NCS-FO A transformative approach for mapping spatial and temporal dynamics of anterior cingulate function in humans

该项目旨在将神经科学和生物医学工程的信息和方法结合起来，绘制构成人类认知、情感和决策基础的大脑回路。研究表明，这些回路被划分为特定的解剖区域，这些区域会产生独特的大脑活动模式和对刺激的行为反应。已经开发了先进的成像方法来被动地定位脑功能解剖；然而，缺乏通过主动调节人脑活动来实现以同样高的分辨率进行非侵入性测绘的方法。这些方法需要为认知和精神健康障碍的先进医疗疗法的发展提供信息，并推动下一代脑机接口技术的发展。因此，该项目旨在实现三个主要目标：1)发展最先进的、功能性的人脑图谱和脑机接口方法；2)增加有关引起人类认知和情感的电路机制的详细信息；3)展示潜在的治疗大脑疾病和损伤的新方法。从这个项目中获得的见解可以为人类大脑深层活动产生认知-情感行为的机制带来重要的新见解，如社会思维过程、冲动和情感。为了实现这些目标，低功率超声波将被脉冲并聚焦到人类受试者的头骨上，通过图像引导方法以高空间分辨率调节局部活动，同时：1)记录不同行为奖励和情绪条件下的学习和决策结果；2)记录大脑电活动的变化；以及3)记录神经递质代谢物的解剖分布和浓度的变化。对这些数据的分析结果将提供新的、高分辨率的信息，说明不同的大脑区域如何合作来解释决策过程中的学习和情绪。该项目包括创建一个全国性的超声科学和教育计划，以扩大参与范围，扩大培训机会，改善教育，并培养神经科学、工程学和医学方面的知识。在这个项目中收集的数据、产生的分析报告和开发的方法将在聚焦超声科学和教育数据存储库中公开提供。该奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的智力优势和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

This project aims to combine information and methods from neuroscience and biomedical engineering to map brain circuits that underlie human cognition, emotion, and decision making. Research has shown that these circuits are compartmentalized into specific anatomical regions, which give rise to characteristic brain activity patterns and behavioral responses to stimuli. Advanced imaging methods have been developed to passively localize functional brain anatomy; however, methods are lacking that allow for non-invasive mapping at similarly high resolutions by actively modulating human brain activity. Such methods are needed to inform the development of advanced medical treatments for cognitive and mental health disorders, and to advance next-generation brain-computer interface technologies. Therefore, this project has been designed to achieve three major goals: 1) advance state-of-the-art, functional human brain mapping and brain-computer interface methods, 2) increase the detail of information regarding circuit mechanisms that give rise to human cognition and emotion, and 3) demonstrate potential new approaches to treating brain disorders and injuries. Insights gained from this project can lead to important new insights into the mechanisms by which human deep-brain activity gives rise to cognitive-emotional behaviors, such as social thought processes, impulsivity, and affect. To achieve these goals, low-power ultrasound will be pulsed and focused across the skull of human participants into specific anatomical brain regions using image-guided methods to modulate local activity at high spatial resolutions while: 1) recording learning and decision-making outcomes under different behavioral reward and emotional conditions; 2) recording changes in electrical brain activity; and 3) recording changes in the anatomical distribution and concentration of neurotransmitter metabolites. Results from analyses of these data will provide new, high-resolution information regarding how different brain regions cooperate to account for learning and emotion during decision making. The project includes the creation of a national Focused Ultrasound Science and Education program to broaden participation, expand training opportunities, improve education, and cultivate knowledge in neuroscience, engineering, and medicine. Data collected, analytical reports produced, and methods developed in this project will be made publicly available in the Focused Ultrasound Science and Education data repository.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.