Neural basis of goal-directed navigation in complex environments ‒ Insights from the bat (Neu05)

• Subject Area: Cognitive, Systems and Behavioural Neurobiology
• Term: since 2019
• Project identifier: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 395940726

To achieve a comprehensive understanding of magnetoreception and vertebrate navigation, it is important to study how the brain encodes places (map), directions (compass), and goals. Navigation is about getting from point ‘A’ to point ‘B’. We know a lot about encoding of point ‘A’ (the animal’s position) by place- and grid-cells, but much less is known about the neural representation of point ‘B’ (the animal’s goal). Likewise, little is known about the neural basis of navigation in complex environments. We will study these questions in Egyptian fruit bats navigating through a very large maze containing several goals; neural activity will be recorded by a world-unique wireless electrophysiology device (neural-logger), which we developed. These experiments will provide novel insights on the neural basis of natural navigation.

• DFG Programme: Collaborative Research Centres
• Subproject of: SFB 1372: Magnetoreception and navigation in vertebrates: from biophysics to brain and behaviour
• International Connection: Israel
• Applicant Institution: Carl von Ossietzky Universität Oldenburg
• Project Head: Professor Nachum Ulanovsky, Ph.D.