Collaborative Research: NCS-FR: Individual variability in auditory learning characterized using multi-scale and multi-modal physiology and neuromodulation

合作研究：NCS-FR：利用多尺度、多模式生理学和神经调节表征听觉学习的个体差异

• 批准号: 2319493
• 负责人: Bharath Chandrasekaran
• 金额: $ 101.31万
• 依托单位: University of Pittsburgh
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Standard Grant
• 财政年份: 2023
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2023-09-01 至 2023-12-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=2319493&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: Collaborative; Research; NCS; FR; Individual

It is critical for people around the world to be able to learn new skills and information throughout their lives, although often people differ in their proficiency to do so. For example, while all adults are capable of some extent of non-native speech sound category learning with optimized behavioral training paradigms, some people achieve high levels of proficiency with extensive training, while many others fail to overcome fundamental challenges. Prior work has attempted to explain individual differences in learning using static "traits" that are thought to change very little over time - e.g., working memory span, IQ, and musical ability. However, recent work has suggested that a major source of variability is the constantly changing "states" of the brain during learning. Scientists are at a unique moment where advances in cognitive and systems neuroscience, computational behavioral modeling, and neuromodulation (the ability to manipulate neural systems safely and non-invasively in humans) will allow us to achieve a unified, cohesive, neuroscience-based model of learning that explains individual differences. Using information gleaned from a series of studies in both human and animal models, this project seeks to develop a non-invasive device that integrates attention (pupil dilation) and its modulation (vagal nerve stimulation) toward the goal of problem solving, in this case second-language learning. Success in this endeavor will enable the development of novel neurotechnologies and training regimens that will make challenging tasks like second language acquisition accessible to wide array of underserved and overlooked communities in education.The main goal of this study is to take an integrative approach to understanding an underappreciated set of critical factors that are hypothesized to underly individual variability in perceptual learning: task-related dynamic neural states. Subcortical arousal systems (e.g., noradrenergic, cholinergic, and dopaminergic) have a substantial impact on cortical circuit function during distinct phases of a learning task, including pre-stimulus periods, stimulus encoding, and feedback monitoring. By studying each of these task phases at multiple scales, from specific neuromodulators and single neurons in mice, to population neurophysiology and dynamic behavior in mice and humans, it will be possible to explain substantially more variability in learning than is currently possible. Furthermore, researchers will leverage a neuromodulation approach, vagus nerve stimulation (VNS), to regulate the activity of these neuromodulatory systems and help improve learning performance in a targeted and highly dynamic way. Using a multi-modal, cross-species (humans and rodents) approach, the researchers propose a conceptual framework where rapidly changing and high dimensional neural states have dynamics that cut across traditional boundaries of human trait categories, such as memory capacity and perceptual experience, and neuromodulatory system functions, such as arousal, attention, and reward signaling. This multi-scale approach is all tied together with concurrent measurement of pupil-linked arousal, population neural dynamics, and trial-by-trial behavioral performance. This work will have transformative implications for understanding why individuals struggle to learn important skills in adulthood, and will advance the development of simple, cheap, and safe tools for enhancing performance and leveling the playing field across diverse communities.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.

对于世界各地的人们来说，能够在一生中学习新的技能和信息至关重要，尽管人们在这方面的熟练程度往往不同。例如，虽然所有成年人都能够通过优化的行为训练范式进行一定程度的非母语语音语音类别学习，但有些人通过广泛的训练达到了高水平的熟练程度，而其他许多人则未能克服基本的挑战。先前的工作试图用静态的“特质”来解释学习中的个体差异，这些“特质”被认为随着时间的推移变化很小--例如，工作记忆广度智商和音乐能力然而，最近的研究表明，变异性的一个主要来源是学习过程中大脑不断变化的“状态”。科学家们正处于一个独特的时刻，认知和系统神经科学，计算行为建模和神经调节（安全和非侵入性地操纵人类神经系统的能力）的进步将使我们能够实现一个统一的，有凝聚力的，基于神经科学的学习模型，解释个体差异。利用从人类和动物模型的一系列研究中收集的信息，该项目旨在开发一种非侵入性设备，将注意力（瞳孔扩张）及其调节（迷走神经刺激）整合到解决问题的目标中，在这种情况下，第二语言学习。这一奋进的成功将使新的神经技术和训练方案的发展成为可能，这将使具有挑战性的任务，如第二语言习得，能够为教育中广泛的服务不足和被忽视的社区所接受。本研究的主要目标是采取一种综合的方法来理解一组被低估的关键因素，这些因素被假设为感知学习中个体差异的基础：任务相关的动态神经状态。皮层下唤醒系统（例如，去甲肾上腺素能、胆碱能和多巴胺能）在学习任务的不同阶段（包括预刺激期、刺激编码和反馈监测）期间对皮质回路功能具有实质性影响。通过在多个尺度上研究这些任务阶段中的每一个，从小鼠中的特定神经调质和单个神经元，到小鼠和人类的群体神经生理学和动态行为，将有可能解释比目前更多的学习变异性。此外，研究人员将利用神经调节方法，迷走神经刺激（VNS）来调节这些神经调节系统的活动，并以有针对性和高度动态的方式帮助改善学习表现。使用多模态，跨物种（人类和啮齿动物）方法，研究人员提出了一个概念框架，其中快速变化和高维神经状态具有跨越人类特质类别传统边界的动态，例如记忆能力和感知体验，以及神经调节系统功能，例如唤醒，注意力和奖励信号。这种多尺度方法与瞳孔相关唤醒、群体神经动力学和逐个试验行为表现的同时测量联系在一起。这项工作将对理解为什么个人在成年后难以学习重要技能产生变革性的影响，并将推动开发简单、廉价和安全的工具，以提高绩效，并在不同的社区建立公平的竞争环境。该奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并被认为值得通过使用基金会的智力价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估来支持。