Neural processing of communication sounds: acoustic features and semantic content

通信声音的神经处理：声学特征和语义内容

• 批准号: 10301129
• 负责人: Angeles Salles
• 金额: $ 9.67万
• 依托单位: JOHNS HOPKINS UNIVERSITY
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 财政年份: 2021
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2021-07-01 至 2023-06-30
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10301129
• 关键词: Acoustics; Address; Affect; Affective; Amygdaloid structure; Animal Model; Animals; Area; Auditory; Behavior; Behavioral; Brain; Brain region; Chiroptera; Communication; Communication impairment; Complex; Computer Models; Data; Diagnosis; Discrimination; Dissection; Echolocation; Educational workshop; Emotional; Ensure; Environment; Equilibrium; Exhibits; Exposure to; Food; Foundations; Frequencies; Hearing; Human; Impairment; Implant; Individual; Inferior Colliculus; Knowledge; Language; Light; Limbic System; Mammals; Measures; Mediating; Mentors; Methods; Midbrain structure; Modeling; Muscimol; Neurons; Neurosciences; Pathway interactions; Pharmacology; Phase; Population; Process; Production; Psychophysics; Rattus; Research; Role; Saline; Semantics; Signal Transduction; Social Behavior; Social Environment; Social Interaction; Specialist; Speech; Speech Sound; Speed; Stimulus; Structure; Study models; System; Testing; Training; Ultrasonics; Universities; Work; auditory discrimination; auditory processing; auditory stimulus; behavior measurement; behavioral response; extracellular; human subject; language processing; neuromechanism; neurophysiology; programs; relating to nervous system; research facility; response; social; social communication; sound; speech processing; stimulus processing; success; vocalization

Project Summary Acoustic communication is crucial for social interactions in many species, including humans. Understanding the neural underpinnings that govern the production and processing of communication sounds is paramount to advance the fields of auditory neuroscience and social behavior. Studies investigating speech and sound processing in humans have mostly implemented non-invasive methods, leaving a gap in knowledge about underlying neural mechanisms. My project bridges this gap by exploiting scientific advantages of echolocating bats, mammals that produce and process a rich repertoire of acoustic signals, to investigate the circuits that contribute to the discrimination of complex sounds that carry different meanings. Bats are social mammals with well-developed audio-vocal systems and produce ultrasonic vocalizations for navigation and social communication, providing a distinct opportunity to study the pathways, molecules and brain regions, which enable complex sound processing. Aim 1 combines behavior and neurophysiology to investigate the specific acoustic features of communication calls that are key to evoke behavioral responses and the neural systems involved in sound discrimination. Aim 2 combines psychophysical, neurophysiological, and pharmacological inactivation methods to study the midbrain-amygdala circuit's role in mediating discrimination of sounds that show overlap in spectro-temporal features but carry different semantic content. Aim 3 investigates circuit phenomena in a social context by combining neurophysiological recordings and targeted pharmacological inactivation in freely interacting bats. The overarching hypothesis of this research program is that social- emotional processing of auditory stimuli through a midbrain-amygdala circuit mediates the discrimination of sounds that carry different meaning. The significance of this project resides in the extraordinary scientific opportunities to bridge studies of auditory behaviors, single neuron recordings, circuit dissection and computational modeling in a mammalian model. This work will contribute key new knowledge of natural sound processing mechanisms in mammals that could inform a deeper understanding of human auditory communication disorders. Johns Hopkins University offers an outstanding environment to conduct this project, as it provides access to world class research facilities, seminars and workshops offered by the Center for Hearing and Balance, the Center for Language and Speech Processing; along with an extraordinary network of mentors and collaborators who will provide training and guidance to ensure the success of this project.

项目摘要 声音交流对于包括人类在内的许多物种的社会互动至关重要。 了解控制交流声音产生和处理的神经基础是 对推进听觉神经科学和社会行为领域至关重要。研究语言和 人类的声音处理大多采用非侵入性方法，在以下方面存在知识空白： 潜在的神经机制我的项目通过利用回声定位的科学优势来弥合这一差距 蝙蝠，哺乳动物，产生和处理丰富的声音信号，以调查电路， 有助于区分具有不同含义的复杂声音。蝙蝠是社会性哺乳动物， 完善的音频发声系统，并为导航和社交提供超声波发声 交流，提供了一个独特的机会来研究通路，分子和大脑区域， 实现复杂的声音处理。目的1结合行为和神经生理学来研究特定的 交流呼叫的声学特征是唤起行为反应和神经系统的关键 涉及声音辨别。目标2结合了心理物理学、神经生理学和药理学 失活的方法来研究中脑杏仁核回路的作用，介导的声音， 示出了频谱-时间特征中重叠，但是承载不同的语义内容。目标3研究电路 通过结合神经生理学记录和靶向药理学方法， 在自由互动的蝙蝠中失活。这项研究计划的首要假设是，社会- 通过中脑-杏仁核回路对听觉刺激的情绪处理介导了 不同的声音有不同的含义。这个项目的重要性在于 有机会桥接听觉行为，单神经元记录，电路解剖和 哺乳动物模型中的计算建模。这项工作将有助于自然声音的关键新知识 哺乳动物的处理机制，可以更深入地了解人类的听觉 沟通障碍约翰霍普金斯大学提供了一个优秀的环境来进行这个项目， 因为它提供了由听力中心提供的世界一流的研究设施，研讨会和讲习班 语言和语音处理中心;沿着一个非凡的导师网络 以及提供培训和指导以确保该项目成功的合作者。