# Mechanosensory feature extraction for directed motor control

> **NIH NIH R01** · HARVARD MEDICAL SCHOOL · 2020 · $356,211

## Abstract

Summary
This proposal addresses two fundamental questions:
(1) How do neurons extract features of mechanosensory stimuli that are relevant for motor control?
(2) How do central circuits create a flexible linkage between mechanosensory stimuli and behavior?
These questions are relevant to human health because sensory processing and sensory-motor integration are disrupted in
many neurological and psychiatric disorders. However, sensory processing and sensory-motor integration are not fully
understood at the level of cellular mechanisms – i.e., at the level of neural connectivity, cellular physiology, and synaptic
physiology. This level of mechanistic explanation is important to understanding why disease-linked genes produce their
characteristic phenotypes. It is also important to developing better therapeutics. As a model system for gaining
mechanistic insight into these brain functions, this project will focus on the largest mechanosensory organ in Drosophila
(Johnston's organ) and the circuits and behaviors downstream from this organ. Johnston's organ neurons (JONs) encode
deflections of the distal antennal segment. These deflections can result from an object touching the antenna, wind,
postural changes, or sound. In essence, therefore, Johnston's organ has a range of functions – somatosensory, vestibular,
and auditory. Different JON stimuli elicit different behaviors. These behaviors are variable and context-dependent (not
stereotyped action patterns) and so we can use this system to study flexibility in sensory-motor coupling. Our first aim is
to determine how JONs encode mechanical stimuli. To test the hypothesis that JONs are highly specialized for specific
spatiotemporal features of antennal deflections, we will use a combination of in vivo calcium imaging, electrophysiology,
and voltage imaging. Second, we will use in vivo whole cell recordings to test the hypothesis that central neurons
postsynaptic to JONs can extract specific frequencies of antennal vibrations by virtue of their intrinsic electrical bandpass
filtering characteristics. Third, we will perform in vivo whole cell recordings to investigate how mechanosensory signals
are encoded at the level of third-order neurons, and how these signals are relayed to motor control centers. We
hypothesize that wind and sound stimuli will be encoded by largely distinct neural channels. Fourth, we will combine
whole-cell recording with simultaneous behavioral measurements to determine how mechanosensory cues from JONs
steer walking direction in a context-dependent manner. We hypothesize that heading direction cues and context cues will
converge at the level of descending motor control neurons that project to the ventral nerve cord. As a whole, this work
will provide new insights into the neural computations that occur in mechanosensory processing and mechanosensory-
motor integration, as well as the cellular mechanisms that implement these computations.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 9973088
- **Project number:** 5R01NS101157-04
- **Recipient organization:** HARVARD MEDICAL SCHOOL
- **Principal Investigator:** Rachel Wilson
- **Activity code:** R01 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2020
- **Award amount:** $356,211
- **Award type:** 5
- **Project period:** 2017-09-01 → 2022-06-30

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/9973088

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 9973088, Mechanosensory feature extraction for directed motor control (5R01NS101157-04). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-25 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/9973088. Licensed CC0.

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