# Neural coding of leg proprioception

> **NIH NIH R01** · UNIVERSITY OF WASHINGTON · 2024 · $373,891

## Abstract

Project Summary
Proprioception, the sense of self-movement and body position, is critical for the effective control
of motor behavior. Humans lacking proprioceptive feedback, such as patients with peripheral
nerve damage, are unable to maintain limb posture or coordinate fine-scale movements of the
arms and legs. But despite the importance of proprioception to the control of movement in all
animals, little is known about the neural computations that underlie limb proprioception in any
animal. This gap is due to two basic challenges: (1) identifying specific neuronal-cell types that
detect and process proprioceptive signals, and (2) recording neural activity from proprioceptive
circuits during natural limb movements. Here, we propose to overcome these challenges by
investigating the neural coding of leg proprioception in a genetic model organism: the fruit fly,
Drosophila. We have developed new methods to record and manipulate the activity of genetically-
identified neurons in proprioceptive circuits of behaving flies. We will first determine the
functional role of distinct proprioceptor subtypes in controlling limb posture and movement
during walking (Aim 1). We will then compare how proprioceptive signals are encoded during
passive and active limb movements (Aim 2), and trace down the circuit mechanisms that underlie
state-dependent proprioceptive coding (Aim 3). Altogether, these studies will elucidate basic
mechanisms of proprioceptive neural processing that have not possible to investigate in other
systems. Although there are morphological differences between flies and humans, the basic
building blocks of invertebrate and vertebrate somatosensory systems share a striking
evolutionary conservation. These similarities suggest that the general principles discovered in
circuits of the fruit fly will be highly relevant to somatosensory processing in other animals. A
deeper understanding of proprioception has the potential to transform the way in which we treat
somatosensory disorders.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10851709
- **Project number:** 5R01NS102333-08
- **Recipient organization:** UNIVERSITY OF WASHINGTON
- **Principal Investigator:** John Tuthill
- **Activity code:** R01 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2024
- **Award amount:** $373,891
- **Award type:** 5
- **Project period:** 2017-06-01 → 2027-05-31

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10851709

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10851709, Neural coding of leg proprioception (5R01NS102333-08). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-25 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10851709. Licensed CC0.

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