NIH R01 · 2025
CRCNS: Multimodal integration for spatial navigation
Spatial orientation is a fundamental cognitive function required for survival. To navigate, an animal must know its location and its heading. The neurons thought to underlie the sense of direction are known as head-direction cells, which respond maximally when an animal is facing in a particular direction. Collectively, these cells form a cognitive map, analogous to a compass, that specifies heading direction relative to the surrounding world. How do neural circuits evaluate and combine multimodal cues to robustly and accurately build a cognitive map? This proposal applies an integrated experimental and theoretical approach to a well-characterized navigation center, the Drosophila central…
From the public funding record at NIH RePORTER. Describes the funded project, not the reviews below.