Neurophysiological Correlates of Information Processing

拟议的研究的广泛目标是提供一个更详细的了解刺激驱动的过程，有助于听觉感知。 我们将使用事件相关电位（ERP）的高时间分辨率与行为方法相结合，在各种实验条件下比较刺激驱动的听觉过程的结果与对相同声音的注意处理所产生的感知。 这将使我们能够评估感官输入和行为反应之间的处理阶段。该提案有三个主要目标。 一个是确定无人值守的声学信息的处理程度。四个实验都是为了达到这个目的。 其中一个测试的是对无人值守的声音的处理能力。 另一个决定了听觉特征整合的过程是否需要注意。 第三个测试的假设，即听觉系统组织信息从多个无人值守的来源时，注意力被引导到一个单一的声源。 第四部分探讨了刺激情境对听觉事件形成的影响。 第二个目标是了解注意力和刺激驱动的过程如何相互作用。 有两个实验达到了这个目的。 一个研究知觉如何与刺激驱动的听觉事件形成相关，另一个研究注意力在听觉流形成中的作用。第三个目的是研究注意对早期感觉分组过程的影响。 一个实验将测试自上而下的处理可以修改刺激驱动的声音组织的假设。 中枢听觉处理的缺陷被认为在许多认知障碍中起关键作用（例如，自闭症或诵读困难）。 使用电生理学测量，结合行为方法，描绘刺激驱动的过程，有助于听觉感知，可以帮助推进我们的理解受损的处理，这是必不可少的开发康复治疗。 此外，由于不需要受试者的反应来获得ERP组件（如N1和MMN），这种方法有可能成为一个重要的非侵入性工具，用于诊断中枢听觉处理缺陷，导致认知受损。

The broad objective of the proposed research is to provide a more detailed understanding of the stimulus-driven processes that contribute to auditory perception. We will use the high temporal resolution of event-related potentials (ERPs) in conjunction with behavioral methods to compare the outcome of stimulus-driven auditory processes with the perception resulting from attentive processing of the same sounds, across various experimental conditions. This will allow us to evaluate the processing stages between sensory input and behavioral response. There are three main aims of the proposal. One is to determine the extent of processing of unattended acoustic information. Four experiments address this aim. One tests the processing capacity for unattended sounds. Another determines whether the process of auditory feature integration requires attention. A third tests the hypothesis that the auditory system organizes information from multiple unattended sources when attention is directed to a single acoustic source. The fourth investigates stimulus context effects on auditory event formation. A second aim is to understand how attention and stimulus-driven processes interact. Two experiments address this aim. One investigates how perception relates to stimulus-driven auditory event formation and another, the role of attention in auditory stream formation. The third aim is to investigate effects of attention on early sensory grouping processes. One experiment will test the hypothesis that top-down processing can modify the stimulus- driven sound organization. Deficits in central auditory processing are thought to play a key role in many cognitive disorders (e.g., autism or dyslexia). Using electrophysiological measures, in conjunction with behavioral methods, to delineate the stimulus-driven processes that contribute to auditory perception can help advance our understanding of impaired processing, which is essential for developing rehabilitative treatments. Furthermore, because subject response is not needed for obtaining the ERP components (such as N1 and MMN), this methodology has the potential to be an important non-invasive tool for diagnosis of central auditory processing deficits that contribute to impaired cognition.