NSF Postdoctoral Fellowship in Biology FY 2021: Linking biomechanics to neurobiology: how coordinated bird flight emerges from visual motion processing

这一行动为NSF 2021财年生物学博士后研究奖学金提供了资金，综合研究调查了支配基因组、环境和表型之间相互作用的生命规则。该奖学金支持研究员的研究和培训，这些研究员将以创新的方式为生活规则领域做出贡献。大脑如何解释视觉信息以引导环境中的安全运动是生物学中最突出的问题之一。了解这一过程将有助于指导更安全的自动驾驶汽车的设计。以鸟类飞行为模型系统，这项研究将揭示控制绕过障碍物并与其他个人协调移动的基本原则。鸟类是最具机动性的动物之一，它们依靠视觉信息来指导它们的运动；人类和自动驾驶汽车也是如此。这项研究将确定鸟类飞行是如何通过使用真实世界的视觉刺激在大脑中进行处理而出现的。描述鸟类飞行和协调的数据将与Lummi Nation的学生合作收集。因此，这个项目将为美洲原住民学生--STEM中代表最少的群体--提供动手的、与地理相关的、接触科学的机会。通常，视觉处理是通过让动物受试者在实验室环境中接触简单模式来研究的。虽然这些方法允许对实验设计进行严格的监管，但简单的图案缺乏自然条件提供的视觉刺激的许多特征。这极大地限制了我们对动物行为如何通过视觉信息的处理而出现的洞察力。通过两位该领域著名专家在视觉神经科学方面的培训，这位研究员将以他们在生物力学方面的经验为基础，将动物行为与视觉神经生物学联系起来。研究将使用配对的头盔摄像系统来确定自由飞行的鸽子在飞行环境中感受到的视觉刺激的自然统计数据有何不同。动物还将配备GPS跟踪器和加速计，这样特定背景的视觉刺激可以与鸽子的瞬时运动学和轨迹联系起来。最后，让鸽子接触视觉刺激，同时使用电生理学来研究大脑活动，将揭示自然视觉刺激的特征是如何编码在视觉运动神经元的活动模式中的。这项研究将因此弥合提供给感觉系统、处理、个人运动反应和协调群体运动之间的信息之间的差距，同时为研究员提供神经科学方面的高级培训。该项目的数据将与美洲原住民学生合作收集，以促进和鼓励他们攻读STEM高级学位。该奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的智力优势和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

This action funds an NSF Postdoctoral Research Fellowship in Biology for FY 2021, Integrative Research Investigating the Rules of Life Governing Interactions Between Genomes, Environment and Phenotypes. The fellowship supports research and training of the Fellow that will contribute to the area of Rules of Life in innovative ways. How the brain interprets visual information to guide safe movement through the environment is one of the great outstanding questions in biology. Understanding this process will help direct the design of safer self-driving cars. Using bird flight as a model system, this research will uncover fundamental principles for the control of movement around obstacles and in coordination with other individuals. Birds are among the most maneuverable animals and rely on visual information to guide their movement; as do humans and self-driving cars. This research will determine how bird flight emerges through processing in the brain using real-world visual stimuli. Data describing bird flight and coordination will be collected in collaboration with students from the Lummi Nation. Thus, this project will provide Native American students – the least represented group in STEM – with hands-on, geographically relevant, exposure to science.Typically, visual processing is studied by exposing animal subjects to simple patterns in laboratory settings. Though these methods allow for tight regulation of experimental designs, simple patterns lack many features of visual stimuli provided by natural conditions. This dramatically limits our insight into how animal behaviors emerge through the processing of visual information. With training in visual neuroscience from two renowned experts in the field, the Fellow will build upon their experience in biomechanics to connect animal behavior to visual neurobiology. Research will determine how the natural statistics of visual stimuli experienced by free-flying pigeons differ across flight contexts using a paired, head-mounted camera system. Animals will also be equipped with GPS-trackers and accelerometers, such that context-specific visual stimuli can be linked to instantaneous kinematics and trajectories of pigeons. Finally, exposing pigeons to visual stimuli while using electrophysiology to study brain activity will uncover how features of natural visual stimuli are encoded in the activity patterns of visual-motion neurons. This research will thereby bridge the gaps between the information provided to the sensory system, processing, individual motor responses, and coordinated group movement, while providing the Fellow with advanced training in neuroscience. Data for this project will be collected in collaboration with Native American students to facilitate and encourage them to pursue advanced degrees in STEM.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.