H2020Индивидуална стипендия2021–2023

PI_Memory_Circuits · The neural basis of path integration memory in insects

„Хоризонт 2020“ — Действия „Мария Склодовска-Кюри“

Период: 2021-09-01 → 2023-08-31
Финансиране от ЕС: 191 852 €
Участници: 1
Схема: MSCA-IF

Линиите свързват координатора с партньорите.

Накратко на български

Невронните вериги при насекомите се изследват, за да се разбере как пчелите и мравките се връщат в гнездата си чрез проследяване на посока и разстояние. Това помага да се разбере как малките мозъци обработват информация за навигация в непознат терен.

Този кратък обзор е генериран от изкуствен интелект

Кратко обяснение, генерирано от езиков модел по текста на CORDIS. Оригиналът е по-долу.

Резултати накратко

The neural basis of path integration memory in insects

Imagine yourself hiking in the trailless wilderness of northern Scandinavia. You leave your tent for an excursion to admire the beautiful scenery. After passing the first moss-covered hill you already lose sight of the tent. Most humans would be utterly lost within an hour of undirected travel, unable to find the way back. Yet, many tiny invertebrate animals, such as bees and ants, with even smaller brains are able to return back to their nests with ease, even after navigating unknown, featureless terrain. They use a navigational neural computation called path integration to do so, which other animals, including mammals, rely on as well. Path integration is an efficient strategy to find a previously visited location: An animal monitors the turns it makes and distances it travels along its trip to continuously update an estimate of its location relative to the start of its journey. This estimate can be used to return to home along a straight line, termed the home vector. Besides returning home, path integration can be used to locate any previously visited location when defined as the origin, a strategy generally called vector navigation. In addition to following a home vector, some arthropods are able to construct novel shortcuts to previously known locations and use landmarks as navigational aids. Observing these impressive behaviors raises the question of how they are neurally manifested in the relatively simple brains of arthropods, some smaller than a pinhead. Much progress has been gained in unravelling the behavioral strategies of vector navigation in animals, the neural circuits responsible for compass and speed encoding required for insect navigation, and in the development of models for how neural circuits might manifest into navigation behaviors; however, the neural basis of vector memories underlying path integration remains unknown in any animal. My project aimed to fill this gap in knowledge, with the ultimate goal of elucidating the neural basis of path integration memory, a question that has been asked for decades. Combining behavioral, electrophysiological and neuroanatomical methods, I aimed at uncovering the core circuits underlying vector navigation in arthropods as an overarching goal. Over the course of the proposed project, I pursued two specific goals, first to develop a behavioral assay to define the fundamental characteristics of path integration in bumblebees and second, to develop methods to determine the neural correlate of vector memories in bumblebees.

Текст от CORDIS, на английски · Данни: CORDIS, © Европейски съюз

Цел на проекта

Many animals make direct trips back to their homes after tortuous foraging trips using a navigational strategy called path integration (PI). During PI, sensory information for direction and distance measurements are used to calculate the straightest path back to home. While PI has been well studied behaviorally, the neural basis of vector memory formation is unknown in any animal. Here, I will combine behavior and physiology to demonstrate PI and the neural basis for vector memory formation in bumblebees. First I will develop real-world behavioral arenas to demonstrate that walking bees use PI. Next, I will use virtual reality to mimic the real-world arenas, demonstrating PI behavior in stationary bees. I will also develop electrophysiological methods to record from neural centers of interest in the brains of restrained bees. Finally I will combine the physiology refined in restrained bees and the PI behaviors in virtual reality to physiologically record from the brains of bees actively performing PI. From these experiments, I will ideally be able to measure the buildup of PI memory and observe how PI memory is used for steering during the homebound part of the foraging trip. From the proposed work, the neural basis of PI will be uncovered for the first time. Navigational feats extending past acquiring and following a home vector may be investigated in the future using the same methods. Results from this work have the potential for gains in applications such as robotics. Finally, during my fellowship, I will gain neuroanatomical and functional tools that will aid in my future research plans to investigate the neural basis of navigation behaviors of mantis shrimp, animals which exhibit similar navigational strategies to those of insects, such as bees, while underwater, with the end goal of uncovering the evolutionary origins of complex, widespread navigational strategies in arthropods and potentially other animals as well.

Оригинален текст от CORDIS (на английски).

Участници

LUNDS UNIVERSITET · LundКоординаторШвеция