Neural Mechanisms of Acoustic Communication Gordon Research Conference

该奖项将为参加2022年戈登声学通信神经基础研究会议（NMAC）的学生，博士后研究员和初级科学家提供支持。不同的物种通常具有不同的声音社会信号的产生和感知的通信策略，通过比较方法研究声音通信的神经机制可以深入了解神经功能的一般机制。声学通信研究的一个主要挑战是人类和非人类研究之间的信息隔离，以及专注于单个模型系统的孤立社区。NMAC是一个新的科学会议，旨在将一个高度跨学科的研究小组聚集在一起，以更好地了解大脑如何编码和产生声音信号。这次会议将汇集杰出的高级和初级科学家，讨论该领域的最新进展。NMAC会议将有助于揭示声通信的新原理。这个首次项目的主题包括声音的发展和学习，声音的相互作用，听觉专业化，基因组学，预测编码和声音产生的皮质机制。比较方法是神经行为学的核心，将有助于识别构成声学通信基础的大脑组织和功能的共同原则。会议上展示的结果将有可能指导多个领域的未来发展，包括具有可观社会效益的工程系统的神经启发设计。这次会议的价值来自于它的小规模，它促进了参与者之间的互动，并聚集了许多研究跨越神经生物学，动物行为和人类临床疾病的顶级科学家。它涵盖了各种各样的实验系统，并专注于特殊活动或有希望的领域。这种结合导致了富有成效的比较分析，提出了关于潜在机制的新问题，并经常导致新的合作。通过最大化正式讨论和非正式互动，NMAC将突出交流过程研究中令人兴奋的新进展，这些过程对动物行为至关重要，也是疾病的核心。就更广泛的影响而言，这次会议将以多种方式使更大的社区受益。首先，通过让学生和博士后接触激动人心的科学和科学家，它将有助于培养和激励下一代科学家。第二，将为初级科学家组织正式和非正式的指导会议以及专业发展会议，以帮助他们对学术界和其他领域的科学职业做出明智的选择。最后，将作出协调一致的努力，从代表性不足的群体中招募科学家。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。

This award will provide support to students, post-doctoral fellows and junior scientists to attend the 2022 Gordon Research Conference on the Neural Basis of Acoustic Communication (NMAC). Different species often feature distinct communication strategies for the production and perception of acoustic social signals, and a comparative approach to the study of the neural mechanisms underlying acoustic communication can lend insight into general mechanisms of neural function. A major challenge in the study of acoustic communication is the segregation of information between human and nonhuman research as well as the isolated communities that focus on individual model systems. The NMAC is a new scientific meeting created to bring together a highly interdisciplinary group of researchers to better understand how the brain encodes and produces acoustic signals. This meeting will bring together outstanding senior and junior scientists for discussions of the recent advances in the field. The NMAC conference will help to reveal new principles concerning acoustic communication. Topics of this inaugural program include vocal development and learning, vocal interactions, auditory specializations, genomics, predictive coding, and cortical mechanisms of vocal production. The comparative approach that is at the heart of neuroethology, will facilitate the identification of common principles of brain organization and function that underlie acoustic communication. The results presented at the meeting will have the potential to guide future developments in multiple areas, including neural inspired design of engineered systems that will have considerable societal benefits. The value of this meeting derives from its small size, which promotes interactions between participants, and the assembly of many top scientists whose research spans neurobiology, animal behavior and human clinical disorders. It spans a wide variety of experimental systems and focuses on areas of exceptional activity or promise. This combination leads to fruitful comparative analyses, raises new questions about underlying mechanisms and often leads to new collaborations. By maximizing both formal discussion and informal interactions, the NMAC will highlight exciting new developments in study of the communication processes that are essential for animal behavior and also lie at the heart of disorders. With respect to broader impacts, this meeting will benefit the larger community in multiple ways. First, it will help train and inspire the next generation of scientists, by exposing students and postdoctoral fellows to exciting science and scientists. Second, mentoring sessions, both formal and informal, as well as professional development sessions for junior researchers, will be organized for the benefit of junior researchers to help them make informed choices about scientific careers in academia and beyond. Finally, a concerted effort will be made to recruit scientists from under-represented groups.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.