# Using gravity to perceive, move and orient

> **NIH NIH R01** · NEW YORK UNIVERSITY · 2020 · $698,345

## Abstract

PROJECT SUMMARY
Accurate perception of the body’s orientation in the world is central to everyday life, as balance problems are
common and serious, especially in older adults. Computational theory proposes that this ability requires the
brain to learn and store an internal representation of gravity that can be used for perception and action, and
research has shown that this model is based on visual, somatosensory, and vestibular signals. The proposed
experiments investigate the contribution of the vestibular system to the generation of this internal model and
test whether the same neural mechanisms provide the gravitational information used for perception and action.
In Aim 1, macaques will be trained to visually discriminate the earth-vertical orientation while they are in
random head/body tilt positions and then behaviorally tested after bilateral removal of the vestibular organs. If
this manipulation abolishes the ability to perform this task at tilted positions, that will indicate that vestibular
information is critical for the internal model of gravity. This aim will also examine how visual orientation
discrimination adapts to vestibular receptor loss by recruiting extra-vestibular sensory cues, such as
somatosensation, and whether active training is necessary for this compensation. Aim 2 will examine how
gravity-dependent vestibular information affects motor function by measuring arm kinematics and muscle
activity from agonist and antagonist muscles before and after bilateral removal of vestibular inputs. This aim
will also measure adaptation after vestibular injury and the role of training in this compensation. Aim 3 will
distinguish whether these gravity effects on perception and action are mediated by a shared thalamocortical
pathway by probing for deficits in the tasks of Aims 1 and 2 during reversible inactivation of the anterior
thalamus, where gravity-tuned cells have been reported. Taken together, these experiments are important for
understanding the multisensory influences of gravity on perception and action, as well as the underlying neural
circuits, and for revealing how motor learning can aid recovery from vestibular dysfunction.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 9832688
- **Project number:** 5R01AT010459-02
- **Recipient organization:** NEW YORK UNIVERSITY
- **Principal Investigator:** Dora Angelaki
- **Activity code:** R01 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2020
- **Award amount:** $698,345
- **Award type:** 5
- **Project period:** 2018-12-06 → 2023-11-30

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/9832688

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 9832688, Using gravity to perceive, move and orient (5R01AT010459-02). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-23 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/9832688. Licensed CC0.

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