RUI: Coordinated modulation of a multi-layered neuromuscular system

虽然行为是由神经系统控制的，但神经元的输出是通过神经肌肉系统过滤的，并被反馈通路改变。 这些系统的所有组成部分都可以被激素或神经递质改变（调节）。 然而，由于这些组件以复杂的方式相互作用，调制单个组件的行为影响很难预测。 本项目的目标是扩展我们对构成节律行为基础的多组分神经肌肉系统的控制和调节的理解，特别是构成完整节律神经肌肉系统的多组分被调节以产生适应性行为的方式。 该项目将在一个简单的模型系统（甲壳动物心脏）中使用生理记录来检查各个层面的调制，包括中枢神经系统的电活动，肌肉产生的运动以及已知反馈系统的影响。该方法将是比较性的，检查两种结构相关的分子对整个系统具有相似作用的作用，以及第三种分子的作用，第三种分子在结构上也与前两种分子相关，其对神经肌肉系统的作用作为一个整体与前两种分子大不相同。所揭示的一般原理应该促进我们对系统的不同组成部分，特别是反馈系统，被调节的程度的理解，以及这种调节效应能够相互作用以产生预测的最终输出或行为的方式。此外，由于这项工作将在本科院校进行，它将有助于准备，学生对科学的兴趣和兴趣。 学生们将在智力和实践方面做出贡献，包括代表性不足的少数民族和妇女，就像过去PI实验室的情况一样。

Although behavior is controlled by the nervous system, neuronal output is filtered through the neuromuscular system and is altered by feedback pathways. All components of such systems can be altered (modulated) by hormones or neurotransmitters. However, because these components interact in complex ways, the behavioral effects of modulating individual components are difficult to predict. The goal of this project is to extend our understanding of the control and modulation of the multi-component neuromuscular systems that underlie rhythmic behaviors, particularly the ways in which the multiple components that make up complete rhythmic neuromuscular systems are modulated to produce adaptive behaviors. The project will use physiological recordings in a simple model system (the crustacean heart) to examine modulation at all levels, including electrical activity in the central nervous system, movements generated by the muscles, and the effects of the known feedback systems. The approach will be comparative, examining the effects of two structurally related molecules that have similar effects on the whole system, and the effects of a third molecule, also structurally related to the first two, whose effects on the neuromuscular system as a whole differ substantially from the first two. The general principles uncovered should advance our understanding of both the extent to which different components of a system, particularly feedback systems, are modulated, and the ways in which such modulatory effects are able to interact to produce a predicted final output or behavior.In addition, because this work will be conducted at an undergraduate college, it will contribute to the preparation, retention and interest of undergraduates in science. Students, who will contribute both intellectually and in hands-on work, will include both underrepresented minorities and women, as has been the case in the PI's lab in the past.