Neural Processing of Complex Natural Sounds

描述（由申请人提供）：作为人类，我们在许多方面使用听觉信息。也许最重要的是，言语的产生和理解是我们彼此交流和互动的基本方式之一。鸣禽也使用鸣叫来相互交流，鸣叫学习是研究复杂鸣叫（如语音）产生和理解的基本神经元机制的一个有吸引力且被广泛使用的模型。为了充分理解歌曲系统（一组专门用于歌曲感知和产生的相互连接的核）是如何工作的，人们必须理解歌曲系统的听觉输入。然而，相对而言，我们对听觉处理知之甚少，特别是在连接听觉系统和歌声系统的核中对复杂声音（如歌声）的处理。我建议在两个这样的核：场L和cHV中检查复杂合成和真实歌曲的神经处理。第一个目的是利用常规方法和估计它们的谱时间感受野（strf）来表征这两个区域神经元的反应特性。将比较两种方法的结果。第二个目标是确定这两个区域的神经元是否对物种特有的歌声进行了调谐，如果是的话，是什么特定的特征。第三个目标是建立一个框架，以理解从麻醉鸟类的这两个区域获得的数据如何与在清醒鸟类中获得的数据联系起来。

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): As humans, we use auditory information in many ways. Perhaps most importantly, the production and comprehension of speech is one of the fundamental ways in which we communicate and interact with one another. Songbirds also use vocalizations to interact with one another, and song learning is an attractive and widely used model for studying the basic neuronal mechanisms involved in the production and comprehension of complex vocalizations such as speech. To fully understanding how the song system (a group of interconnected nuclei that are specialized for song perception and production) works, one must understand the auditory input to the song system. However, relatively little is known about auditory processing, particularly processing of complex sounds such as song, in the nuclei that link the auditory system with the song system. I propose to examine the neural processing of complex synthetic and real song in two such nuclei: Field L and cHV. The first aim is to characterize the response properties of neurons in these two areas using conventional methods and by estimating their spectral temporal receptive fields (STRFs). Results from the two methods will be compared. The second aim is to determine if neurons in these two areas are tuned to the species-specific song and, if so, to what specific features. The third aim is to build a framework for understanding how data obtained from these two areas in anesthetized birds can be linked with that obtained in awake birds.