Brainstem-cerebellar Interactions in Gaze Control

凝视控制中的脑干-小脑相互作用

• 批准号: 6979752
• 负责人: EDWARD G FREEDMAN
• 金额: $ 23.08万
• 依托单位: UNIVERSITY OF ROCHESTER
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 财政年份: 2005
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2005-04-01 至 2010-03-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/6979752
• 关键词: Macaca mulatta; behavior test; behavioral /social science research tag; brain electrical activity; brain stem; cerebellar nuclei; cerebellum; electrostimulus; eye movements; head movements; motion perception; neural information processing; psychomotor function; saccades; superior colliculus; visual perception

Project 1: 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. The cerebellum has long been implicated in the refinement of motor commands and correction of errors between commanded and executed movements. The brainstem control of eye-head coordination during visual orienting behaviors has been and continues to be a major focus of research in this lab. The experiments proposed here extend this work in order to investigate the role of the cerebellum in modifying and/or correcting the motor commands generated by brainstem regions. The proposed research will test the differential roles of the caudal and rostral portions of the fastigial nucleus in coordinating movements of the eyes and head. Experiments will also test the hypothesis that gaze shift commands generated by activity in the superior colliculus are refined by activity in the caudal fastigial nucleus (cFN). The primary goals of the research in the lab are to understand the neural mechanisms mediating coordinated actions. Disruption of these mechanisms can result from stroke or disease and often have devastating consequences such as spatial disorientation, saccadic dysmetria and/or ataxia. The proposed research will facilitate early detection of disturbances and lead to new treatments of these disorders.

项目 1：在执行复杂行为时产生平稳协调的运动是神经系统的一个基本目标。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 这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。小脑长期以来一直与运动指令的细化以及命令和执行运动之间错误的纠正有关。视觉定向行为期间脑干对眼头协调的控制一直是并将继续成为本实验室研究的主要焦点。这里提出的实验扩展了这项工作，以研究小脑在修改和/或纠正脑干区域产生的运动命令中的作用。拟议的研究将测试顶核尾部和喙部在协调眼睛和头部运动中的不同作用。实验还将检验这样的假设：上丘活动产生的凝视转移命令由尾顶核（cFN）的活动细化。实验室研究的主要目标是了解介导协调行动的神经机制。这些机制的破坏可能是由中风或疾病引起的，并且常常会产生毁灭性的后果，例如空间定向障碍、扫视性辨距障碍和/或共济失调。拟议的研究将有助于及早发现紊乱，并为这些疾病带来新的治疗方法。