Spatial navigation requires active sensory and motor processes. Animals must extract meaning from the sensory information they amass through their receptors as they search and locomote. A fundamental question in studies of sensory perception is how the blur of sensory input is converted by the nervous system into a stable perception. The proposed studies aim to elucidate the algorithm used by animals to extract a stable image of the world from input with actively mobile sensors. The experimental program addresses the question of active sensation in the context of tactile localization of objects accomplished by the exploratory whisking movements of vibrissae in the rat. The experiments involve trained animals and recording and stimulation techniques with implanted electrodes. The proposal has two major foci: First, what are the neurological reference signals in vibrissa sensory and motor cortex for whisker position? What parameters of whisking are controlled at this level? The second focus is on the sensorimotor loop linking sensory and motor vibrissa cortices. How does a fast spike train signal in sensory cortex get transformed into a slow motor control signal in motor cortex?

Agency
National Institute of Health (NIH)
Institute
National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH)
Type
Research Project (R01)
Project #
5R01MH059867-04
Application #
6639112
Study Section
Special Emphasis Panel (ZRG1-IFCN-5 (01))
Program Officer
Glanzman, Dennis L
Project Start
2000-05-01
Project End
2005-04-30
Budget Start
2003-05-01
Budget End
2005-04-30
Support Year
4
Fiscal Year
2003
Total Cost
$292,115
Indirect Cost
Name
University of California San Diego
Department
Physics
Type
Schools of Arts and Sciences
DUNS #
804355790
City
La Jolla
State
CA
Country
United States
Zip Code
92093
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Golomb, David; Ahissar, Ehud; Kleinfeld, David (2006) Coding of stimulus frequency by latency in thalamic networks through the interplay of GABAB-mediated feedback and stimulus shape. J Neurophysiol 95:1735-50
Nguyen, Quoc-Thang; Kleinfeld, David (2005) Positive feedback in a brainstem tactile sensorimotor loop. Neuron 45:447-57
Ahrens, Kurt F; Kleinfeld, David (2004) Current flow in vibrissa motor cortex can phase-lock with exploratory rhythmic whisking in rat. J Neurophysiol 92:1700-7
Nguyen, Quoc-Thang; Wessel, Ralf; Kleinfeld, David (2004) Developmental regulation of active and passive membrane properties in rat vibrissa motoneurones. J Physiol 556:203-19
Ganguly, Karunesh; Kleinfeld, David (2004) Goal-directed whisking increases phase-locking between vibrissa movement and electrical activity in primary sensory cortex in rat. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A 101:12348-53
Berg, Rune W; Kleinfeld, David (2003) Vibrissa movement elicited by rhythmic electrical microstimulation to motor cortex in the aroused rat mimics exploratory whisking. J Neurophysiol 90:2950-63
Ahissar, Ehud; Kleinfeld, David (2003) Closed-loop neuronal computations: focus on vibrissa somatosensation in rat. Cereb Cortex 13:53-62
Sachdev, Robert N S; Berg, Rune W; Champney, Gregory et al. (2003) Unilateral vibrissa contact: changes in amplitude but not timing of rhythmic whisking. Somatosens Mot Res 20:163-9
Ahrens, Kurt F; Levine, Herbert; Suhl, Harry et al. (2002) Spectral mixing of rhythmic neuronal signals in sensory cortex. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A 99:15176-81

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