Multisensory Control of Multimodal Behavior: Do the Legs Know What the Tongue Is Doing?

TLDR

Adaptive behavior research requires precisely controlled multisensory stimuli and simultaneous measurement of multiple behavioral modalities. The study developed a virtual‑reality apparatus to record reward checking and navigation concurrently while presenting controlled visual, auditory, and reward cues. Rats navigated a VR maze using only distal visual or auditory cues, with the apparatus enabling simultaneous behavioral recording. Rats learned to navigate with visual cues but not auditory cues, while auditory cues facilitated localized reward checking, revealing a dissociation between navigation and reward‑driven behaviors.

Abstract

Understanding of adaptive behavior requires the precisely controlled presentation of multisensory stimuli combined with simultaneous measurement of multiple behavioral modalities. Hence, we developed a virtual reality apparatus that allows for simultaneous measurement of reward checking, a commonly used measure in associative learning paradigms, and navigational behavior, along with precisely controlled presentation of visual, auditory and reward stimuli. Rats performed a virtual spatial navigation task analogous to the Morris maze where only distal visual or auditory cues provided spatial information. Spatial navigation and reward checking maps showed experience-dependent learning and were in register for distal visual cues. However, they showed a dissociation, whereby distal auditory cues failed to support spatial navigation but did support spatially localized reward checking. These findings indicate that rats can navigate in virtual space with only distal visual cues, without significant vestibular or other sensory inputs. Furthermore, they reveal the simultaneous dissociation between two reward-driven behaviors.