Population Coding of Species-Specific Vocalizations

描述(申请人提供)：听觉皮质的能力 识别和提取声学环境中的相关通信声音 包含其他无关声音的声音被称为听觉场景分析。这种能力对于任何健壮的通信系统都很重要 在一个现实的环境中运作。此应用程序的目标是 研究一种执行听觉场景分析的可能机制。这 可能的机制是神经元的同步活动，这可能有助于 发声从其他声音中分离出来。一大堆证据 提示同步性神经元活动是大脑皮层的一般特征 和丘脑网络。这项活动的职能作用仍在很大程度上 然而，这是个未知数。这些发现导致了一个假设，即同步 活动反映了将分布的神经元活动分组为共同的 综合刺激特征的表示。这一假说预言 位于多个位置的神经元之间应该发生同步相互作用 皮质区域。拟议研究的目的是扩大我们对 听觉皮质的同步性。为了实现这一目标，我们 将调查以下问题的发生、适当联系和刺激依赖 脑内和脑内同时发生的神经元活动的时间相关性 在猕猴听觉皮质的A1、R和AL区之间。同时进行 录音将分别从三个听觉皮质区域进行，而 绒猴以一种不受约束的方式与同伴进行口头互动。这将是 允许评估区域间的同步性及其时间动态，以及 它被表达的刺激条件。一种多信道无线系统 将构建以启用记录和分析活动的过程 无拘无束的动物体内分布的神经元组。这将提供一个 强大的工具，将被用来追踪处理特定物种的神经通路 发声。这将允许将数据自然地记录为动物 相互作用，这在受约束的动物身上是不可能的。一个 该系统的另一个好处是，它将提供一种研究方法 最佳刺激事先未知的较高皮质区域。

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): The ability of the auditory cortex to identify and extract relevant communication sounds in an acoustic environment that contains other irrelevant sounds is known as auditory scene analysis. This ability is important for any robust communication system that operates in a realistic environment. The goal of this application is to examine a possible mechanism by which auditory scene analysis is performed. This possible mechanism is the synchronous activity of neurons, which may facilitate the separation of vocalizations from other sounds. A large body of evidence indicates that synchronous neuronal activity is a general feature of cortical and thalamic networks. The functional role of this activity is still largely unknown, however. These findings have led to the hypothesis that synchronous activity reflects the grouping of distributed neuronal activities into a common representation of integrated stimulus features. This hypothesis predicts that synchronous interactions should occur between neurons located in multiple cortical areas. The objective of the proposed research is to expand our under-standing of synchronization in the auditory cortex. To achieve this goal, we will investigate the occurrence, proper ties, and stimulus dependence of temporal correlations of neuronal activity occurring simultaneously within and between auditory areas A1, R, and AL of marmoset auditory cortex. Simultaneous recordings will be made from each of the three auditory cortical areas while the marmoset vocally interacts with its peers in an unconstrained manner. This will permit an assessment of inter-areal synchrony, its temporal dynamics, and stimulus conditions under which it is expressed. A multichannel wireless system will be built to enable the process of recording and analyzing the activity of distributed groups of neurons in unrestrained animals. This will provide a powerful tool that will be used to trace neural pathways that process species-specific vocalizations. This will allow data to be recorded as animals naturally interact with each other, which is not possible with restrained animals. An additional benefit of the system is that is will provide a method of studying higher cortical areas where the optimal stimuli are not known a priori.