Whiskers-R-Us
E-mail hzeigler@hunter.cuny.edu Telephone 212-772-5363 Fax 212-772-5629
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Introduction
Research Interests: Neuroethology of movement. Brain mechanisms of “active touch” in rodents. Sensory processing and motor control. Development of “active touch”
Humans and other animals actively seek information from the environment, using mobile sensors like the eye and the hand. They process that information over a network of brain structures and use it to control their behavior. These “active sensing” behaviors are among the most complex movements produced by the brain but we know little about their neural control. We use the rat’s whisking behavior to examine how the brain uses touch information from the whiskers to control exploration, discrimination and navigation behaviors. Rats spend much of their time in the dark, using their whiskers for exploration. During exploration rats flick their whiskers 6-12 time/sec. a behavior called “whisking”. When the whiskers make contact, the rat may vary the frequency and size of these scanning movements (whisks) to provide maximum information, just as humans do with their hands. The sensori-motor system processing touch information and controlling whisker movements occupies a disproportionately large amount of brain tissue, just as does the brain representation of the human hand. Using computer-assisted opto-electronics we monitor the whisker movements in real time and in two-dimensions. We use conditioning procedures to bring “whisking” movements under experimental control. Targeted brain lesions are used to identify the functions of specific brain regions. We record the activity of single neurons in sensory and motor brain regions in awake, whisking animals using ultra-fine (micro) electrodes (Figure).
Figure 1: Brain activity during “exploratory” whisker movements. Whisking behavior is conditioned and single-neuron activity associated with whisker movements (ticks on whisking record) are displayed and analyzed .
To Students: Interest, patience and precision are the essential requirements. We will teach you what you need to know. A background in biology is helpful but not essential. You must not be afraid to handle animals, nor uncomfortable with surgical procedures and will always ask when in doubt. Computer skills a plus.
Expected Benefits: An introduction to neurobehavioral research: Acquisition of computer-assisted testing and data analysis. The possibility of an M.A. Thesis project.
