Collaborative Research: Using Somatosensory Speech And Non-Speech Categories To Test The Brain's General Principles Of Perceptual Learning

合作研究：利用体感言语和非言语类别来测试大脑感知学习的一般原理

• 批准号: 1439339
• 负责人: Lynne Bernstein
• 金额: $ 27.16万
• 依托单位: George Washington University
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Standard Grant
• 财政年份: 2014
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2014-09-15 至 2019-08-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=1439339&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: Collaborative; Research; Using; Somatosensory; Speech

The human brain displays astonishing adaptation to novel types of sensory information. An example of such adaptation is deaf-blind individuals who learned to perceive spoken language through their sense of touch, by placing a hand on the face and throat of someone producing speech. This example tells us that the somatosensory system can carry out speech perception, which is normally thought to be in the domain of hearing. Drs. Maximilian Riesenhuber of Georgetown University and Lynne E. Bernstein of George Washington University along with their multidisciplinary team will use advanced functional magnetic resonance brain imaging (fMRI) and electroencephalography (EEG) to investigate the neural mechanisms underlying the learning of artificial categories and speech categories by the somatosensory system. In their research they are using a novel transducer to present high-dimensional stimuli to the forearm of participants who are trained on artificial or speech categories. The team is addressing whether perceptual learning of artificial categories of somatosensory patterns follows principles known to govern auditory and visual category learning. For their second aim, the researchers are training participants to recognize spoken words that are transformed into patterns of vibration. The speech stimuli are designed to address questions about cross-sensory learning and the linking of speech categories across hearing and vision. Before and following training, fMRI and EEG measures are being applied to determine where and when in the brain newly learned categories are represented. This project is pushing the frontiers of knowledge about the brain's plasticity for learning novel somatosensory categories, including showing for the first time the neural bases for speech learning through the sense of touch.Understanding the general principles of sensory processing in the brain, and in particular the commonalities and differences in the underlying neural mechanisms across sensory modalities, is of great interest for practical applications such as the design of neuroprostheses for hearing and/or vision disorders. For example, patients who have auditory or visual sensory system damage may benefit from devices that substitute vibrotactile stimuli for information no longer available through their damaged sensory systems. Vibrotactile stimuli can be combined with visual or auditory stimuli to improve speech perception in noisy situations such as the cockpit of a plane. The fMRI and EEG data from this project along with detailed records kept during training of participants will be made available to the research community. The brain measures obtained before and after training will be valuable for cost-effective testing of new hypotheses about brain plasticity and learning. Research results will be broadly disseminated through publications and conference presentations. The research project will also be leveraged extensively to train the next generation of scientists, at the graduate and undergraduate level, with a particular focus on underrepresented minorities.

人脑对新奇类型的感觉信息表现出惊人的适应能力。这种适应的一个例子是聋盲人，他们通过将一只手放在说话人的脸和喉咙上，通过触觉学习感知口语。这个例子告诉我们，体感系统可以进行语音感知，这通常被认为是在听力领域。乔治城大学的马克西米利安·里森乌伯博士和乔治华盛顿大学的林恩·E·伯恩斯坦博士将与他们的多学科团队一起，使用先进的功能磁共振脑成像(FMRI)和脑电(EEG)来研究体感系统学习人工类别和语音类别的神经机制。在他们的研究中，他们使用了一种新型的传感器，将高维刺激呈现给接受过人工或语音类别训练的参与者的前臂。该团队正在研究人工体感模式类别的知觉学习是否遵循已知的管理听觉和视觉类别学习的原则。为了他们的第二个目标，研究人员正在训练参与者识别转化为振动模式的口语单词。语音刺激旨在解决关于跨感官学习和跨听觉和视觉的言语类别联系的问题。在训练前后，fMRI和EEG测量被应用于确定新学习的类别在大脑中的何时何地被呈现。该项目正在推动关于大脑可塑性的知识前沿，以学习新的体感类别，包括首次展示通过触觉学习语音的神经基础。了解大脑感觉处理的一般原理，特别是跨感觉模式潜在神经机制的共性和差异，对于实际应用非常感兴趣，例如设计用于听力和/或视觉障碍的神经假体。例如，听觉或视觉感觉系统受损的患者可能会受益于用振动触觉刺激取代他们受损的感觉系统不再提供的信息的设备。振动触觉刺激可以与视觉或听觉刺激相结合，以改善在飞机驾驶舱等嘈杂情况下的语音感知。该项目的功能磁共振成像和脑电数据以及参与者培训期间保存的详细记录将向研究界提供。在训练前后获得的大脑测量将对关于大脑可塑性和学习的新假说进行经济有效的测试。研究成果将通过出版物和会议报告广泛传播。该研究项目还将被广泛用于培训下一代研究生和本科生科学家，特别侧重于代表性不足的少数群体。