Brainstem control of visual orienting

脑干控制视觉定向

• 批准号: 7090327
• 负责人: EDWARD G FREEDMAN
• 金额: $ 39万
• 依托单位: UNIVERSITY OF ROCHESTER
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 财政年份: 2000
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2000-12-01 至 2011-03-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/7090327
• 关键词: Primates; behavioral /social science research tag; brain regulatory center; caudate nucleus; electromyography; electrophysiology; electrostimulus; eye movements; head movements; motor neurons; neural information processing; orientation; saccades; single cell analysis; space perception; superior colliculus; synapses; visual perception

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): Producing smoothly coordinated movements during performance of complex behaviors is an essential goal of the nervous system. To accomplish this, sensory information must be integrated continuously in order to construct a representation of objects in the world. This critical function requires the ability to distinguish between self-generated and object motion, to integrate diverse sensory information, and to plan and execute simultaneous motor behaviors. The interactions among neural structures that mediate selection and execution of coordinated movements, and the mechanisms that resolve the inherent conflict between stabilizing reflexes and motor commands are critical issues in understanding the neural control of coordinated action. The neural control of coordinated eye-head movements is an experimental system that has provided significant insights into the neural mechanisms mediating visual orienting behaviors. Directing the line of sight (gaze) towards interesting objects enhances our perception of the object and provides a way to construct and maintain an internal model of the world. These changes in gaze direction are generally accomplished by coordinating the eyes and head, and provide an excellent model system for studying the neural control of orienting behaviors, the coordination of multiple body segments, spatial orientation and transformation of sensory information into motor commands. The goals of the proposed research are to elucidate the neural computations and mechanisms required for coordination within the context of visual orienting movements. We will record the activity of neurons in the brainstem during gaze shifts made when the head is free to move. We will determine the relationship between the activity of these cells and the metrics and/or kinematics of the gaze, eye and/or head movements, we will characterize the activity of cells in the nucleus reticularis gigantocellularis and identify their role in generation of head movements, and we will record activity simultaneously from cells in the superior colliculus (SC) and cells downstream from the SC in an effort to reveal the underlying mechanisms that transform SC signals into the commands needed to move the eyes and head. These experiments will provide exciting and novel insight into the ways in which the nervous system converts sensory inputs into coordinated actions.

描述（由申请人提供）：在执行复杂行为时产生平稳协调的运动是神经系统的基本目标。为了实现这一目标，必须不断整合感官信息，以构建世界上物体的表示。这一关键功能需要能够区分自生运动和物体运动，整合不同的感官信息，并计划和执行同时的运动行为。介导协调运动的选择和执行的神经结构之间的相互作用，以及解决稳定反射和运动命令之间固有冲突的机制是理解协调行动的神经控制的关键问题。协调眼头运动的神经控制是一个实验系统，它为介导视觉定向行为的神经机制提供了重要的见解。将视线（凝视）引向有趣的物体可以增强我们对物体的感知，并提供一种构建和维护世界内部模型的方法。这些注视方向的变化通常是通过协调眼睛和头部来完成的，并为研究定向行为的神经控制、多个身体部分的协调、空间定向以及感觉信息转化为运动命令提供了一个优秀的模型系统。拟议研究的目标是阐明视觉定向运动背景下协调所需的神经计算和机制。当头部自由移动时，我们将记录注视转移过程中脑干神经元的活动。我们将确定这些细胞的活动与凝视、眼睛和/或头部运动的度量和/或运动学之间的关系，我们将表征巨细胞网状核中细胞的活动，并确定它们在产生头部运动中的作用，我们将同时记录上丘 (SC) 细胞和 SC 下游细胞的活动，以揭示将 SC 信号转化为移动眼睛和头部所需命令的潜在机制。这些实验将为神经系统将感觉输入转化为协调行动的方式提供令人兴奋和新颖的见解。