Decoding graviceptors, sensory and non-sensory influence

描述（由申请人提供）：耳石器官已知提供模糊的感觉线索，因为像所有线性加速度计一样，它们同时响应重力和线性加速度（即爱因斯坦等效原理）。该项目的长期目标是了解神经系统如何利用感觉和非感觉信息来解决耳石器官测量的固有模糊性。当我们开发评估耳石功能的临床程序时，理解这些感觉相互作用尤为重要，因为由于固有的耳石测量模糊性，对所有耳石信号的反应都依赖于其他线索，包括感觉和非感觉。从我们对自己感知的个人知识以及对倾斜和平移的科学研究中，我们知道人类既感知倾斜（即重力的相对方向），也感知平移（即线性加速度）。这清楚地表明，人类神经系统将重力惯性力的模糊测量分离为独立的（尽管可能相关）倾斜（重力）和平移（线性加速度）的表示。这些（或类似的）神经过程也可能影响反射性眼动反应。我们知道来自椎管的旋转信号会影响倾斜和平移反应，我们也知道视觉运动和方向信号会影响倾斜和平移反应。但我们并不完全了解其他感官和非感官影响如何影响耳石信号的处理。研究其他感官和非感官影响是我们提出的研究的短期目标。为实现这一短期目标，我们建议研究3个具体目标。1)研究非人类灵长类动物的VOR和翻滚倾斜感知。2)研究管道线索对倾斜和平移反应的影响。3)研究传出复制和颈部受体线索对神经过程的影响，通过这些神经过程，模糊的耳石线索产生倾斜和/或翻译反应。

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): The otolith organs are known to provide ambiguous sensory cues, since like all linear accelerometers they respond both to gravity and linear acceleration (i.e., Einstein's Equivalence Principle). The long-term goals of this project are to understand how the nervous system uses sensory and non-sensory information to resolve the inherent ambiguity measured by the otolith organs. It is particularly crucial to understand these sensory interactions as we develop clinical procedures to assess otolith function, since responses to all otolith signals depend upon other cues, both sensory and non-sensory, because of the inherent otolith measurement ambiguity. From both personal knowledge of our own perceptions as well as scientific investigations of tilt and translation, we know that humans perceive both tilt, (i.e., relative orientation of gravity), and translation (i.e., linear acceleration). This clearly shows the human nervous system separates the ambiguous measurement of gravito-inertial force into separate, though possibly related, representations of tilt (gravity) and translation (linear acceleration). These (or similar) neural processes may also affect reflexive eye movements responses. We know that rotational cues from the canals influence both tilt and translation responses, and we also know that both visual motion and orientation cues influence both tilt and translation responses. But we do not thoroughly understand how other sensory and non-sensory influences might affect the processing of the otolith cues. Investigating other sensory and non-sensory influences is the short-term goal of our proposed research. To accomplish this short-term goal, we propose to investigate 3 specific aims. 1) Investigate VOR and roll tilt perception in non-human primates. 2) Investigate how the influence of canal cues on tilt and translation responses adapts. 3) Investigate the influence of efferent copy and neck receptor cues on the neural processes by which ambiguous otolith cues yield tilt and/or translation responses.