Hierarchical circuits in the ventral auditory pathway

虽然有丰富的历史将单神经元尖峰活动与大脑功能联系起来，但我们的理解是， 认知和行为的神经基础依赖于识别神经元内的信息处理 在不同空间尺度上运行的电路。尽管它们作为信息的规范模型很重要 流，我们对这种双向分层组织的电路是否以及如何有助于 听觉感知仍然难以捉摸，特别是在灵长类动物的听觉模型中。本投资回报率的总体目标 一项建议是通过识别双向的、分层组织的电路来填补这一知识空白， 到听觉感知。我们将使用预测编码（PC）-一个非常有影响力的理论框架， 听觉统计学习和知觉推理-作为一个实验杠杆，以测试其预测是否 在腹侧听觉通路的皮层回路中被实例化。我们关注腹侧通路， 在恒河猴中，该通路对听觉感知有因果关系。为了测试PC的电路预测， 我们将多触点电极垂直插入皮质层，记录单个单位和神经元群 在记录时，恒河猴的核心听觉皮层和腹侧听觉通路的活动， 猴子参与被动的倾听范式和主动的倾听任务。在被动倾听的过程中， 猴子听一系列包含可预测和不可预测事件的听觉刺激， 允许探测预测错误和预测相关活动。在积极倾听的过程中，猴子会隐性地学习 使用听觉线索来预测听觉目标的开始;这项任务是对目标的直接行为评估。 听觉统计学习的强度和时间动态。在具体目标#1中，我们确定了层间 PC的底层电路及其沿腹侧听觉通路的沿着层次组织。具体目标#2 我们确定了前额叶皮层和听觉皮层之间的前馈和反馈回路， PC.这项提议的发现将为大脑皮层的功能组织提供宝贵的见解。 沿着腹侧听觉通路的PC和统计学习的基础电路。反过来，这些见解可能 导致制定可检验的假设，关于缺陷的神经生理学基础， 统计学习已经在自闭症和精神分裂症等临床症状中得到证实。

Although there is a rich history relating single-neuron spiking activity to brain function, our understanding of the neural bases of perception and behavior depends on identifying information processing within neuronal circuits that operate over different spatial scales. Despite their importance as a canonical model of information flow, our understanding of whether and how such bidirectional hierarchically organized circuits contribute to auditory perception remains elusive, especially in primate models of hearing. The overarching goal of this Roi proposal is to fill this knowledge gap by identifying bidirectional, hierarchically organized circuits that contribute to auditory perception. We will use predictive coding (PC) -a highly influential theoretical framework for auditory statistical learning and perceptual inference- as an experimental lever to test whether its predictions are instantiated in cortical circuits of the ventral auditory pathway. We focus on the ventral pathway because, in rhesus monkeys, this pathway contributes causally to auditory perception. To test the circuit predictions of PC, we insert multi-contact electrode(s) orthogonally to the cortical laminae and record single-unit and neuronalpopulation activity in the core auditory cortex and in the ventral auditory pathway While recording, rhesus monkeys participate in passive listening paradigms and an active listening task. During passive listening, monkeys listen to sequences of auditory stimuli containing both predictable and unpredictable events, which allow probes of prediction-error and prediction-related activity. During active listening, monkeys implicitly learn to use auditory cues to predict the onset of an auditory target; this task is a direct behavioral assessment of the strength and temporal dynamics of auditory statistical learning. In Specific Aim #1, we identify the interlaminar circuitry underlying PC and its hierarchical organization along the ventral auditory pathway. In Specific Aim #2, we identify the feedforward and feedback circuitry between the prefrontal and auditory cortices that underlies PC. The findings from this proposal will provide invaluable insights into the functional organization of cortical circuits underlying PC and statistical learning along the ventral auditory pathway. In turn, these insights may lead to the formulation of testable hypotheses regarding the neurophysiological underpinnings of deficits in statistical learning that have been identified in clinical conditions such as autism and schizophrenia.