Unraveling the Neural Bases of Body Schema

清醒的、成熟的人类(和其他哺乳动物)有意识和下意识的大脑 “知道”人体在3D空间中每时每刻的形态。这通常是 在大脑中被称为“身体图式”。身体图式对自我发展至关重要 意识和运动控制。例如，我们可以毫不费力地用手触摸我们的 鼻子或拍打刚落在脖子后面的蚊子，无论从哪里开始 手的位置，因为我们在3D中对身体的位置有深入的了解 任何给定时刻的空间。然而，大脑如何产生身体图式表征仍然存在 很大程度上是未知的。在这里，我们建议系统地检查神经回路和 计算所有车身段(单独或组合)的3D位置的机构 老鼠大脑中以自我为中心的参照系。这是通过(1)开发一个 算法BodySchemeJ，它生成完全参数化的时刻到时刻描述 自由活动小鼠的全身构型；(2)进行大规模多电极阵列 来自多个大脑区域的记录，同时跟踪身体的配置在免费- 运动行为；(3)神经数据的计算分析和层次体的测试 图式表征假说；以及(4)描述突触前输入和输出目标 标识的正文架构单元的。最后，由于观察到身体图式表征的缺陷 在许多神经疾病中，我们将测试身体模式是如何在 自闭症的小鼠模型。从这项研究中获得的开创性知识将有助于 建立新的概念框架，促进我们对精髓的理解 神经生物学过程，如自我/身体意识，将感觉定位到身体部位 3D空间、动作选择和电机控制。

The brain of an awake, mature human (and other mammals) consciously and subconsciously “knows” the body’s configuration in 3D space on a moment-by-moment basis. This is often referred to as the “body schema” representation in the brain. Body schema is critical for self- awareness and for motor control. For example, we can effortlessly use our hand to touch our nose or swat a mosquito that has just landed on the back of the neck, regardless of the starting positions of the hand, because we have an intimate knowledge of the body’s position in 3D space at any given moment. Yet how the brain generates body schema representation remains largely unknown. Here we propose to systematically examining the neural circuits and mechanisms that compute the 3D positions of all body segments (individually or combined) with egocentric reference frames in the mouse brain. This is achieved by (1) developing an algorithm, BodySchemeJ, that generates fully parameterized moment-to-moment description of full body configurations in freely moving mice; (2) performing large-scale multi-electrode array recordings from multiple brain areas with concurrent tracking of body configurations in free- moving behaviors; (3) computational analysis of neural data and testing the hierarchical body schema representation hypothesis; and (4) delineating the presynaptic inputs and output targets of identified body schema cells. Finally, since body schema representation deficits are observed in many neurological diseases, we will test how body schema is abnormally encoded in a mouse model of autism. The pioneering knowledge gained from this research will help to establish a new conceptual framework to advance our understandings of quintessential neurobiological processes such as self/body awareness, localizing sensations to body parts in 3D space, action selection and motor control.