GATTO LAB Sensorimotor Adaptation
Research Focus of the Lab
Behaviors effortlessly performed by animals including humans, such as foraging, are extremely challenging for AI systems, as they are unable to continuously update their decisions and actions based on a sparse representation of the external world. They lack the “sensorimotor intelligence” inbuilt in the animal nervous system by the evolutionary necessity to flexibly adjust to a varying and unpredictable environment for survival.
Animals constantly adapt their behavior to minimize threats, reduce metabolic consumption, and satisfy their internal needs, with sensations and actions becoming inevitably interdependent. The dynamic interplay between sensing and acting renders the process of turning decisions into actions, rather than a hierarchical sequence of events, a complex choreography of movements, assessments, and re-tuning. We investigate how the neural circuits encoding sensations and actions cooperate to shape adaptive motor behaviors.
Sensory Adaptation
Neurons in dorsal horn of the spinal cord receive a flurry of sensory information from the periphery and from interoceptive pathways. We are interested in characterizing the spinal circuits encoding itch, touch, and proprioception and their adaptation to physiological and pathological perturbations.
Motor Adaptation
Neurons in the ventral spinal cord integrate local, sensory and descending input to generate the coordinate patterns of muscle activity needed to execute voluntary movements or reflexes. We are interested in characterizing the spinal circuits underlying reflexive movements in physiological, adaptive and disease conditions.