# Proprioceptive Coding of Jaw Movement during Orofacial Behavior

> **NIH NIH F32** · JOHNS HOPKINS UNIVERSITY · 2022 · $34,281

## Abstract

Project Summary
Integration of sensory information with motor commands allows movement to be adaptable. For
example, many survival-critical orofacial behaviors (chewing, drinking, breathing, etc.) involve
updating movement trajectories based on interaction with objects (e.g. matching chewing
patterns to food material properties). Proprioceptors, which are sensory afferents that provide
information about body position, likely play critical roles in this process. However, given that
most past recording of proprioceptors was not performed in awake animals, a clear
understanding of proprioceptor movement coding in the awake context is lacking. This project
will target and record from mouse jaw-innervating proprioceptors (which lie in the hindbrain
mesencephalic trigeminal (MeV) nucleus) during orofacial behavior and test their functional role.
Aim 1 will characterize the functional organization of mouse MeV afferents while developing
genetic tools for targeting this population. Aim 2 will record from MeV neurons in behaving
animals during high-resolution movement tracking. Using this dataset, a systematic quantitative
model will be built for MeV neuron activity during voluntary orofacial behavior. Aim 3 will perturb
MeV neuron activity to understand the functional role of MeV neurons in orofacial
behavior. Completion of this project will involve high-level training in in vivo physiology,
behavioral analysis, and systems/computational techniques. This training will draw upon a rich
environment for neural circuit and systems research, especially based on the expertise in
sensory and motor systems neuroscience in the labs of the Sponsor and Co-Sponsor.
Collectively, the proposed project will define the information coding properties of
proprioceptors during orofacial movement as well as probe the functional role of this information
during behavior. These results could inform strategies for treatment of jaw motor problems seen
in the clinic (i.e. denture-wearing patients, temporomandibular joint disorders, etc.). More
broadly, this work can provide novel insights into the role of proprioceptive information in motor
control, which has wide-ranging implications for the fundamental understanding of movement in
healthy and pathological contexts.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10615507
- **Project number:** 3F32MH120873-03S1
- **Recipient organization:** JOHNS HOPKINS UNIVERSITY
- **Principal Investigator:** William Paul Olson
- **Activity code:** F32 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2022
- **Award amount:** $34,281
- **Award type:** 3
- **Project period:** 2022-07-01 → 2022-12-31

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10615507

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10615507, Proprioceptive Coding of Jaw Movement during Orofacial Behavior (3F32MH120873-03S1). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-06-01 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10615507. Licensed CC0.

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