Advanced Assessment of Auditory-Vocal Affect in Autism with Speech and Music

人们常说，人类是视觉动物，但毫无疑问，我们超凡的社交能力 交流本质上是听觉-发声的。重要的是，这种能力不仅限于会话演讲，而且 也被用在更抽象的声音方面，包括传教、诗歌、重复的圣歌和音乐。 这种演讲-音乐连续体的一个核心特征是通过声音传达情感的能力--这是通过 一种听觉-发声功能，已经进化为条件反射地将情感归因于类似声音的刺激。一种系统，用于 处理听觉-声音情感对人类的社会行为至关重要：它的精炼预示着社会流畅性，因为 善于分享情感的个体倾向于更多地融入社会；其损害也预示着 社会缺陷，例如自闭症谱系障碍(ASD)、精神分裂症和严重抑郁障碍。尽管 它在社会行为中的中心作用，我们缺乏对作为听觉处理基础的神经生物学的洞察- 发声影响以及为什么它不能在突出的大脑障碍中正常运作。这种知识上的差距是直接的 与缺乏心理测量学上可靠、客观和有效的测试有关，即，对 听觉-发声的影响。因此，这项建议的目标1是开发一个金标准的听觉-发声测试 影响(“TAVA”)并收集大规模规范数据来支持它。为此，我将：(A)使用以下组合 精心设计的语音和音乐刺激，克服了之前测试面临的障碍，并挑逗分开 从听觉-发声情感处理的核心障碍出发的语言处理问题；及(B)部署 塔瓦在线。目的2测试TAVA是否能准确地区分成人ASD和神经性成人ASD 在一项对照实验室研究中。Aim 3测试单次鼻腔给药催产素与 安慰剂可以在ASD的TAVA表现上“摇动针”，这一点在以前的情感研究中有所涉及 处理和ASD。我的主要假设是，听觉-发声情感功能障碍是一种 定义自闭症的核心社会缺陷的基本但定义不明确的方面。我的理由是赤字 在言语情感知觉中，在ASD中反复描述，但与视觉-面部情感相比，仍然存在 没有被审问，也很难被理解。如果我成功了，我将定义一个新的评估标准 听觉-发声影响功能，适合作为ASD的行为表型和客观评估 具体地说，在更广泛的临床研究中。此外，我的研究结果将为以后的工作奠定基础 对听觉-发声影响的神经生物学基础的研究有望确定它们对 心理健康中的社会功能和功能障碍。最后，这里概述的研究目标与 填补了我基础科学背景的关键空白的培训计划。具体地说，我寻求在以下方面获得技能 神经内分泌学、临床研究和先进的统计方法，使我能够应用我的 听觉-声音交流的跨学科背景--专注于语音、音乐和情感 在我向研究独立性过渡的过程中，心理健康研究中的相关问题。

It is often said that humans are visual animals, but there is little doubt that our exceptional capacity for social communication is auditory-vocal in nature. Importantly, this capacity is not limited to conversational speech, but is also utilized in more abstract aspects of sound ranging over proselytizing, poetry, repetitive chant, and music. A core feature of this speech-music continuum is the ability to convey affect through sound – made possible by an auditory-vocal functionality that has evolved to reflexively attribute affect to voice-like stimuli. A system for processing auditory-vocal affect is critical to human social behavior: its refinement predicts social fluency, as individuals who are skilled at sharing in affect tend to be more socially integrated; and its impairment predicts social deficits, e.g., in autism spectrum disorder (ASD), schizophrenia, and major depressive disorder. Despite its central role in social behavior, we lack insight into the neurobiology that underlies the processing of auditory- vocal affect and why it fails to operate normally in prominent brain disorders. This gap in knowledge is directly related to the absence of a psychometrically robust, objective, and efficient assay, i.e., a “gold standard” test of Auditory-Vocal Affect. Accordingly, Aim 1 of this proposal is to develop a gold standard Test of Auditory-Vocal Affect (the “TAVA”) and collect large-scale normative data to support it. To do so I will: (a) use a combination of carefully designed speech and music stimuli to overcome obstacles faced by previous tests and tease apart issues of language processing from a core impairment in auditory-vocal affect processing; and (b) deploy the TAVA online. Aim 2 tests whether the TAVA can accurately discriminate adults with ASD from neurotypical adults in a controlled laboratory study. And Aim 3 tests whether a single-dose of intranasally administered oxytocin vs. placebo can “move the needle” on TAVA performance in ASD, as implicated in previous studies of affect processing and ASD. My overarching hypothesis is that impairment in auditory-vocal affect functionality is a fundamental but poorly defined dimension of the core social deficits that define ASD. My rationale is that deficits in the perception of affect in speech are repeatedly described in ASD but, in contrast to visuo-facial affect, remain under-interrogated and poorly understood. If I am successful, I will have defined a new standard for assessing auditory-vocal affect functionality, suitable for behavioral phenotyping and as an objective assessment in ASD specifically and in clinical research more generally. Furthermore, my results will provide a foundation for future investigations into the neurobiological bases of auditory-vocal affect that promises to define their contribution to social function and dysfunction in mental health. Finally, the research goals outlined here synergize with a training plan that fills critical gaps in my basic science background. Specifically, I seek to acquire skills in neuroendocrinology, clinical research, and advanced statistical methods that will allow me to apply my interdisciplinary background in auditory-vocal communication – focused on speech, music, and affect – to relevant problems in mental health research as I transition to research independence.