Project description
Audiovisual integration and autism
The brain constantly merges information from different senses to build a coherent picture of the world. Audiovisual integration is disrupted in conditions such as autism spectrum disorder and schizophrenia. However, the underlying neural mechanisms remain poorly understood. A key obstacle has been that experimental conditions influence brain activity in ways that complicate interpretation. With the support of the Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions programme, the FreeMovementAV project uses a novel audiovisual arena to study how freely moving mice integrate sensory information compared to an autism mouse model. By tracking the same neurons over months, researchers will determine how experimental environment shapes audiovisual processing and whether autism is characterised by excessive sensory integration.
Objective
To form representations of the world, brains combine information across sensory modalities. Audiovisual integration, combining auditory and visual information, is an extensively studied example of this process, in part because atypical audiovisual integration is linked to cognitive conditions including schizophrenia and autism spectrum disorder (ASD). However, recent rodent studies are conflicted regarding the regions and mechanisms of audiovisual integration, and this may derive from changes in neural processing caused by different experimental environments: head-fixed or free-movement. Technical challenges in stimulus delivery and longitudinal recording have prohibited neural recordings in the same animals across these conditions. Consequently, because mouse disease-models rarely tolerate head-fixation, they have not been used to test audiovisual hypotheses generated through clinical studies in humans. In this project, I will overcome these hurdles with the host lab, using a novel audiovisual arena I developed to present controlled stimuli to freely-moving mice. First, using wild-type (WT) mice, I will determine the impact of head-fixation versus free-movement on basic audiovisual processing using the host lab’s electrophysiology implant to track neurons for months. Second, I will compare these WT data with recordings from a freely-moving ASD mouse model, to test the hypothesis that ASD presents with excessive audiovisual integration. Finally, I will compare WT and ASD neural responses in mice learning spatial audiovisual reward-association to determine whether differences in passive audiovisual processing correspond to changes in learning. This project represents the first characterization of environment-dependent audiovisual processing, and the first extension of audiovisual integration to a mouse disease-model. The results will therefore be of broad interest across behavioural neuroscience, and promise to boost translational and clinical research efforts.
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Project’s keywords as indicated by the project coordinator. Not to be confused with the EuroSciVoc taxonomy (Fields of science)
Programme(s)
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Multi-annual funding programmes that define the EU’s priorities for research and innovation.
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HORIZON.1.2 - Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions (MSCA)
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Calls for proposals are divided into topics. A topic defines a specific subject or area for which applicants can submit proposals. The description of a topic comprises its specific scope and the expected impact of the funded project.
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Funding scheme (or “Type of Action”) inside a programme with common features. It specifies: the scope of what is funded; the reimbursement rate; specific evaluation criteria to qualify for funding; and the use of simplified forms of costs like lump sums.
HORIZON-TMA-MSCA-PF-EF - HORIZON TMA MSCA Postdoctoral Fellowships - European Fellowships
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Call for proposal
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(opens in new window) HORIZON-MSCA-2025-PF
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WC1E 6BT London
United Kingdom
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