Domaines
Statistical physics
Biophysics
Physics of living systems
Type of internship
Expérimental Description
Understanding how the brain integrates sensory information to control movement and navigate through the environment is a fundamental challenge in neuroscience. Our research combines quantitative behavioral experiments, brain-wide functional imaging, and computational approaches inspired by statistical physics to investigate how neural circuits coordinate sensory processing and motor actions. In particular, we are interested in how the brain integrates visual, vestibular, and motor-related signals to maintain posture, control movement, and construct internal representations of the surrounding world. The small size and optical transparency of adult Danionella fish offer a unique opportunity to investigate these questions while recording neural activity across the brain.
This internship aims to develop a closed-loop virtual reality system integrating visual and vestibular feedback during swimming in adult Danionella. Conventional visual virtual reality systems lack vestibular feedback, creating a sensory conflict between visual motion and the absence of corresponding physical movement. By combining real-time tracking of swimming behavior with controlled rotational stimulation and visual feedback, the proposed system will reproduce more naturalistic sensorimotor interactions, allowing fish to navigate spontaneously in a virtual environment.
The ultimate goal is to establish a virtual reality platform that reproduces coherent multisensory feedback during active locomotion.
Contact
Volker Bormuth
Laboratory : LJP - Laboratoire Jean Perrin - 8237
Team : Zebrafish and Danionella Cerebrum behavior and calcium imagery
Team Website
Team : Zebrafish and Danionella Cerebrum behavior and calcium imagery
Team Website