Collaborative Research: Interaction of sensory and response processes in decision making

感知决策，即从感官信息中迅速做出推断并做出适当反应的行为，是人类行为的重要基础。决策过程中感官和反应过程之间的时间和相互作用是本合作研究项目的重点。神经科学数据显示，反应计划可能在知觉处理完成之前就开始了，这表明知觉和行动的相互作用可能是决策的关键方面。为了研究这一点，我们开发了新的实验，使用人类脑电图（EEG）来测量感知、注意和运动过程的时间过程。我们通过课程、全天的科学活动和为期三周的暑期学校，将来自历史上高等教育STEM项目服务不足的社区的学生直接纳入到这项研究中。在教育活动的课程中有一个紧密的对应关系，使这些学生能够在研究人员的支持下在整个项目期间进行新颖的研究。研究生在这些学生项目的发展和实施中发挥着关键作用。这些教育项目将提供给其他寻求通过神经科学研究培训来加强STEM教育的机构。所有的实验都使用了单次试验脑电图方法的创新，用于测量参与者在不同环境下对刺激做出决定时的感知和运动活动的动态。采用新颖的实验方法来跟踪和操纵大脑中感觉信息流的注意控制的时间过程。通过独特的触觉感知和决策实验，将开发一个新的感知神经科学领域。暑期学校的课程重点是学生提出、编程、运行、分析和展示他们自己的研究。课程包括编程技巧，矩阵代数和信号处理技巧，以及统计方法。目标是让学生设计、控制和分析人类神经科学实验。与研究生和教师导师的互动将使学生实现他们的项目，并发展他们追求科学事业的雄心。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。

Perceptual decision-making, the act of quickly drawing inferences from sensory information and making appropriate responses, is a critical foundation of human behavior. The timing and the interaction between sensory and response processes in decision making are the focus of this collaborative research program. Neuroscience data has revealed that response planning may be engaged before perceptual processing finishes suggesting that the interaction of perception and action may be a critical aspect of making decisions. To investigate this, we develop novel experiments that use human electroencephalography (EEG) to measure the time course of perception, attention, and motor processes. We incorporate students from communities that have historically been underserved by higher education STEM programs directly into this research through courses, all-day science events, and a three-week summer school. There is a tight correspondence where curricula in the educational activities enable these students to carry out novel research throughout the project period supported by researchers. Graduate students play a critical role in the development and implementation of these student projects. These educational programs will be made available to other institutions that seek to enhance STEM education through research training in neuroscience.All of the experiments make use of innovations in single-trial EEG methods for measuring the dynamics of perceptual and motor activity while participants make decisions about stimuli placed in varying contexts. Novel experimental methods are used to track and manipulate the time-course of attentional control of the flow of sensory information in the brain. A new area of perceptual neuroscience will be developed with unique tactile perception and decision making experiments. The summer school curriculum focuses on students proposing, programming, running, analyzing, and presenting their own research. The curriculum incorporates programming skills, matrix algebra and signal processing skills, and statistical methods. The goal is for the students to design, control, and analyze human neuroscience experiments. Interactions with graduate students and faculty mentors will enable students to realize their projects and develop their ambitions to pursue science careers.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.