Project Grant K99DC021580

Grant Award Summary

The California Institute of Technology (Caltech) received a $133,861 Project Grant award from the National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders (NIDCD) under the Research Related to Deafness and Communication Disorders program (CFDA 93.173), effective April 1, 2026 through March 31, 2028. The grant supports fundamental neuroscience research investigating the neural mechanisms underlying interspecies social interactions and multisensory integration in animals. Specifically, the research employs the rove beetle species (Dalotia coriaria) as a genetically and experimentally tractable model system to elucidate how nervous systems process and integrate multisensory information from other organisms to generate appropriate behavioral responses.

The research deliverables include behavioral classification of stereotyped interaction patterns using three-dimensional tracking and machine learning approaches, including neurosymbolic artificial intelligence; deconstruction of chemical and tactile sensory components through virtual reality experimental setups; and identification of multisensory neural representations via gas chromatography electroantennogram recordings and in vivo two-photon calcium imaging. These integrated findings are expected to advance fundamental understanding of neural computation in social contexts, with potential applications relevant to communication disorders research supported by the NIDCD mission to investigate sensory and communication mechanisms.