Flexible cue anchoring strategies enable stable head direction coding in both sighted and blind animals

Vision plays a crucial role in instructing the brain's spatial navigation systems. However, little is known about how vision loss affects the neuronal encoding of spatial information. Here, recording from head direction (HD) cells in the anterior dorsal nucleus of the thalamus in mice, we find stable and robust HD tuning in blind animals. In contrast, placing sighted animals in darkness significantly impairs HD cell tuning. We find that blind mice use olfactory cues to maintain stable HD tuning and that prior visual experience leads to refined HD cell tuning in blind adult mice compared to congenitally blind animals. Finally, in the absence of both visual and olfactory cues, the HD attractor network remains intact but the preferred firing direction of HD cells continuously drifts over time. We thus demonstrate remarkable flexibility in how the brain uses diverse sensory information to generate a stable directional representation of space.

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Review of robotic manipulators and identification of the main problems

MATEC Web of Conferences ◽

10.1051/matecconf/201822602015 ◽

2018 ◽

Vol 226 ◽

pp. 02015 ◽

Cited By ~ 2

Author(s):

Ksenia I. Goryanina ◽

Aleksndr D. Lukyanov ◽

Oleg I. Katin

Keyword(s):

Sensory Information ◽

Professional Service ◽

Service Robots ◽

Navigation Systems ◽

Technical Problems ◽

Industrial Enterprises ◽

Intelligent Robots ◽

Automation Systems ◽

Mechanical Manipulators ◽

And Control

One of the main elements of automation of industrial enterprises is the use of robotic systems consisting of mechanical manipulators and control systems. In recent years, the market of service robotics has been actively developing. The main part of the market of professional service robots in value terms is occupied by medical devices. Agriculture and logistics are also actively developing areas. The success of the automation systems implementation depends on the solution of complex scientific and technical problems, primarily in the following areas: machine vision; sensor networks; navigation systems. Thus, one of the fundamental problems, the solution of which largely depends on the success in creating the perfect adaptive and intelligent robots, is the use of such types of sensors of sensory information, which allow obtaining a sufficiently large amount of information about the problem environment in a short time. This is a problem of creating means of perception.

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BalanCI: Head-Referenced Cochlear Implant Stimulation Improves Balance in Children with Bilateral Cochleovestibular Loss

Audiology and Neurotology ◽

10.1159/000503135 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 25 (Suppl. 1-2) ◽

pp. 60-71 ◽

Cited By ~ 3

Author(s):

Nikolaus E. Wolter ◽

Karen A. Gordon ◽

Jennifer L. Campos ◽

Luis D. Vilchez Madrigal ◽

David D. Pothier ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Postural Control ◽

Cochlear Implant ◽

Virtual Environment ◽

Clinical Setting ◽

Spatial Information ◽

Center Of Pressure ◽

Effective Means ◽

Sensory Information ◽

Clinical Test ◽

The Impact

Introduction: To determine the impact of a head-referenced cochlear implant (CI) stimulation system, BalanCI, on balance and postural control in children with bilateral cochleovestibular loss (BCVL) who use bilateral CI. Methods: Prospective, blinded case-control study. Balance and postural control testing occurred in two settings: (1) quiet clinical setting and (2) immersive realistic virtual environment (Challenging Environment Assessment Laboratory [CEAL], Toronto Rehabilitation Institute). Postural control was assessed in 16 and balance in 10 children with BCVL who use bilateral CI, along with 10 typically developing children. Children with neuromotor, cognitive, or visual deficits that would prevent them from performing the tests were excluded. Children wore the BalanCI, which is a head-mounted device that couples with their CIs through the audio port and provides head-referenced spatial information delivered via the intracochlear electrode array. Postural control was measured by center of pressure (COP) and time to fall using the WiiTM (Nintendo, WA, USA) Balance Board for feet and the BalanCI for head, during the administration of the Modified Clinical Test of Sensory Interaction in Balance (CTSIB-M). The COP of the head and feet were assessed for change by deviation, measured as root mean square around the COP (COP-RMS), rate of deviation (COP-RMS/duration), and rate of path length change from center (COP-velocity). Balance was assessed by the Bruininks-Oseretsky Test of Motor Proficiency 2, balance subtest (BOT-2), specifically, BOT-2 score as well as time to fall/fault. Results: In the virtual environment, children demonstrated more stable balance when using BalanCI as measured by an improvement in BOT-2 scores. In a quiet clinical setting, the use of BalanCI led to improved postural control as demonstrated by significant reductions in COP-RMS and COP-velocity. With the use of BalanCI, the number of falls/faults was significantly reduced and time to fall increased. Conclusions: BalanCI is a simple and effective means of improving postural control and balance in children with BCVL who use bilateral CI. BalanCI could potentially improve the safety of these children, reduce the effort they expend maintaining balance and allow them to take part in more complex balance tasks where sensory information may be limited and/or noisy.

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PLIN: A Network for Pseudo-LiDAR Point Cloud Interpolation

Sensors ◽

10.3390/s20061573 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 20 (6) ◽

pp. 1573 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Haojie Liu ◽

Kang Liao ◽

Chunyu Lin ◽

Yao Zhao ◽

Meiqin Liu

Keyword(s):

Point Cloud ◽

Spatial Information ◽

Interpolation Method ◽

Low Frequency ◽

Point Clouds ◽

Autonomous Driving ◽

Sensor Data ◽

Navigation Systems ◽

Intermediate Point ◽

Cascade Structure

LiDAR sensors can provide dependable 3D spatial information at a low frequency (around 10 Hz) and have been widely applied in the field of autonomous driving and unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV). However, the camera with a higher frequency (around 20 Hz) has to be decreased so as to match with LiDAR in a multi-sensor system. In this paper, we propose a novel Pseudo-LiDAR interpolation network (PLIN) to increase the frequency of LiDAR sensor data. PLIN can generate temporally and spatially high-quality point cloud sequences to match the high frequency of cameras. To achieve this goal, we design a coarse interpolation stage guided by consecutive sparse depth maps and motion relationship. We also propose a refined interpolation stage guided by the realistic scene. Using this coarse-to-fine cascade structure, our method can progressively perceive multi-modal information and generate accurate intermediate point clouds. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first deep framework for Pseudo-LiDAR point cloud interpolation, which shows appealing applications in navigation systems equipped with LiDAR and cameras. Experimental results demonstrate that PLIN achieves promising performance on the KITTI dataset, significantly outperforming the traditional interpolation method and the state-of-the-art video interpolation technique.

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Enhanced Odorant Localization Abilities in Congenitally Blind but not in Late-Blind Individuals

Chemical Senses ◽

10.1093/chemse/bjaa073 ◽

2020 ◽

Author(s):

Simona Manescu ◽

Christine Chouinard-Leclaire ◽

Olivier Collignon ◽

Franco Lepore ◽

Johannes Frasnelli

Keyword(s):

Vision Loss ◽

Spatial Perception ◽

Blind People ◽

Localization Task ◽

Congenital Blindness ◽

Spatial Sense ◽

Chemosensory Perception ◽

Congenitally Blind ◽

Blind Individuals ◽

Odorant Detection

Abstract Although often considered a nondominant sense for spatial perception, chemosensory perception can be used to localize the source of an event and potentially help us navigate through our environment. Would blind people who lack the dominant spatial sense—vision—develop enhanced spatial chemosensation or suffer from the lack of visual calibration on spatial chemosensory perception? To investigate this question, we tested odorant localization abilities across nostrils in blind people compared to sighted controls and if the time of vision loss onset modulates those abilities. We observed that congenitally blind individuals (10 subjects) outperformed sighted (20 subjects) and late-blind subjects (10 subjects) in a birhinal localization task using mixed olfactory-trigeminal stimuli. This advantage in congenitally blind people was selective to olfactory localization but not observed for odorant detection or identification. We, therefore, showed that congenital blindness but not blindness acquired late in life is linked to enhanced localization of chemosensory stimuli across nostrils, most probably of the trigeminal component. In addition to previous studies highlighting enhanced localization abilities in auditory and tactile modalities, our current results extend such enhanced abilities to chemosensory localization.

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Hamsters remember spatial information derived from olfactory cues

Animal Learning & Behavior ◽

10.3758/bf03197875 ◽

1991 ◽

Vol 19 (2) ◽

pp. 185-190 ◽

Cited By ~ 15

Author(s):

W. Thomas Tomlinson ◽

Timothy D. Johnston

Keyword(s):

Spatial Information ◽

Olfactory Cues

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An Intelligent Navigation Solution for Land Mobile Location-Based Services

Journal of Navigation ◽

10.1017/s0373463302001753 ◽

2002 ◽

Vol 55 (2) ◽

pp. 225-240 ◽

Cited By ~ 8

Author(s):

Stephen Scott-Young ◽

Allison Kealy

Keyword(s):

Firm Growth ◽

Spatial Information ◽

Inertial Sensors ◽

Low Cost ◽

Dead Reckoning ◽

Location Based Services ◽

Geographical Information ◽

Navigation Systems ◽

Navigation Solution ◽

Lower Accuracy

The increasing availability of small, low-cost GPS receivers has established a firm growth in the production of Location-Based Services (LBS). LBS, such as in-car navigation systems, are not necessarily reliant on high accuracy but a continuous positioning service. When available, the accuracy provided by the standard positioning service (SPS) of 30 metres, 95% of the time is often acceptable. The reality is, however, that GPS does not work in all situations, and it is therefore common to integrate GPS with additional sensors. The use of low-cost inertial sensors alone during GPS signal outage is severely restricted due to the accumulation of errors that is inherent with such dead reckoning (DR) systems. Through the integration of spatial information with real-time positioning sensors, intelligence can be added to the land mobile navigation solution. The information contained within a Geographical Information System (GIS) provides additional observations that can be used to improve the navigation result. With this approach, the solution is not dependent on the performance capabilities of the navigation sensors alone. This enables the use of lower accuracy navigation devices, allowing low-cost systems to provide a sustained, viable navigation solution despite long-term GPS outages. Practical results are presented comparing solutions obtained from a hand-held GPS receiver to a gyroscope and odometer.

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Prolonged development of long-term potentiation at lateral entorhinal cortex synapses onto adult-born neurons

PLoS ONE ◽

10.1371/journal.pone.0253642 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 16 (6) ◽

pp. e0253642

Author(s):

Nicholas P. Vyleta ◽

Jason S. Snyder

Keyword(s):

Entorhinal Cortex ◽

Critical Period ◽

Spatial Information ◽

Dynamic Range ◽

Sensory Information ◽

Long Term Potentiation ◽

Perforant Path ◽

Term Potentiation ◽

Adult Born Neurons

Critical period plasticity at adult-born neuron synapses is widely believed to contribute to the learning and memory functions of the hippocampus. Experience regulates circuit integration and for a transient interval, until cells are ~6 weeks old, new neurons display enhanced long-term potentiation (LTP) at afferent and efferent synapses. Since neurogenesis declines substantially with age, this raises questions about the extent of lasting plasticity offered by adult-born neurons. Notably, however, the hippocampus receives sensory information from two major cortical pathways. Broadly speaking, the medial entorhinal cortex conveys spatial information to the hippocampus via the medial perforant path (MPP), and the lateral entorhinal cortex, via the lateral perforant path (LPP), codes for the cues and items that make experiences unique. While enhanced critical period plasticity at MPP synapses is relatively well characterized, no studies have examined long-term plasticity at LPP synapses onto adult-born neurons, even though the lateral entorhinal cortex is uniquely vulnerable to aging and Alzheimer’s pathology. We therefore investigated LTP at LPP inputs both within (4–6 weeks) and beyond (8+ weeks) the traditional critical period. At immature stages, adult-born neurons did not undergo significant LTP at LPP synapses, and often displayed long-term depression after theta burst stimulation. However, over the course of 3–4 months, adult-born neurons displayed increasingly greater amounts of LTP. Analyses of short-term plasticity point towards a presynaptic mechanism, where transmitter release probability declines as cells mature, providing a greater dynamic range for strengthening synapses. Collectively, our findings identify a novel form of new neuron plasticity that develops over an extended interval, and may therefore be relevant for maintaining cognitive function in aging.

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Enabling visually impaired people to learn three-dimensional tactile graphics with a 3DOF haptic mouse

Journal of NeuroEngineering and Rehabilitation ◽

10.1186/s12984-021-00935-y ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 18 (1) ◽

Author(s):

Mariacarla Memeo ◽

Marco Jacono ◽

Giulio Sandini ◽

Luca Brayda

Keyword(s):

Visually Impaired ◽

Vision Loss ◽

Spatial Information ◽

Contact Point ◽

Three Dimensional ◽

Scalar Fields ◽

Sensory Substitution ◽

Matching Task ◽

Virtual Objects ◽

Substitution System

Abstract Background In this work, we present a novel sensory substitution system that enables to learn three dimensional digital information via touch when vision is unavailable. The system is based on a mouse-shaped device, designed to jointly perceive, with one finger only, local tactile height and inclination cues of arbitrary scalar fields. The device hosts a tactile actuator with three degrees of freedom: elevation, roll and pitch. The actuator approximates the tactile interaction with a plane tangential to the contact point between the finger and the field. Spatial information can therefore be mentally constructed by integrating local and global tactile cues: the actuator provides local cues, whereas proprioception associated with the mouse motion provides the global cues. Methods The efficacy of the system is measured by a virtual/real object-matching task. Twenty-four gender and age-matched participants (one blind and one blindfolded sighted group) matched a tactile dictionary of virtual objects with their 3D-printed solid version. The exploration of the virtual objects happened in three conditions, i.e., with isolated or combined height and inclination cues. We investigated the performance and the mental cost of approximating virtual objects in these tactile conditions. Results In both groups, elevation and inclination cues were sufficient to recognize the tactile dictionary, but their combination worked at best. The presence of elevation decreased a subjective estimate of mental effort. Interestingly, only visually impaired participants were aware of their performance and were able to predict it. Conclusions The proposed technology could facilitate the learning of science, engineering and mathematics in absence of vision, being also an industrial low-cost solution to make graphical user interfaces accessible for people with vision loss.

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A thalamic reticular circuit for head direction cell tuning and spatial navigation

10.1101/804575 ◽

2019 ◽

Author(s):

Gil Vantomme ◽

Zita Rovó ◽

Romain Cardis ◽

Elidie Béard ◽

Georgia Katsioudi ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Spatial Navigation ◽

Sensory Information ◽

Search Strategies ◽

Retrosplenial Cortex ◽

Thalamic Reticular Nucleus ◽

Reticular Nucleus ◽

Head Direction ◽

Thalamic Nuclei

SummaryTo navigate in space, an animal must refer to sensory cues to orient and move. Circuit and synaptic mechanisms that integrate cues with internal head-direction (HD) signals remain, however, unclear. We identify an excitatory synaptic projection from the presubiculum (PreS) and the multisensory-associative retrosplenial cortex (RSC) to the anterodorsal thalamic reticular nucleus (TRN), so far classically implied in gating sensory information flow. In vitro, projections to TRN involved AMPA/NMDA-type glutamate receptors that initiated TRN cell burst discharge and feedforward inhibition of anterior thalamic nuclei. In vivo, chemogenetic anterodorsal TRN inhibition modulated PreS/RSC-induced anterior thalamic firing dynamics, broadened the tuning of thalamic HD cells, and led to preferential use of allo-over egocentric search strategies in the Morris water maze. TRN-dependent thalamic inhibition is thus an integral part of limbic navigational circuits wherein it coordinates external sensory and internal HD signals to regulate the choice of search strategies during spatial navigation.

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