Evolution of Neural Circuits for Locomotion

神经科学和医学在很大程度上依赖于这样一个概念，即不同动物的相似行为是由这些动物大脑中的共同机制产生的。例如，啮齿动物的行为测试被用来预测药物对人类行为的功效。我们必须了解行为的相似性在多大程度上预示着神经机制的相似性。这个项目使用电生理学结合计算模拟和分子生物学来研究裸鳃海蛞蝓容易接近的神经系统中的这个重要问题。这些动物的神经系统相对简单，有单独的神经细胞（神经元），不仅在同一物种内的动物之间可以单独识别，而且在不同物种之间也可以识别。此外，这些物种有着巨大的多样性，它们的游泳行为有两种。这些研究考察了行为相似的物种中神经元和神经回路的差异程度。该项目还研究了一个基本问题，即神经回路的结构是否是产生特定类型行为的唯一解决方案，还是这种行为的产生有多种方式。最后，该项目研究了产生相似行为的物种是否使用了相似的神经化学信号。有关神经元和神经回路的信息在一个名为www.NeuronBank.org的在线存储库中共享。该项目的更广泛影响还包括进一步开发软体动物神经科学门户（www.squishybrain.org），以分享有关这些动物的研究。这项工作很重要，因为它将揭示不同物种的行为是如何产生的。

Neuroscience and medical science rely heavily on the concept that similar behaviors in different kinds of animals are produced by shared mechanisms in the brains of those animals. For example, behavioral testing in rodents is used to predict the efficacy of drugs on human behavior. It is imperative that we understand the extent to which similarity in behavior predicts similarity in neural mechanism. This project uses electrophysiology combined with computational simulations and molecular biology to examine this important question in the readily accessible nervous systems of nudibranch sea slugs. These animals have relatively simple nervous systems with individual nerve cells (neurons) that are individually identifiable not just from animal to animal within a species, but also across species. Furthermore, there is a tremendous diversity of these species that perform one of two types of swimming behaviors. These studies examine the extent to which neurons and neural circuits differ in species that behave similarly. The project also examines a fundamental question of whether the configuration of a neural circuit is a unique solution to producing a particular type of behavior or whether there are many ways for the behavior to come about. Finally, the project examines whether similar neurochemical signals are used in species that produce similar behavior. Information about the neurons and neural circuits is being shared in an online repository called www.NeuronBank.org. The broader impact of the project also involves further developing the molluscan neuroscience gateway (www.squishybrain.org) for sharing research about these animals. This work is important because of what it will reveal about how behavior is produced in different species.