This $1,836,842 Project Grant from the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke will support research into sensory-motor strategies for odor-guided navigation. Funded under the Extramural Research Programs in the Neurosciences and Neurological Disorders program, the Trustees of Boston University will conduct research to better understand how spatial information is encoded in the olfactory bulb during odor-guided search behaviors in mice. Researchers will use new imaging tools to visualize large-scale activity dynamics across both olfactory bulb hemispheres and characterize computations in downstream circuits that decode this spatial information. Optogenetic techniques will be used to test the causal role of cross-sniff versus left-right comparisons in driving rapid locomotor adjustments. The results of this research will help establish the sensory-motor algorithms underlying a key ethological behavior and provide a foundation for wider exploration of how animals exploit sensory cues to navigate complex environments. The grant period is from September 2, 2022 to July 31, 2025.
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