# Principles of sensorimotor processing in zebrafish thermosensation

> **NIH NIH R01** · OHIO STATE UNIVERSITY · 2022 · $389,155

## Abstract

SUMMARY
It is our long-term goal to understand computations that underlie sensori-motor transformations in the context
of thermoregulatory behaviors. Generating appropriate behaviors in response to sensory stimuli is critical for
the survival of any animal. Larval zebrafish will be used for these studies as it is the only vertebrate model
which allows comprehensive identification and manipulation of thermoregulatory circuits. Importantly, larval
zebrafish is an ectotherm animal and therefore exclusively relies on thermal gradient navigation for
thermoregulation. This means that the underlying sensori-motor transformations are robust since accurate
thermoregulation is critical for survival.
The accessibility of the zebrafish nervous system to optical recording of neural activity enabled us to map
thermoregulatory circuits from sensory input to behavioral output for the first time in any animal. This research
identified two critical classes of hindbrain neurons which encode the rate of heating and the rate of cooling in
the environment. Notably, these heating and cooling responses are computed de-novo in the hindbrain from
sensory trigeminal inputs. The aim of this proposal is to uncover the biophysical mechanism of these
computations and their role in behavior generation to generate a multiscale model of sensori-motor
transformations. The proposed experiments are guided by testable hypotheses about hindbrain computation
that are based on our previous circuit modeling efforts. Specifically, the research will investigate the (1) cellular
mechanisms of computing heating and cooling responses, (2) how the circuit anatomy supports this
computation and (3) how the responses of Heating and Cooling neurons influence turning during
thermoregulatory behavior. To this end experiments will combine (1) patch electrophysiology in functionally
identified neurons, (2) single cell labeling through electroporations and (3) cell type specific ablations followed
by behavioral recordings.
This research will fill a critical gap in our understanding of sensori-motor transformations: How computations at
different scales, from cellular properties to circuits, interact to generate adaptive behaviors in response to
sensory stimuli. The understanding of conserved and divergent principles of sensori-motor transformations
across animals and sensory modalities furthermore promises insight into what goes awry in neurological
disease states where sensory processing goes awry.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10454288
- **Project number:** 5R01NS123887-02
- **Recipient organization:** OHIO STATE UNIVERSITY
- **Principal Investigator:** Martin Haesemeyer
- **Activity code:** R01 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2022
- **Award amount:** $389,155
- **Award type:** 5
- **Project period:** 2021-08-01 → 2026-06-30

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10454288

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10454288, Principles of sensorimotor processing in zebrafish thermosensation (5R01NS123887-02). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-25 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10454288. Licensed CC0.

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