The Neuronal Basis of Odor-Trail Tracking in Mice

当动物在世界上移动时，不断地受到感觉信息的轰炸，这些信息必须被快速解析，以便动物计划行动。然而，神经系统能够处理的信息量是有限的。因此，为了避免感觉过载，知觉必须积极关注这些信息流的特定方面。这种聚焦被称为主动感知，是许多感官系统的基本工作模式。哺乳动物使用主动感知来追踪气味痕迹--最近的科学研究表明，啮齿动物在气味追踪过程中的行为非常复杂。嗅探率比正常呼吸频率高出四倍，每一次嗅探都有选择地决定对外部世界的哪一部分进行采样。然而，对他们的搜索策略及其神经元基础的算法理解是缺乏的。我们建议研究小鼠嗅觉主动感觉的神经底物。为此，我们将开发一种实验装置，可以在定制的跑步机上灵活地提供严格控制的气味轨迹，同时允许我们从跟踪轨迹的小鼠的早期嗅觉区域进行记录。我们的目标是了解气味在这种自然行为中的神经表征，并揭示气味跟踪行为的神经元基础。

When moving through the world, an animal is constantly bombarded with sensory information that must be parsed quickly for the animal to plan actions. Yet, the nervous system is limited in the amount of information it can handle. Thus, to avoid sensory overload the perception must actively attend specific aspects of these information streams. Such focusing is called active sensing and is the fundamental operational mode of many sensory systems.Mammals use active sensing to track odor trails - recent scientific claims argue that rodents' behavior during odor-trail tracking is remarkably sophisticated. Sniffing rates rise up to four times above the normal respiration frequency and each sniff selectively determines which part of the external world is sampled. Yet, an algorithmic understanding of their search strategy as well as its neuronal basis is lacking. We propose to study the neural substrate of active sensing during olfaction in mice. For this purpose, we will develop an experimental setup that can flexibly deliver tightly controlled odor trails on a custom-build treadmill, while simultaneously allowing us to record from the early olfactory areas in mice that are following the trail. Our aims are to understand the neural representation of odors during this natural behavior and reveal the neuronal basis of odor tracking behavior.