Perception of Space by the Octavolateralis System: Sub-modality Interactions

描述(由申请人提供)：感官系统不断地受到 识别环境噪声背景中的信号源。感官科学的研究应该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。本研究对两个重要的振动源探测器--内耳和密切相关的鱼类侧线系统--解决了这个问题。这些密切相关的系统被提出作为多感觉处理的模型，因为哺乳动物的听觉(在空气中)只依赖于压力波动的检测，而大多数水生动物使用多个传感器来检测振动源。这些多个系统不仅提供有关传播的压力波的信息，还提供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场；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，并且每个传感器都有独特的传导机制(刺激能量转化为神经活动的方式)。这项研究测试了传导机制如何决定刺激相关方面的假设，这将增加我们对听觉系统中刺激传导的生物物理学的理解。此外，这项研究将确定多种感官系统在感知自然环境中的作用方式。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。我们实验方法的另一个重要特征是使用自然刺激(振动偶极子而不是扬声器)，这对多个与听力相关的子通道有效。这项研究的目的是记录和测试多个感官系统如何结合在一起，在现实世界中创造单一的感知。这项研究对于制定部分感觉丧失后的康复策略以及开发更好的感觉假体和自动化传感器具有重要意义。

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): Sensory systems are continually challenged by the task of recognizing sources within a background of ambient noise. Research in sensory science should explain how this task is accomplished and identify stimuli that allow an animal to direct appropriate behaviors. The present study addresses this problem for two important detectors of vibratory sources--the inner ear and the closely related lateral line system of fishes. These closely related systems are proposed as a model of multi-sensory processing, for while the mammalian sense of hearing (in air) relies only on the detection of pressure fluctuations, most aquatic animals use multiple sensors to detect vibratory sources. These multiple systems provide information not only about the propagating pressure wave, but also two other aspects of the sound field surrounding a vibratory source: The acceleration field 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, and each has unique transduction mechanisms (the ways stimulus energy is transformed to neural activity). This study test hypotheses of how transduction mechanisms dictate the relevant aspect of the stimulus, which will increase our understanding of the biophysics of stimulus transduction in auditory systems. Further, this study will determine the ways in which multiple sensory systems are brought to bear in the perception of the natural environment. 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. Another important feature of our experimental approach is the use of natural stimuli (vibratory dipoles rather than loudspeakers) that are effective for multiple hearing-related submodalities. This study is aimed at documenting and testing the ways multiple sensory systems combine to create unitary percepts in real-world situations. This research is important for the development of rehabilitation strategies following partial sensory loss and for the development of better sensory prostheses and automated sensors.