RUI: Adult Compensatory Plasticity in an Invertebrate Sensory System

RUI：无脊椎动物感觉系统中的成人补偿可塑性

• 批准号: 1753730
• 负责人: Hadley Horch
• 金额: $ 80万
• 依托单位: Bowdoin College
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Standard Grant
• 财政年份: 2018
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2018-08-01 至 2023-07-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=1753730&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: RUI; Adult; Compensatory; Plasticity; Invertebrate

Non-Technical Paragraph:One of the most important questions in neuroscience is how flexible nervous systems remain as they age. In young organisms, nervous systems are highly plastic; neural cells can change their shape and their function. Older nervous systems tend to be less flexible, and large-scale reorganizations are unusual. This research examines adult plasticity in neural circuits responsible for hearing in crickets, which can regrow and rewire auditory neural connections after damage. This plasticity produces functional recovery of hearing loss that is variable among individual crickets. The goal of this project is to understand the mechanisms that govern this type of plasticity, and to explain the variability in functional recovery among individuals. Because these same or similar mechanisms exist in a wide variety of organisms, what is learned from these cricket experiments will be generally applicable to circuits in other organisms. The broader scientific impact of the work will be its contribution to a deeper understanding of the mechanisms of adult nervous system plasticity and how this knowledge can be used to promote functional recovery after nervous system trauma. This work will also have important educational impacts both at Bowdoin College and within Maine. Undergraduates will be active participants in the proposed scientific research, and a special effort will be made to identify, support, and retain students from underrepresented groups. In addition, the PI and her students will participate in annual STEM outreach activities at local elementary schools and with Wabanaki middle school students, widening the societal impact of the funding.Technical Paragraph:A persistent question about nervous systems is how plastic they remain as they mature. This research project focuses on one of the rare examples of large-scale anatomical plasticity seen in adulthood. The adult auditory system of the cricket Gryllus bimaculatus demonstrates profound structural plasticity after the loss of an ear, consisting of large-scale growth and branching of dendrites and axons. These changes result in wavelength-specific physiological recovery that compensates for the loss of the ear; the extent of recovery in different crickets is highly variable. The PI and her students will test the hypothesis that the extent of anatomical sprouting correlates with recovery, as seen in the strength of physiological responses to auditory stimuli and to behavioral indications of auditory system recovery. The extent of recovery within individual animals will be assessed by testing negative phonotaxis, electrophysiological responses of auditory neurons to sound, and quantifying dendritic and axonal changes in auditory neurons. Bayesian statistical modeling will be used to analyze the data across these levels. Experiments will test whether it is possible to manipulate form and function by altering semaphorin signaling. DsRNA will be used to manipulate sema and plex levels, and any resulting changes in morphology, physiology and behavioral function will be assessed. Given the evolutionary conservation of neuronal strategies for development and plasticity, what is learned from these experiments using G. bimaculatus will be applicable to deafferented circuits in a wide variety of other organisms.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.

非技术段落：神经科学中最重要的问题之一是灵活的神经系统如何随着年龄的增长而保持。在年轻的生物体中，神经系统是高度塑性的。神经细胞可以改变其形状和功能。较旧的神经系统往往柔韧性较小，大规模的重组是不寻常的。这项研究研究了负责在板球中听力的神经回路中的成人可塑性，这可能会在损害后再生和重新播放听觉神经连接。这种可塑性会导致听力损失的功​​能恢复，这在单个板球之间是可变的。该项目的目的是了解控制这种可塑性的机制，并解释个人功能恢复的变异性。由于这些相同或相似的机制存在于多种生物中，因此从这些板球实验中学到的东西通常适用于其他生物体的电路。这项工作的更广泛的科学影响将是其对成人神经系统可塑性机制的更深入理解以及如何使用这些知识来促进神经系统创伤后功能恢复的贡献。这项工作还将在鲍登学院和缅因州内产生重要的教育影响。本科生将是拟议的科学研究的积极参与者，并将特别努力识别，支持和保留人数不足的群体的学生。此外，PI和她的学生将在当地小学和Wabanaki中学学生参加年度STEM外展活动，从而扩大了资金的社会影响。技术段落：关于神经系统的持续问题，关于神经系统的持续问题是他们在成熟时保持塑性的程度。 该研究项目的重点是成年期间大规模解剖可塑性的罕见例子之一。板球bimaculatus的成年听觉系统在失去耳朵后表现出深刻的结构可塑性，包括大规模生长和树突和轴突的分支。这些变化导致波长特异性的生理恢复，以补偿耳朵的损失。不同板球的恢复程度高度可变。 PI和她的学生将检验以下假设：解剖学发芽的程度与恢复相关，如生理反应对听觉刺激的强度以及对听觉系统恢复的行为指示的强度。 将通过测试阴性音位，听觉神经元对声音的电生理反应以及量化听觉神经元的树突变化和轴突变化来评估单个动物内部恢复程度。贝叶斯统计建模将用于分析这些级别的数据。实验将通过改变信号素信号传导来测试是否可以操纵形式和功能。 DSRNA将用于操纵SEMA和PLEX水平，并且将评估形态，生理和行为功能的任何结果变化。鉴于神经元策略的发展和可塑性的进化保存，从这些实验中从G. bimaculatus中学到的知识将适用于其他各种有机体中的删除电路。该奖项反映了NSF的法规任务，并认为通过基金会的知识优点和广泛的criter scritia criter criter criter criter criter criter criter criter criter criter criter criter criteria criter criter criteria criter criter criteria criter criteria criteria均值得一提。