TY - JOUR
T1 - The neural encoding of self-motion
AU - Cullen, Kathleen E.
N1 - Funding Information:
The author acknowledges the support by the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR) , NIH DC002390 , and Le Fonds québécois de la recherche sur la nature et les technologies (FQNRT) , and thanks Mohsen Jamali, Jessica Brooks, Corentin Massot, Jerome Carriot, Diana Mitchell, and Alexis Dale for help with figures and comments on the manuscript.
PY - 2011/8
Y1 - 2011/8
N2 - As we move through the world, information can be combined from multiple sources in order to allow us to perceive our self-motion. The vestibular system detects and encodes the motion of the head in space. In addition, extra-vestibular cues such as retinal-image motion (optic flow), proprioception, and motor efference signals, provide valuable motion cues. Here I focus on the coding strategies that are used by the brain to create neural representations of self-motion. I review recent studies comparing the thresholds of single versus populations of vestibular afferent and central neurons. I then consider recent advances in understanding the brain's strategy for combining information from the vestibular sensors with extra-vestibular cues to estimate self-motion. These studies emphasize the need to consider not only the rules by which multiple inputs are combined, but also how differences in the behavioral context govern the nature of what defines the optimal computation.
AB - As we move through the world, information can be combined from multiple sources in order to allow us to perceive our self-motion. The vestibular system detects and encodes the motion of the head in space. In addition, extra-vestibular cues such as retinal-image motion (optic flow), proprioception, and motor efference signals, provide valuable motion cues. Here I focus on the coding strategies that are used by the brain to create neural representations of self-motion. I review recent studies comparing the thresholds of single versus populations of vestibular afferent and central neurons. I then consider recent advances in understanding the brain's strategy for combining information from the vestibular sensors with extra-vestibular cues to estimate self-motion. These studies emphasize the need to consider not only the rules by which multiple inputs are combined, but also how differences in the behavioral context govern the nature of what defines the optimal computation.
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U2 - 10.1016/j.conb.2011.05.022
DO - 10.1016/j.conb.2011.05.022
M3 - Review article
C2 - 21689924
AN - SCOPUS:80052946261
SN - 0959-4388
VL - 21
SP - 587
EP - 595
JO - Current Opinion in Neurobiology
JF - Current Opinion in Neurobiology
IS - 4
ER -