Collaborative Research: NCS-FR: Volitional control of internal cognitive states

合作研究：NCS-FR：内部认知状态的意志控制

• 批准号: 2124066
• 负责人: Byron Yu
• 金额: $ 215.58万
• 依托单位: Carnegie-Mellon University
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Continuing Grant
• 财政年份: 2021
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2021-09-15 至 2026-08-31
• 项目状态: 未结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=2124066&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: Collaborative; Research; NCS; FR; Volitional

Humans are not, by nature, logical creatures. It takes focus to maintain our composure and not let emotions color our judgement. When we can control our emotional state, we can get “in the zone” and perform well. Failing to do so, we’ll “have a bad day”, or just be “off”. Why does this happen? And, in terms of neurobiological mechanisms, how does this happen? Our emotions are regulated by internal states, such as arousal, attention, and motivation, brain-wide modulatory processes that impact neural function related to perception, decision making, and action. What are the neural mechanisms of those interactions? This project will explore the interactions between internal states and cognitive processing in the cerebral cortex. The investigators will leverage their expertise in “brain training” by giving subjects visual feedback about their neural activity so that they are directly aware of their internal states. In this way, they will study whether subjects are able to better regulate their internal states so that they are able to make perceptual judgments and perform motor skills more consistently at a high level of performance. The investigators will also organize workshops to bring together experts in areas related to this project, train researchers to become well-versed in experimental and computational neuroscience, and enhance the participation of undergraduates, women, and underrepresented minorities in the research. This project involves three integrated research threads. First, the investigators will use multi-electrode recordings in several regions of the cerebral cortex simultaneously to identify brain-wide signatures of internal states and their effect on the communication between cortical areas. Second, they will train subjects to volitionally control their internal states using neurofeedback. Third, they will examine whether subjects can harness their internal states to accelerate learning and improve performance on challenging perceptual and motor tasks. In these studies, they will focus on three types of internal states -- one that guides us in the spatial world around us (spatial attention), one that manages our alertness throughout the day (arousal), and one that aids our effort in focusing on what lies ahead (motivation). They will study how these internal states interact and to what extent they can be volitionally controlled in three areas across the brain: visual area V4, prefrontal cortex, and motor cortex. Together, their work will provide i) a unified account of the impact of multiple internal states on brain-wide neural computations spanning perception and action, and ii) neurofeedback paradigms to enable subjects to harness their internal states for improved performance. This project is funded by Integrative Strategies for Understanding Neural and Cognitive Systems (NCS), a multidisciplinary program jointly supported by the Directorates for Biology (BIO), Computer and Information Science and Engineering (CISE), Education and Human Resources (EHR), Engineering (ENG), and Social, Behavioral, and Economic Sciences (SBE).This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.

从本质上讲，人类不是逻辑生物。我们需要集中精力保持冷静，不让情绪影响我们的判断。当我们能控制自己的情绪状态时，我们就能“进入状态”，表现得很好。如果做不到这一点，我们就会“度过糟糕的一天”，或者干脆“离开”。为什么会发生这种情况？在神经生物学机制方面，这是如何发生的？我们的情绪是由内部状态调节的，比如觉醒、注意力和动机，以及影响与感知、决策和行动相关的神经功能的全脑调节过程。这些相互作用的神经机制是什么？本项目将探索大脑皮层内部状态与认知加工之间的相互作用。研究人员将利用他们在“大脑训练”方面的专业知识，向受试者提供有关其神经活动的视觉反馈，以便他们直接意识到自己的内部状态。通过这种方式，他们将研究受试者是否能够更好地调节他们的内部状态，以便他们能够做出感性判断，并在高水平的表现下更一致地执行运动技能。研究人员还将组织研讨会，汇集与该项目相关领域的专家，培训研究人员精通实验和计算神经科学，并加强本科生、女性和未被充分代表的少数民族在研究中的参与。这个项目涉及三个综合的研究方向。首先，研究人员将同时在大脑皮层的几个区域使用多电极记录来识别大脑内部状态的全脑特征及其对皮层区域之间交流的影响。其次，他们将训练受试者使用神经反馈来有意识地控制他们的内部状态。第三，他们将检查受试者是否能够利用他们的内部状态来加速学习并提高在具有挑战性的感知和运动任务中的表现。在这些研究中，他们将专注于三种类型的内部状态——一种是在我们周围的空间世界中引导我们（空间注意力），一种是在一天中管理我们的警觉性（唤醒），一种是帮助我们专注于未来的努力（动机）。他们将研究这些内部状态是如何相互作用的，以及它们在多大程度上可以在大脑的三个区域中被有意识地控制：视觉区V4、前额叶皮层和运动皮层。总之，他们的工作将提供i)多种内部状态对跨越感知和行动的全脑神经计算的影响的统一解释，以及ii)神经反馈范式，使受试者能够利用他们的内部状态来提高表现。该项目由理解神经和认知系统的综合策略（NCS）资助，这是一个由生物学（BIO）、计算机与信息科学与工程（CISE）、教育与人力资源（EHR）、工程学（ENG）和社会、行为和经济科学（SBE）联合支持的多学科项目。该奖项反映了美国国家科学基金会的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的知识价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。