Motor Compositionality in the Control of Facial Movements

项目总结 我们对面部运动的神经机制的理解存在一个根本的鸿沟，这两种运动都具有表现力 和自愿性的。这一概念差距的存在构成了一个重要的问题，因为在它出现之前 我们将无法解释情绪是如何表达的，也无法解释人类的言语是如何控制的，而且 造成许多社会交流障碍的过程仍然难以捉摸。长期目标是 了解面部运动系统、皮质和皮质下运动系统如何整合感觉、情感和认知 输入并将其转换为连贯的运动动作。这项建议的总体目标是决心 一组分布的大脑皮层区域的功能组织和基本机制 控制面部肌肉以产生连贯的面部动作。实验模型系统是一套 直接投射到面神经核的皮质区域。它允许对中心假设进行检验，即 情绪和随意的面部运动通过大脑皮层网络的协调活动来控制 各个领域，每个领域都有独特的功能专业化。这项提议的理由是完成了 研究将首次揭示面部运动控制的神经机制，施加关键的 对一般运动控制理论以及语音的机制和起源的限制。中心假说 将通过三个具体目标进行测试：目标1将确定面部皮质的功能组织 移动控制。工作假说，情绪和自愿运动都是由两者编码的 内侧和外侧皮质面部运动区将使用功能磁共振成像(FMRI)进行测试。 以及来自fMRI识别的面部运动区的电生理记录。目标2将确定功能 大脑皮层面部运动区的网络结构。皮质面-运动区的工作假说 将通过功能交互分析和联合电刺激进行测试 电生理学。目标3将确定面部肌肉向下控制的原则。在工作中 假设面部运动是通过神经状态序列编码的，由肌肉协同作用翻译 将通过关节电刺激、电生理学和肌电图术测试面部信号。这个 方法是创新的，因为它为运动神经科学带来了一个新的模型体系，一个新的范式和多学科的 研究神经机制的模式实验方法，从单细胞水平到大规模 网络，社交交流，因为它挑战了关于面部神经基础的长期观点 有动静。这项拟议的研究意义重大，因为它将为电机控制理论提供一个新的维度， 它将定义情感如何转化为表情，以及社交信号是如何产生的，它将提供 关于语音神经机制的新的模型系统和基础知识，从而提出了重要的 限制了对人类状况的理解。结果将提高理解，并可能 治疗神经和精神症状的运动功能和社会沟通。

PROJECT SUMMARY There is a fundamental gap in our understanding of the neural mechanisms of facial movements, both expressive and voluntary ones. The existence of this conceptual gap constitutes an important problem because, until it is filled, we will not be able to explain how the emotions are expressed nor how human speech is controlled, and the processes causing the many disorders of social communication remain elusive. The long-term goal is to understand how facial motor systems, cortical and sub-cortical ones, integrate sensory, emotional, and cognitive inputs and transform them into coherent motor acts. The overall objective of this proposal is the determination of the functional organization and the fundamental mechanisms by which a set of distributed cortical areas controls facial muscles to generate coherent facial movements. The experimental model system is a set of cortical areas with direct projections to the facial nucleus. It allows for testing of the central hypothesis that both emotional and voluntary facial movements are controlled through the coordinated activity of a network of cortical areas, each with a unique functional specialization. The rationale for this proposal is that completion of the research will uncover, for the first time, the neural mechanisms for facial movement control, imposing critical constraints on general motor control theory and the mechanisms and origins of speech. The central hypothesis will be tested through three specific aims: Aim 1 will determine the functional organization of cortex for facial movement control. The working hypothesis that both emotional and voluntary movements are coded by both medial and lateral cortical face-motor areas will be tested using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) and electrophysiological recordings from fMRI-identified face-motor areas. Aim 2 will determine the functional network structure of cortical face movement areas. The working hypothesis that cortical face-motor areas operate as a network will be tested through functional interaction analyses and joint electrical stimulation and electrophysiology. Aim 3 will determine the principles of descending control of facial musculature. The working hypothesis that facial movements are coded through sequences of neural states, translated by muscle synergies into facial signals will be tested through joint electrical stimulation, electrophysiology and electromyography. The approach is innovative, because it brings a new model system to motor neuroscience, a new paradigm and multi- modal experimental approach to the study of the neural mechanisms, from the level of single cells to large-scale networks, of social communication, and because it challenges long-held views on the neural substrates of facial movement. The proposed research is significant, because it will provide a new dimension to motor control theory, it will define how emotions are translated into expressions and how social signals are generated, it will provide a new model system and foundational knowledge about the neural mechanisms of speech, thus posing important constraints for the understanding of the human condition. Results will improve the understanding and possibly treatment of neurological and psychiatric syndromes of motor function and social communication.