Scene Analysis and Cross-Modal Interactions

描述(由申请人提供)：场景分析，或将复杂的感觉输入心理分割成外部物体的表征，是任何感觉系统的中心任务。只有当神经系统能够区分无关的背景噪音和重要的刺激源时，感官刺激才能告知行为，而且每个来源都必须与噪音和其他可能相关的来源区分开来。感官科学研究的目标是解释这项任务是如何完成的，并确定允许动物指导适当行为的刺激。本研究解决了振动刺激的两个重要探测器--内耳和鱼类密切相关的侧线系统--的这个问题。与大多数现有的这些系统的研究都是在安静的背景下进行的不同，该建议测量了在安静和噪声环境下检测空间离散信号和辨别信号源位置的能力。哺乳动物的听觉(在空气中)仅依赖于对压力波动的检测，但对大多数水生动物来说，检测振动源的感觉系统不仅提供了关于传播的压力波的信息，还提供了振动源周围声场的另外两个方面的信息：内耳惯性传感器检测到的加速度；以及侧线检测到的水运动模式。因此，这些传感器中的每一个都对相同的刺激做出反应，但检测到刺激的不同物理方面。这项研究将测试多感官相互作用在感知自然环境中的重要性，重点放在每个感官通道如何有助于感知来源位置。这项提议还将发展八侧肌系统(听力和侧线感觉)作为多感觉互补的模型，就像人类触摸依赖于纹理、压力和振动感觉通道之间的互补一样。多感觉处理是无处不在的，我们的实验方法的一个重要特征是使用自然刺激(振动偶极子)，这种刺激比扬声器更有效地刺激与听力相关的多个子通道。更好地理解多个感觉系统是如何结合在一起创造单一感知的，将导致在部分感觉丧失后更好的康复策略。

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): Scene analysis, or the mental parcellation of complex sensory input into representations of external objects, is the central task of any sensory system. Sensory stimuli can only inform behavior if the nervous system can distinguish between irrelevant background noise and important stimulus sources, and each source must be distinguished both from noise and from other possibly relevant sources. The goal of research in sensory science is to explain how this task is accomplished and to identify stimuli that allow an animal to direct appropriate behaviors. The present study addresses this problem for two important detectors of vibratory stimuli -- the inner ear and the closely related lateral line system of fishes. Unlike the majority of existing studies of these systems, which have been performed against a quiet background, this proposal measures the ability to detect spatially discrete signals and discriminate source location in both quiet and noisy settings. The mammalian sense of hearing (in air) relies only on the detection of pressure fluctuations, but for most aquatic animals, the sensory systems that detect vibratory sources provide information not only about the propagating pressure wave, but also two other aspects of the sound field surrounding a vibratory source: The acceleration detected by inertial sensors of the inner ear; and the pattern of water motions detected by the lateral line. Thus each of these sensors responds to the same stimuli, but detects different physical aspects of the stimulus. This study will test the importance of multisensory interaction in the perception of the natural environment, focusing on how each sensory channel contributes to a perception of source location. This proposal will also develop the octavolateralis system (hearing and lateral line senses) as a model of multisensory complementation, much like human touch relies on complementation between texture, pressure, and vibration sensory channels. Multisensory processing is ubiquitous and one important feature of our experimental approach is the use of natural stimuli (vibratory dipoles) that are more effective than loudspeakers for stimulating multiple hearing-related submodalities. An improved understanding of how multiple sensory systems combine to create unitary percepts will lead to better rehabilitation strategies following partial sensory loss.