MECHANISMS OF SENSORIMOTOR ADAPTATION NIH GUIDE, Volume 23, Number 28, July 29, 1994 PA NUMBER: PA-94-089 P.T. 34 Keywords: 0705048 0775017 National Institute on Aging National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke National Aeronautical and Space Administration PURPOSE The National Institute on Aging (NIA), National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders (NIDCD), National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke (NINDS), and National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) announce a continuing interest in supporting ground-based studies of sensorimotor adaptation and multisensory integration focusing on such functions as posture, gait, and other limb and body spatially directed movements, in health, in disease, and in special gravito-inertial environments. HEALTHY PEOPLE 2000 The Public Health Service (PHS) is committed to achieving the health promotion and disease prevention objectives of "Healthy People 2000," a PHS-led national activity for setting priority areas. This Program Announcement (PA), Mechanisms of Sensorimotor Adaptation, is related to the priority area of aging and balance impairment, a significant cause of morbidity and disability in older individuals. Potential applicants may obtain a copy of "Healthy People-2000" (Full Report: Stock No. 017-001-00474-0) or "Healthy People 2000" (Summary Report: Stock No. 017-001-00473-1) through the Superintendent of Documents, Government Printing Office, Washington, DC 20402-9325 (telephone 202-783-3238). ELIGIBILITY REQUIREMENTS Applications may be submitted by foreign and domestic, for-profit and non-profit organizations, public and private, such as universities, colleges, hospitals, laboratories, units of State and local governments, and eligible agencies of the Federal government. Foreign institutions are ineligible for First Independent Research Support and Transition (FIRST) (R29) awards. Applications from minority individuals and women are encouraged. MECHANISM OF SUPPORT Awards will be administered under PHS grants policy as stated in the PHS Grants policy statement, DHHS Publication No. (OASH) 94-50,000 (rev. 4/1/94). Research will be supported by the research project grants (R01) and FIRST awards (R29) mechanisms. RESEARCH OBJECTIVES Problems associated with impaired balance, such as falls and restricted ambulation, are prominent causes of morbidity and disability among older persons. Correspondingly, problems associated with balance control and spatial orientation are important in connection with space flight. During aging and during exposure to the microgravity environment of space, sensorimotor functions may be similarly challenged. Changes and ambiguities in the processing of sensory inputs lead to potential errors in cognition and perception affecting equilibrium and spatial orientation. Errors in reflexes and perceptions can lead to dysfunctional consequences, such as falls in the elderly and space motion sickness in astronauts. Human spatial orientation and spatially directed motor performance is facilitated by the central nervous system integrating multiple sensory inputs and initiating appropriate motor commands. Under natural terrestrial conditions, the visual, vestibular, tactile, somesthetic, and auditory sensory systems interact in a highly adaptive fashion; the functional importance of individual systems is modulated by intrinsic and extrinsic conditions. Aging and exposure to microgravity both entail sensory and motor modifications that stimulate neuroplastic mechanisms to restore, or compensate for, compromised function. In the older individual, natural aging involves slow structural deterioration of the nervous system, but the consequent loss of function may be considerably hastened by acute disease, such as stroke. In astronauts, sensory and motor relationships are altered soon after liftoff, without apparent anatomical or physiological compromise although "deconditioning" accompanies prolonged exposure to microgravity. As in the older person, such deconditioning is marked by homeostatic changes, including those related to the cardiovascular and musculoskeletal systems. Central to these changes and adaptations are neural events underlying vestibular function, vision, proprioception, and the integration of sensorimotor function. In the weightless environment of space, the vestibular otolithic receptors and the tactile proprioceptors no longer signal changes in body orientation as they do on earth. Central motor programs for the reinterpretation of sensory inputs and coordination of muscle actions must undergo adaptation. It is hypothesized that the rearrangement and mismatch of sensory cues gives rise to the syndrome of space motion sickness, to which the body gradually adapts. The NIA and NASA convened a Workshop on Sensorimotor Integration and Disintegration to identify biomedical topics in sensorimotor integration and disintegration relevant to aging populations on Earth and to life in space under the unique conditions of microgravity. The research opportunities and directions, particularly as they relate to spatial orientation, balance, and sensorimotor coordination, identified at this workshop form the basis for this program announcement. A copy of the report of this workshop can be obtained by contacting one of the program officials listed under INQUIRIES. Research Goals and Scope The NIA, NIDCD, NINDS, and NASA encourage submission of applications for research related to the mechanisms of sensorimotor adaptation and coordination, particularly in aging and in the microgravity conditions of space flight. Possible areas of research include, but are not limited to: o Development of new indices of sensorimotor adaptation. o Neural circuits and mechanisms subserving sensorimotor adaptation and learning in three-dimensional coordinate systems, including age-related changes. o CNS mechanisms contributing to the formation of a gravito-inertial frame of reference for cognitive activities and spatially directed motor tasks. o Neural and cognitive mechanisms underlying the transformation of extrinsic frames of reference into internal reference frames involved in coordination of volitional and reflexive movements of the joints, torso, head, neck, and eyes, such as reaching movements and eye-head gaze movements. o Strategies employed adaptively for the maintenance of spatial orientation with the loss or degradation of sensory inputs across the life-span. o Biomechanical and cognitive strategies used adaptively in spatially directed tasks, particularly with aging. o CNS mechanisms underlying the changes in multisensory and sensorimotor integration that accompany aging and exposure to altered gravito-inertial fields. o Adaptive change in the vestibulo-ocular reflex and/or visual- vestibulo-ocular functions as models for understanding motor learning and plasticity within the central nervous system. o Adaptive change in the vestibulospinal and postural reflexes. o The roles of interventions and prior experience in triggering compensation for the loss of sensorimotor functions. o Effect of time course, e.g., sudden onset vs. slow insidious onset, on the mechanisms underlying sensory adaptation to motor and environmental alterations. While all research solicited in this program announcement will be conducted on Earth, NASA will provide access to special facilities in which various aspects of the real or perceived acceleration environment may be examined in ways not readily available to most researchers. Applicants are strongly encouraged to incorporate the utilization of NASA research facilities and resources and the collaboration with NASA scientists in their research plans. For more information contact the NASA program official. A brief listing of available facilities and the appropriate contact person(s) at each facility is available. NASA will contribute the costs associated with utilizing these facilities at no charge to the grantee. STUDY POPULATIONS INCLUSION OF WOMEN AND MINORITIES IN RESEARCH INVOLVING HUMAN SUBJECTS It is the policy of the NIH that women and members of minority groups and their subpopulations must be included in all NIH supported biomedical and behavioral research projects involving human subjects, unless a clear and compelling rationale and justification is provided that inclusion is inappropriate with respect to the health of the subjects or the purpose of the research. This new policy results from the NIH Revitalization Act of 1993 (Section 492B of Public Law 103-43) and supersedes and strengthens the previous policies (Concerning the Inclusion of Women in Study Populations, and Concerning the Inclusion of Minorities in Study Populations), which have been in effect since 1990. The new policy contains some provisions that are substantially different from the 1990 policies. All investigators proposing research involving human subjects should read the "NIH Guidelines For Inclusion of Women and Minorities as Subjects in Clinical Research," which have been published in the Federal Register of March 9, 1994 (FR 59 11146-11151) and reprinted in the NIH Guide for Grants and Contracts, Volume 23, Number 11, March 18, 1994. Investigators also may obtain copies of the policy from the program staff listed under INQUIRIES. Program staff may also provide additional relevant information concerning the policy. APPLICATION PROCEDURES Applications are to be submitted on the grant application form PHS 398 (rev. 9/91) and will be accepted at the standard application deadlines as indicated in the application kit. Application kits are available at most institutional offices of sponsored research and may be obtained from the Office of Grants Information, Division of Research Grants, National Institutes of Health, Westwood Building, Room 449, Bethesda, MD 20892, telephone 301/710-0267. The title and number of this program announcement must be typed in Section 2a on the face page of the application. Applications for the FIRST Award (R29) must include at least three sealed letters of reference attached to the face page of the original application. FIRST Award (R29) applications submitted without the required number of reference letters will be considered incomplete and will be returned without review. The completed original application and five legible copies must be sent or delivered to: Division of Research Grants National Institutes of Health Westwood Building, Room 240 Bethesda, MD 20892** REVIEW CONSIDERATIONS Applications will be assigned on the basis of established Public Health Service referral guidelines. Applications will be reviewed for scientific and technical merit in accordance with the standard NIH peer review procedures. Following scientific-technical review, including responsiveness to the objectives of this program announcement, the applications will receive a second-level review by the appropriate national advisory council. The following criteria will be used in evaluating applications submitted in response to this announcement: o Scientific and technical merit, significance, and originality of the proposed research; o Appropriateness and adequacy of the experimental approach and methodology to be used; o Qualifications of the principal investigator and staff in the area of research, and the principal investigator's prior research experience and record; o Adequacy of the available facilities. AWARD CRITERIA Applications will compete for available funds with all other approved applications assigned to that Institute or Center. The following will be considered in making funding decisions: o Quality of the proposed project as determined by peer review; o Availability of funds; o Program balance among research areas of the announcement. INQUIRIES Written and telephone inquiries are encouraged. The opportunity to clarify any issues or questions from potential applicants is welcome. Direct inquiries regarding programmatic issues to: Deborah Claman, Ph.D. Neuroscience and Neuropsychology of Aging Program National Institute on Aging Gateway Building, Suite 3C307 Bethesda, MD 20892 Telephone: (301) 496-9350 Daniel Sklare, Ph.D. Division of Communication Sciences and Disorders National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders Executive Plaza South, Room 400-C Bethesda, MD 20892 Telephone: (301) 496-1804 William J. Heetderks, M.D., Ph.D. Division of Fundamental Neurosciences National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke Federal Building, Room 9C02 Bethesda, MD 20892 Telephone: (301) 496-5745 Victor Schneider, M.D. Life and Biomedical Sciences and Applications Division National Aeronautics and Space Administration 300 E Street, S.W., Code UL Washington, DC 20546 Telephone: (202) 358-2359 Direct inquiries regarding fiscal matters to: Vicki Maurer Grants and Contracts Management Office National Institute on Aging Gateway Building, Suite 2N212 Bethesda, MD 20892 Telephone: (301) 496-1472 Sharon Hunt Division of Extramural Activities National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders Executive Plaza South, Room 400D 6120 Executive Boulevard Rockville, MD 20892 Telephone: (301) 402-0909 AUTHORITY AND REGULATIONS This program is described in the Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance No. 93.866 and No. 93.173. Awards are made under authorization of the Public Health Service Act, Title IV, Part A (Public Law 78-410, as amended by Public Law 99-158, 42 USC 241 and 285) and administered under PHS grants policies and Federal Regulations 42 CFR 52 and 45 CFR Part 74. This program is not subject to the intergovernmental review requirements of Executive Order 12372 or Health Systems Agency review. .
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