Fluorescence imaging of the innervation of tactile receptors in the bat wing membrane.
Abstract
The intent of this study is to determine the innervation patterns of the tactile receptors and to map them in conjunction with other neural patterns within the Big Brown Bat (Eptesicus fuscus) central nervous system. The piece of equipment requested for this task (Zeiss AxioZoom Microscope for brightfield and epi-fluorescence with ZEN digital imaging system) will enable the mapping of this task. The PI intends to focus their efforts on 2 tasks, the first scientific question is whether the air flow information received by each of the hairs and its receptor base is transmitted to the central nervous system as a singular measurement point, or whether the inputs from several, or possibly even all receptors, on each wing are combined to provide a “global” air flow image already in the sensory periphery, which either projects to the central nervous system as a preprocessed data set and/or is used for very fast peripheral reflex circuitry, and the second is whether the arrangement of Merkel cells in a partial “ring” formation around the hair follicle contributes to the observed directionality of cortical neurons during air flow stimulation of the wing.
Document Details
- Document Type
- DoD Grant Award
- Publication Date
- Mar 23, 2016
- Source ID
- FA95501610014
Entities
People
- Susanne Sterbing-d Angelo
Organizations
- Air Force Office of Scientific Research
- Johns Hopkins University
- United States Air Force