Alice C. Mosberger, ScD

From the reach to the alarm clock in the morning to switching off the bedside lamp at night, our brain constantly generates various skilled actions that allow us to interact with our environment. These actions can further be performed using different strategies - relying on different sensory feedback and using different motor outputs - depending on the available information or how the action was initially learned.

This fundamental property, that the same functional output can be generated by different structural components of a system, constitutes an example of biological degeneracy - thought to be a common characteristic of complex systems. Our goal is to gain network-level understanding of how degeneracy is implemented in this organizational structure. We investigate how higher order areas integrate sensory feedback from ascending pathways and send their commands through different descending pathways to generate actions under distinct control strategies. We combine novel behavior paradigms with intersectional anatomical mapping, precise neural circuit and muscle recordings, pathway-specific manipulations, and computational analysis.

This research will uncover circuit-level principles of sensorimotor control that can be applied towards novel therapeutic approaches to enhance anatomical and functional reorganization and improve motor recovery after nervous system injury.

By investigating how degeneracy emerges from the brain’s structural organization in a tractable circuit and model behavior, we also seek to uncover principles and computations that are shared between brain functions in which different strategies exist, such as spatial navigation and cognitive processes.