CRCNS: Integrative Information Processing

描述（由申请人提供）：整合来自各种来源的感觉信息以产生运动命令是人类行为的基础。多感觉和感觉运动整合障碍影响人类健康的许多方面，从社会互动和沟通到复杂环境中的运动。例如，将目光引导到声音的位置是一项复杂的信息处理任务，需要将听觉输入信号转换为运动命令来移动眼睛。这一过程在人类忽视患者中受损。在这里，我们提出了一种联合计算和实验的方法来阐明这个问题。具体来说，我们将研究声音定位信息是如何在灵长类动物上丘（SC）神经元的尖峰序列中编码的，并与听觉皮层、顶叶内皮层和旁脉网状结构等为上丘提供输入或接收输出的结构进行比较。我们将探讨刺激位置表征的参考框架（目标1）和编码格式（目标2）。特别感兴趣的将是视觉和听觉表征之间的关系：我们将定量评估这些表征之间的相似性。在Aim 3中，我们将考虑如何将这些信号“读出”为移动眼睛的命令。这一理论和实验目的将测试算法，这些算法可以产生准确的运动命令，以视觉和听觉目标，尽管这些信号在早期阶段的编码方式不同。这些目标将增强我们对从感觉输入到运动输出的神经处理的理解。这里研究的多感觉和感觉运动整合问题涉及各种神经系统疾病，如中风和其他类型的脑损伤引起的疾病。更好地理解从感觉输入到运动反应的转变将有助于识别感觉运动整合受损的神经系统疾病的病理生理基础。公共卫生相关性：涉及多感觉和感觉运动整合的问题与多种神经系统疾病有关，包括中风、忽视、帕金森病和自闭症。更好地了解不同形式的感觉输入如何转化为运动命令，将有助于我们确定这些疾病的病理生理基础。最终，利用一种感觉模式的信息来弥补另一种感觉模式的缺陷的新疗法可能会从这项研究中出现。

Description (provided by applicant): Integrating sensory information from a variety of sources to produce motor commands is fundamental to human behavior. Impairments in multisensory and sensorimotor integration impact numerous aspects of human health, ranging from social interactions and communication to movements in a complicated environment. For example, directing gaze to the location of a sound is a complex information processing task requiring the conversion of auditory input signals into motor commands to move the eyes. This process is impaired in human neglect patients. Here, we propose a joint computational and experimental approach to illuminate this problem. Specifically, we will investigate how information about sound location is encoded in the spike trains of neurons in primate superior colliculus (SC), in comparison to structures that provide inputs to or receive an output from the SC, such as auditory cortex, intraparietal cortex, and the paramedian reticular formation. We will explore the reference frame (Aim 1) and coding format (Aim 2) of the representation of stimulus location. Of particular interest will be the relationship between visual and auditory representations: we will evaluate quantitatively the similarity between these representations. In Aim 3, we will consider how these signals are "read out" into commands to move the eyes. This theoretical and experimental aim will test algorithms that could produce accurate motor commands to both visual and auditory targets despite differences in how these signals are encoded at earlier stages. These aims will enhance our understanding of neural processing from sensory input to motor output. The issues of multisensory and sensorimotor integration investigated here bear on a variety of neurological disorders such as those arising from stroke and other types of brain lesions. A better understanding of the transformation from sensory input to motor response will aid in identifying the pathophysiological substrates in neurological disorders with impaired sensorimotor integration. PUBLIC HEALTH RELEVANCE: Problems involving multisensory and sensorimotor integration are implicated in a variety of neurological disorders including stroke, neglect, Parkinson's disease, and autism. A better understanding of how sensory inputs of different modalities are transformed to produce motor commands will help us identify the pathophysiological substrates of these diseases. Ultimately, new therapies in which information from one sensory modality is used to compensate for deficiencies in another sensory modality may emerge from this research.