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Real-time tracking of whisker kinematics for closed-loop neuroscientific experiments

Objective

We study the sensorimotor adaptation in the cerebellum with the whiskers of the mouse as a model system. The whiskers are a sophisticated sensorimotor apparatus with which the mouse actively profiles its immediate 3D environment by swiftly whisking. To estimate distances, orientation and texture of its surroundings, the mouse uses a ‘maximum contact, minimum penetration’ scheme, with sensorimotor decisions taking place within as little as 10 ms. This scheme imposes the main experimental challenge to whisker-based studies: hair-like structures moving at high speeds need to be tracked accurately to ascribe whisker motion to cerebellar function. In order to capture the motion of the whiskers accurately, high-speed image acquisition at high frame rates (ca. 1000 fps) is required. On account of the paradigms developed to relate neural activity to whisker behavior, high-throughput and real-time whisker tracking are required. We have evaluated all presently available whisker-tracking tools that delivered the desired kinematics of whisker behavior. However, all have failed in terms of computational time and/or acquisition frequency, which rendered them unsuited both for offline use and for real-time applications. To address these limitations, we propose the commercialization of WhiskTrackGP, a high-performance image-acquisition and -processing platform for bleeding-edge neuroscientific experiments on behavior. WhiskTrackGP is a hardware-software platform that can recognize the kinematics of multiple whiskers simultaneously with minimal intervention from the experimenter. It is realized as powerful whisker-tracking software ported on a special hardware platform based on NVidia GP-GPUs and Maxeler Dataflow-Engines. We demonstrate accelerated offline video analysis in the order of 10000x (from an original processing time of 9.4 sec down to 0.9 msec). WhiskTrackGP comprises a “one-stop shop” solution for labs and companies active in the field of behavioral studies.

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Programme(s)

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Topic(s)

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Funding Scheme

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ERC-POC - Proof of Concept Grant

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Call for proposal

Procedure for inviting applicants to submit project proposals, with the aim of receiving EU funding.

(opens in new window) ERC-2017-PoC

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Host institution

ERASMUS UNIVERSITAIR MEDISCH CENTRUM ROTTERDAM
Net EU contribution

Net EU financial contribution. The sum of money that the participant receives, deducted by the EU contribution to its linked third party. It considers the distribution of the EU financial contribution between direct beneficiaries of the project and other types of participants, like third-party participants.

€ 149 938,00
Address
DR MOLEWATERPLEIN 40
3015 GD Rotterdam
Netherlands

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Activity type
Higher or Secondary Education Establishments
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Total cost

The total costs incurred by this organisation to participate in the project, including direct and indirect costs. This amount is a subset of the overall project budget.

€ 149 938,00

Beneficiaries (1)

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