A Novel Method for the Locomotion Control of a Rat Robot via the Electrical Stimulation of the Ventral Tegmental Area and Nigrostriatal Pathway

TL;DR

A new method for controlling rat robots uses brain stimulation to induce stable movement and steering without requiring training.

Contribution

A novel motor control method for rat robots using electrical stimulation of the VTA and NS pathway, eliminating the need for pre-training.

Findings

Electrical stimulation of the VTA induces stable inclined movement in rats.

Stimulation of the NS pathway directly induces steering movements to the contralateral side.

The method improves preparation efficiency and reliability of rat robots in field environments.

Abstract

Background: A rat robot can be constructed by electrically stimulating specific brain regions to control rat locomotion and behavior. The rat robot makes full use of the rat’s motor function and energy supply and has significant advantages in motor flexibility, environmental adaptability, and covertness. It can be widely used in disaster search and rescue, terrain survey, anti-terrorism, and explosion-proof tasks. However, the motor control of existing rat robots mainly relies on the virtual whisker touch produced by the electrical stimulation of the barrel area of the somatosensory cortex and the virtual reward generated by the electrical stimulation of the medial forebrain bundle. The methods requires substantial experimental training to encourage the animals to match the virtual sensation with the motor behavior. However, the conditioned reflexes acquired by the animals will gradually disappear after a period of time at the end of the experiments, which will lead to a decrease in the stability of the motor control system. Methods: In this study, we developed a new method to gain control of inclined movement in rats by the electrical stimulation of the ventral tegmental area (VTA) of the midbrain and motor control of steering in rats by the electrical stimulation of nigrostriatal (NS) pathway. Results: The results showed that the electrical stimulation of the rat VTA could induce stable inclined movement in rats and that the neuromodulatory effect significantly correlated with the electrical stimulation parameters. In addition, the electrical stimulation of the NS pathway was able to directly and stably induce the steering movements of the head and trunk to the contralateral side of the stimulated side of the rat. Conclusions: These findings are of great importance for the motor control of rat robots, especially in the field environment with many slopes. In addition, the rat robot constructed based on this method does not need pre-training while ensuring reliability, which greatly improves the preparation efficiency and has certain practical application value.

Figures