# Navigation with complex odor dynamics: computational principles and neural circuit implementation in mice

> **NIH NIH R01** · UNIVERSITY OF WASHINGTON · 2020 · $364,896

## Abstract

PROJECT SUMMARY
All animals use sensory cues to find their way through complex environments and locate vital resources such
as food or mates. From simple organisms such as worms finding nutrient-rich soil at centimeter-scale
distances to polar bears following their noses across kilometers to feed upon seal carcasses, the ability to
navigate an environment using odors is one of the most evolutionarily ancient and widespread examples of this
complex behavior. Interest in the ability to navigate with odors has spanned decades and resulted in numerous
models suggesting how animals can accomplish this feat. Testing these models is extremely difficult because
in nearly all terrestrial environments odors are transported as fluctuating plumes by turbulent air flow. This
necessitates either the use of simplifying models for odor flow or complex three-dimensional computational
fluid dynamics simulations. In both cases, only statistical connections can be made between the performance
of a simulated searcher and the behavior and neural processing of an animal. This limitation rules out the
ability to combine moment-to-moment neural recordings with the sensory input guiding an animal’s behavior.
This proposal represents a cross-disciplinary effort between experts in fluid dynamics, olfactory systems
neuroscience, and neurophysiology to directly establish the algorithms used for odor-guided navigation and the
neural implementation of these algorithms in the early olfactory system of mice. We will use newly developed,
miniature odor sensors to record odor plumes at the mouse nose during odor-guided navigation. By combining
these sensor readings with computational models of odor flow we will directly test the behavioral algorithms
used by mice to navigate with odor plumes. To establish the neural implementation of these algorithms we will
perform large-scale neural imaging and electrophysiology recordings from the early olfactory system while
monitoring odor plume input at the nose. We will also use viral labeling techniques to selectively record neural
activity from cells that send output to specific downstream cortical structures. By recording neural activity from
olfactory bulb cells with specific cortical targets we will test how odor information is routed from sensory to
decision-making areas to support odor-guided navigation. Finally, we will combine these levels of analysis to
generate a complete model of odor-guided navigation that connects behavioral algorithms to neural
implementation.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10028689
- **Project number:** 1R01DC018789-01
- **Recipient organization:** UNIVERSITY OF WASHINGTON
- **Principal Investigator:** David Henry Gire
- **Activity code:** R01 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2020
- **Award amount:** $364,896
- **Award type:** 1
- **Project period:** 2020-07-01 → 2025-06-30

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10028689

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10028689, Navigation with complex odor dynamics: computational principles and neural circuit implementation in mice (1R01DC018789-01). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-23 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10028689. Licensed CC0.

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