Functional significance of parallel sensory pathways in the rat vibrissal system.

描述（由申请人提供）：最近的研究表明，大鼠触须（三叉神经）感觉通路和视觉通路之间存在相似性，可以将触须系统扩展为视觉感觉处理的模型。具体而言，丘系和extralemniscal触须途径已被比作小细胞和大细胞视觉途径和视丘系触须途径显示解剖学相似性的视觉konio细胞途径。这些结果唤起的假设，三叉神经通路是三个视觉通路的类似物，可能分离空间（细小），时间（大）和自我运动（konio）的信息到三个不同的途径。然而，这一假设是通过一种有争议的刺激技术产生的：人工胡须，这是有争议的，因为它以一种行为学上难以置信的方式激活了用于胡须运动的肌肉。因此，有一个明确的需要，以独立评估这种刺激技术的结果，以进一步测试这一建议的中心假设，即三个主要的三叉神经上行通路（丘系，extralemniscal和numeremniscal）编码空间，时间和自我运动的信息。与上行视觉通路（parvo，magno和konio）类似，我们假设丘系通路编码高灵敏度的空间信息，extralemniscal通路携带精确的时间信息，而extralemniscal通路包含reafferent信息。中心假设将通过完成三个具体目标来检验。目的1：训练大鼠区分自由空气、平坦壁和弯曲壁。目标二：基于分离的触须运动和触须接触信息，在脑干三叉神经核水平建立丘系帕拉和丘系外通路的功能意义。目标3：根据胡须运动和接触的时空模式，在脑干三叉神经核（Vnuc）水平上建立丘系通路的功能意义。该提案概述了使用清醒的行为动物的三个主要创新：（1）在受控行为期间来自Vnuc的第一个神经记录，（2）来自Vnuc的触须部分的第二个慢性记录，以及（3）在无约束行为期间首次同时测量所有胡须接触时间。感知强烈地基于神经系统较低水平的感觉和运动处理。理解感知的感觉运动基础可能会导致扭曲患者感知的病理学的新疗法。该建议旨在进一步发展触须系统作为感知的感觉运动基础的模型，这可能有助于理解人类的感知缺陷。

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): Recent studies have demonstrated similarities between the rat vibrissal (trigeminal) sensory pathways and visual pathways that could expand the vibrissal system as a model for visual sensory processing. Specifically, the lemniscal and extralemniscal vibrissal pathways have been likened to the parvo-cellular and magno-cellular visual pathways and the paralemniscal vibrissal pathway shows anatomical similarity to the visual konio-cellular pathway. These results evoke the hypothesis that the trigeminal pathways are analogs of the three visual pathways, potentially separating spatial (parvo), temporal (magno) and self-movement (konio) information into three distinct pathways. However, this hypothesis arises through a controversial stimulation technique: artificial whisking, which is disputed because it activates muscles used for whisker motion in an ethologically implausible manner. Thus, there is a clear need to independently valuate the results of this stimulation technique to further test this proposal's central hypothesis that the three major trigeminal ascending pathways (lemniscal, extralemniscal and paralemniscal) encode spatial, temporal and self-movement information. In analogy to the ascending visual pathways (parvo, magno and konio), we hypothesize that the lemniscal pathway encodes high acuity spatial information, the extralemniscal pathway carries precise temporal information, and the paralemniscal pathway contains reafferent information. The central hypothesis will be tested through the completion of three specific aims. Aim 1: Train rats to discriminate between free air, a flat wall and a curved wall. Aim 2: Establish the functional significance of the para- and extra-lemniscal pathways at the level of the brainstem trigeminal nuclei based on a separation of whisker motion and whisker contact information. Aim 3: Establish the functional significance of the lemniscal pathway at the level of the brainstem trigeminal nuclei (Vnuc) based on spatiotemporal patterns of whisker motion and contact. This proposal outlines three primary innovations using the awake, behaving animal: (1) the first neural recording from the Vnuc during a controlled behavior, (2) the second chronic recording from the vibrissal portion of the Vnuc ever made, and (3) the first simultaneous measurement of all whisker contact times during unrestrained behaviors. PUBLIC HEALTH RELEVANCE Perception is based strongly on sensory and motor processing at lower levels of the nervous system. Understanding the sensorimotor basis of perception could lead to novel treatments for pathologies that distort a patient's perceptions. This proposal aims to further develop the vibrissal system as a model of the sensorimotor basis of perception, which could be instrumental for understanding of perceptual deficits in humans.