Award
NIH Reporter #5R01DC016413-07
SYNAPTIC COMPUTATIONS IN CENTRAL VESTIBULAR NEURONS
Recipient
Washington University, Saint Louis, MO
Award Amount
$453,567.00
Ceiling
$453,567.00
Awarded
July 10, 2026
Identifier
5R01DC016413-07
This NIH-funded project studies how brainstem vestibulospinal neurons integrate motor command signals during locomotion to improve motor control, using zebrafish models to map synaptic circuits and identify presynaptic partners.
Description
Brainstem vestibulospinal neurons receive information about head movement from vestibular afferents, but during locomotion they also receive a copy of motor commands as a rhythmic oscillation aligned with the locomotor cycle. The project aims to define the synaptic components underlying this corollary discharge, measure how sensory signals combine with it, and identify presynaptic sources using young zebrafish for in vivo whole-cell recordings. Specific goals include characterizing excitatory and inhibitory synaptic inputs, leveraging connectomic data to identify presynaptic partners, and determining the genetic identity and function of presynaptic inputs.