Multisensory Processing: Plasticity & Accommodation to a Sensory Prosthesis

该研究计划的目标是调查终生的行为和神经后果 感觉剥夺，并将这些后果与诱导神经正常功能的潜力相关 植入感觉神经假体后的回路。指导这项研究的基本假设 计划是：终生感觉神经性听力障碍对大脑产生深刻的多感官影响 组织和功能；因此，在成年时接受人工耳蜗植入以诱导听力的结果 将取决于多感官皮质的可塑性和加工。有耳蜗性耳聋的成年人 House诊所的植入患者将参加使用行为、电生理 以及功能磁共振成像(FMRI)方法来研究多感觉(视觉、振动触觉、 和听觉)处理在人工耳蜗术前和术后。言语与非言语多感官 将对感知效果进行调查。对照组将是听力正常的成年人。实验将调查 (1)人工耳蜗术前、术后用行为学方法进行视听言语知觉； 之前使用功能磁共振成像对振动触觉、视觉和视觉-触觉语音刺激作出反应的皮质活动 植入；(3)植入后的视听和纯听觉口语学习，使用 行为训练范式；(4)多感官视听和视觉触觉刺激检测 人工耳蜗术后，利用脑电(EEG)数据进行事件相关电位(ERPs)检测； 以及(5)使用行为学、功能磁共振成像技术检测人工耳蜗植入前后的多感觉事件知觉 ERP数据。将使用具有解剖学和功能磁共振约束的ERP数据建模方法 为了获得关于大脑皮层活动的高空间和时间分辨率数据，并且还克服了 人工耳蜗术后磁共振成像应用的局限性。全面的主题和设备数据将 从患者那里获得，结合对实验数据的统计分析使用，也可以 建立一个关于这一临床人群的标准化数据库。与公共卫生的相关性：本项目致力于 关于成人神经可塑性的基本问题。它明确地测试了感官的多感官方法 训练可能会导致其他感官障碍，如失明。该项目集成了基本的 科学与正在进行的临床实践和研究生培训。

The goals of this research program are to investigate behavioral and neural consequences of lifelong sensory deprivation and relate those consequences to the potential to induce normal function in neural circuits following implantation of a sensory prosthesis. The fundamental hypotheses guiding the research plan are that: Lifelong sensorineural hearing impairment exerts profound multisensory effects on brain organization and function; Thus, the outcome of receiving a cochlear implant to induce hearing in adulthood will depend on multisensory cortical plasticity and processing. Prelingually deaf adults who are cochlear implant patients at the House Clinic will be enrolled in experiments that use behavioral, electrophysiological and functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) methods to investigate multisensory (visual, vibrotactile, and auditory) processing before and after cochlear implantation. Speech and non-speech multisensory perceptual effects will be investigated. Controls will be normal-hearing adults. Experiments will investigate (1) audiovisual speech perception using behavioral methods at pre- and post-cochlear implantation; (2) Cortical activity in response to vibrotactile, visual, and visual-tactile speech stimuli, using fMRI before implantation; (3) Audiovisual versus auditory-only spoken word learning following implantation, using a behavioral training paradigm; (4) Multisensory audiovisual and visual-tactile stimulus detection before and after cochlear implantation, using event-related potentials (ERPs) from electroencephalographic (EEG) data; and (5) Multisensory event perception before and after cochlear implantation using behavioral, fMRI, and ERP data. Modeling methods for ERP data with constraints from anatomical and functional MRI will be used in order to achieve high spatial and temporal resolution data on cortical activity, and also to overcome limitations on the use of MRI following cochlear implantation. Comprehensive subject and device data will be obtained from patients to be used in conjunction with statistical analyses on experimental data and also to create a normative database on this clinical population. Relevance to Public Health: This project addresses fundamental questions about neural plasticity in adults. It explicitly tests a multisensory approach to sensory training that could generalize to other sensory disorders such as blindness. The project integrates basic science with ongoing clinical practice and with graduate student training.