mechanics and Sensory Neuroscience

大鼠须系统是神经科学中最常用的系统之一，用于研究大脑如何将感觉信息与运动信息结合起来。然而，到目前为止，胡须的小尺寸和快速运动使得量化它们的动力学变得困难。这项工作将量化鼠须在探索行为中如何移动和与物体相互作用。提高对大鼠须系统的理解将提供相当大的见解，支配神经回路介导的传感和控制的一般功能原理。将建立一个在自由空气中和物体碰撞过程中孤立晶须运动的动态模型。这将被纳入一个解剖学上准确的三维模拟环境。最后，行为实验将识别与大鼠区分平面和曲面能力相关的机械输入模式。最终的目标是确定大脑如何完全基于阵列上每个晶须底部的力和力矩的模式来表示物体的形状。模拟环境将广泛分布，因此研究任何涉及大鼠胡须行为的大脑结构的研究人员都可以预测胡须与物体的接触模式。模拟环境还将与以前在课堂环境中开发的机器人系统结合使用，并帮助招募代表性不足的少数民族工程申请者。学生将了解如何将基本的机械原理应用于感觉神经科学。同时，PI将为西北大学麦考密克工程学院的本科生研究开发一个协调项目。这些举措的成功与否将在西北大学塞尔卓越教学中心的帮助下进行仔细评估。

The rat whisker system is one of the most commonly-used systems in neuroscience to study how the brain combines sensory information with movement information. To date, however, the small size and rapid movements of the whiskers have made it difficult to quantify their dynamics. This work will quantify how the whiskers move and interact with objects during rat exploratory behavior. Improved understanding of the rat whisker system will provide considerable insight into the general functional principles that govern the neural circuits mediating sensing and control. A dynamic model of the isolated whisker moving in free air and during object collisions will be developed. This will be incorporated into an anatomically accurate 3-dimensional simulation environment. Finally, behavioral experiments will identify the patterns of mechanical input across the array associated with the rat's ability to distinguish between flat and curved surfaces. The ultimate goal is to determine how the brain might represent the shape of an object based entirely on the patterns of forces and moments at the base of each whisker across the array. The simulation environment will be distributed widely, so that researchers working on any brain structure involved in rat whisking behavior can predict whisker-object contact patterns. The simulation environment will also be used in conjunction with previously developed robotic systems in a classroom environment and to aid in the recruitment of underrepresented minority engineering applicants. Students will be engaged in understanding how basic mechanical principles must be applied to sensory neuroscience. Simultaneously, the PI will develop a coordinated program for undergraduate research across the McCormick school of Engineering at Northwestern University. The success of these initiatives will be carefully evaluated with the help of Northwestern's Searle Center for Teaching Excellence.