CAREER: Mammalian Models for Teaching and Research in Neuroethology

职业：神经行为学教学和研究的哺乳动物模型

• 批准号: 0238364
• 负责人: Kenneth Catania
• 金额: $ 51.02万
• 依托单位: Vanderbilt University
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Continuing Grant
• 财政年份: 2003
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2003-05-15 至 2009-04-30
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=0238364&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: CAREER; Mammalian; Models; Teaching; Research

Important advances in understanding nervous-system function have been made by exploring animal species with particularly well-developed senses. This project on the neurobiology and behavior of some highly specialized small-mammal species aims to reveal general principles of nervous-system organization, function, and plasticity. Star-nosed moles have an exceptional sense of touch in their ornate noses, including mechanosensory organs that are used to make rapid discriminations based on nearly microscopic textures. Analyses of foraging behavior, prey selection and brain specializations for high-resolution and high-speed tactile sensations are done in combination with computer simulations of mechanoreceptor function and investigation of parallel processing of touch information in the neocortex. Similar comparative approaches to neuroethology will utilize naked mole-rats, unique among mammals in having a caste system like some social insects, including smaller workers and larger queens, to study naturally occurring adult brain plasticity that may accompany the physical transformation of workers to queens. Finally, elephant shrews have a specialized olfactory system that may provide novel insights about olfactory localization in mammals. These comparative studies are particularly valuable for teaching because the questions take the investigators and students through a journey of discovery that ranges from the animal in its natural environment at one extreme to the anatomy and physiology of single cells at the other. Results will have an impact throughout many levels of neurobiology, as well as in animal behavior and natural history. As a CAREER project, this work incorporates a variety of disciplinary approaches and opportunities for graduate and undergraduate students, including laboratory and field work, and also involves undergraduate course development and public outreach.

通过探索具有特别发达的感官的动物物种，了解神经系统功能的重要进展。 关于一些高度专业的小型哺乳动物物种的神经生物学和行为的项目旨在揭示神经系统组织，功能和可塑性的一般原则。 星鼻痣在其华丽的鼻子中具有特殊的触摸感，包括用于基于几乎微小纹理的快速区分的机械感觉器官。 对高分辨率和高速触觉感觉的觅食行为，猎物选择和大脑专业化的分析是与机械感受器功能的计算机模拟以及新皮层中触摸信息并行处理的。 神经障碍学的类似比较方法将利用裸露的痣鼠，在哺乳动物中独有的种姓系统（包括一些社交昆虫）（包括较小的工人和较大的皇后）来研究自然存在的成人脑可塑性，这可能伴随着工人向皇后区的物理转变。 最后，大象sh有一个专门的嗅觉系统，可以提供有关哺乳动物中嗅觉定位的新见解。 这些比较研究对于教学特别有价值，因为这些问题使研究人员和学生通过发现的旅程，从一种极端的自然环境中的动物到另一个细胞的解剖结构和生理学。 结果将在许多层次的神经生物学以及动物行为和自然史上产生影响。 作为一项职业项目，这项工作结合了各种学科方法和研究生和本科生的机会，包括实验室和现场工作，还涉及本科课程的发展和公共宣传。