RUI: The nervous system of the Nine-banded Armadillo (Dasypus novemcinctus)

了解大脑如何组织成专门的区域（触觉、运动、视觉等）对于理解大脑如何发育，以及在发育障碍或损伤后大脑如何受到影响和修复至关重要。要想更好地了解大脑组织，一个有效的策略是研究那些拥有独特身体结构和行为的哺乳动物。本研究的目的是利用解剖和电生理记录的方法来表征九带犰狳（Dasypus novemcintus）大脑区域的组织和功能。这个项目将揭示哺乳动物的神经系统如何处理特殊的感觉输入。犰狳身上覆盖着骨板，高度依赖于它们的听觉。这些特征预计会影响大脑中负责触觉、运动和听觉的区域；理解这种关系将有助于了解其他哺乳动物（如人类）的类似系统。除了拥有特殊的感官外，犰狳还能独特地产下四胞胎（基本上是克隆的），这为用相同的幼崽进行相关的神经发育研究奠定了基础，这是任何其他哺乳动物发育模型都无法实现的理想实验环境。这些研究将在中阿肯色大学（University of Central Arkansas）进行，涉及对本科生和硕士生（其中许多是第一代大学生）进行尖端神经生物学研究方法的培训。参与的学生将以全面的动手方式参与科学过程，并获得研究经验，为他们在神经生物学或其他相关STEM领域的职业生涯做好准备。这项工作在试点阶段产生的强烈兴趣表明，合并的教育推广计划将有助于解决对科学教育的严重需求，特别是在阿肯色州的小学生中，其中大约40%的被评估学生的表现低于基本成就水平（2011年国家报告卡，国家教育计划评估，美国教育部）。

Understanding how brains become organized into specialized regions (touch, motor, vision, etc.) is essential to understanding how brains develop, as well as how they might be impacted and potentially repaired following developmental disorders or injuries. An effective strategy for acquiring a better understanding of brain organization involves examining mammals that possess unique body structures and behaviors. The goal of these studies is to characterize the organization and function of brain regions in the nine-banded armadillo (Dasypus novemcinctus), utilizing anatomical and electrophysiological recording methods. This project will reveal how mammalian nervous systems process specialized sensory inputs. Armadillos are covered in bony plates and are highly dependent upon their sense of hearing. These traits are expected to impact the brain regions responsible for touch, movement and hearing; understanding this relationship will shed light on analogous systems in other mammals such as humans. In addition to possessing sensory specializations, armadillos also uniquely give birth to identical quadruplets (basically clones), setting the stage for related neurodevelopmental studies with identical littermates for comparison, an ideal experimental situation unattainable with any other mammalian developmental model. These studies will take place at the University of Central Arkansas and involve training undergraduate and master's students, many of whom are first generation college students, in cutting edge neurobiology research methods. Participating students will engage in the scientific process in a comprehensive hands-on manner, and gain research experience that will prepare them to pursue careers in neurobiology or other related STEM fields. The intense interest this work has generated in the pilot stages indicates that the incorporated educational outreach programs will help address a serious need for science education, particularly among Arkansas grade school students, where approximately 40% of those assessed perform below basic achievement levels (2011 Nation's Report Card, National Assessment of Educational Programs, U.S. Department of Education).