Role of Avian Song Nucleus HV c/ Categorical Perception

描述（由申请人提供）：这项对鸣禽鸣叫感知的研究将有助于理解人类语言感知的神经机制。这些实验的重点是听觉神经元（HVc核）在类别感知（CP）中的作用，其中歌曲刺激的连续差异被视为离散类别的实例。先前的行为测试已经揭示了鸟鸣引起沼泽麻雀CP的特征，这些特征将在本研究中得到复制。在第一个实验中，HVc神经元的细胞内记录将揭示单个神经元是否对歌曲刺激表达分类反应。如果分类反应明显，比较阈下反应和动作电位反应将揭示分类边界是在HVc还是在HVc的突触前位点建立。在第二个实验中，清醒和自由行为的鸟类的HVc神经元的细胞外记录将揭示对歌曲刺激的分类行为反应是否伴随着HVc神经元的分类反应。这些数据将为HVc神经元在听觉信号感知中的作用提供新的见解，并可能提示人类语言感知的机制特征。

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): This study of song perception by songbirds will contribute to the long-term goal of understanding neural mechanisms underlying human perception of speech. The focus of these experiments is the role of auditory neurons (HVc nucleus) in categorical perception (CP), wherein continuous differences in song stimuli are perceived as instances of discrete categories. Previous behavioral tests have revealed features of birdsong that evoke CP in swamp sparrows, and those features will be duplicated in this study. In the first experiment, intracellular recordings of HVc neurons will reveal whether individual neurons express categorical responses to song stimuli. If categorical responses are evident, comparison of subthreshold and action potential responses will reveal whether categorical boundaries are established in HVc or in sites presynaptic to HVc. In a second experiment, extracellular recordings of HVc neurons in awake and freely behaving birds will reveal whether categorical behavioral responses to song stimuli are accompanied by categorical responses of HVc neurons. These data will provide new insight into the role of HVc neurons in the perception of auditory signals and may suggest mechanistic features of human perception of speech.