VOCAL PERCEPTION-PHYSIOLOGICAL & NEUROIMAGING APPROACHES

拟议的项目将启动一个新的，跨学科的 神经和知觉的个体发生和发育研究 声音交流的基本过程鉴于声乐的复杂性 语言和沟通，越来越明显， 对声音感知的理解只能通过 多学科的努力。本项目将汇集专家 从心理生物学，比较行为学， 脑电图，语言学，并将采用广泛的 方法论。最终目标是获得更清晰的 （1）宪法和环境的贡献 发声知觉的发展; 2）特定的神经机制 3）语音交际的特征 或者这些机制可以调谐到的声学刺激的属性， 以及4）这些感知机制的系统发育出现。的 拟议的工作是朝着这一方向迈出的关键一步， 研究幼年黑猩猩的知觉反应的发展， 自然和合成的声音刺激，通过结合使用 自主神经测量，脑事件相关电位（ERP），以及 磁共振成像（MRI）。对声音刺激的自主神经反应 将揭示对声音的功能反应的基本模式 刺激，ERP将提供神经事件的指数， 刺激加工此外，ERP措施，加上MRI 重建，将提供关键信息的大脑 实验刺激诱发的电活动分布。一 进一步了解非人类灵长类动物的声音处理可能不会 只会增强我们对这些物种社会交流的理解， 但可能有助于我们理解潜在的神经和 人类声音感知的感知机制。因此，信息 在这些研究中获得的成果可能为理解 正常和功能失调的语言的神经发育基础 人类儿童的感知能力。

The proposed project will initiate a novel, interdisciplinary investigation into the ontogeny and phylogeny of neural and perceptual processes underlying vocal communication. Given the complexities of vocal communication and language, it is becoming increasingly clear that an understanding of vocal perception can only be achieved through a multidisciplinary effort. The present project will bring together experts from the fields of psychobiology, comparative behavior, electroencephalography, and linguistics, and will employ a wide range of methodological approaches. The ultimate goals are to gain a clearer understanding of 1) the constitutional and environmental contributions to the development of vocal perception, 2) the specific neural mechanisms and perceptual processes underlying vocal communication, 3) the features or attributes of acoustic stimuli to which these mechanisms may be tuned, and 4) the phylogenetic emergence of these perceptual mechanisms. The proposed work, representing a critical step in this direction, will examine the development of perceptual reactions of infant chimpanzees to natural and synthetic vocal stimuli, through the combined use of autonomic measures, cerebral event-related potentials (ERPs), and Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI). Autonomic responses to vocal stimuli will reveal basic patterns of functional reaction to the acoustic stimuli, and ERPs will provide indices of the neural events underlying stimulus processing. In addition, the ERP measures, coupled with MRI reconstructions, will provide critical information on the cerebral distribution of electrical activity evoked by the experimental stimuli. A further understanding of vocal processing in non-human primates may not only enhance our appreciation of social communication in these species, but may contribute to our understanding of the underlying neural and perceptual mechanisms for vocal perception in humans. Thus, information gained in these studies may lay important groundwork for an understanding of the neurodevelopmental bases of normal and dysfunctional speech perception in human children.