Description du projet
Une meilleure compréhension de la boussole du bousier
Le bousier est l’un des nombreux animaux qui utilisent une forme primitive de navigation céleste pour s’orienter. Il utilise une méthode d’orientation par instantanés, ce qui élimine le besoin de dépendre de longs processus de récupération des informations. Le projet UltimateCOMPASS, financé par l’UE, vise à mettre au jour les processus sensoriels et neuronaux de cette boussole instantanée récemment découverte. En s’appuyant sur la biologie, la bioinformatique et les mathématiques, le projet recueillera les tout premiers enregistrements cérébraux de la boussole du bousier, ouvrant ainsi la voie à la formation des algorithmes de calcul de base de ce système. Les travaux du projet auront un impact sur l’avancement de la neuroéthologie et d’autres disciplines scientifiques.
Objectif
When lost in the desert at night, or in dense forests, people tend to walk in circles. This is because the seemingly simple act of walking in a straight line involves a complex interplay of various sensory modalities, the motor system and cognition. A ball-rolling dung beetle released in the same type of uncharted territory, does not walk in circles, but rather keeps steadfastly to a chosen bearing. The main goal of this project is unravel the sensory and neuronal architecture of the newly discovered ‘snapshot compass’, that supports orientation over all continents and terrestrial habitats on earth (except Antarctica). This goal will be realized through a fusion of biology, bio-informatics and mathematics.
A quickly growing pool of studies indicates that neuronal networks are modulated in a context-dependent manner. Therefore, to truly understand how this compass works, and to formulate the core computational algorithms underlying this remarkable system, I aim to obtain the first ever brain recordings from the compass of a freely orienting insect. Is this possible? Certainly! But only in an animal with a robust orientation behaviour, and that is strong enough to carry a little backpack of electronics. The large dung-beetles, with their easily manipulated orientation behavior, offers a unique opportunity to attain this holy grail of neuroethology.
The beetle’s compass makes use of a large range of celestial cues, which can vary drastically in availability and strength. While the challenge of cue integration has been solved effectively in the compass system of the beetles, it remains a key problem within the field of cognition and perception, as well as for the design of artificial intelligence systems. Taken together, almost two decades of studies of the dung beetle compass system have paved the way for this timely and unique opportunity, that will impact the advancement of science well outside the field of biology.
Champ scientifique
Mots‑clés
Programme(s)
Régime de financement
ERC-COG - Consolidator GrantInstitution d’accueil
22100 Lund
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