Cortical dynamics of orientation and switching of non-spatial auditory attention

描述（由申请人提供）：在许多情况下，注意感兴趣的声源的能力对口头交流至关重要。当多个说话者同时说话时，能够引导和重新引导注意力是提取相关信息的必要条件。然而，参与引导听觉注意的神经处理还没有完全理解。此外，建立自上而下的注意力控制如何与自下而上的声源可区分性相互作用，为理解听力缺陷如何影响有效的认知控制提供了关键的第一步;理解这个问题可以为助听器和人工耳蜗植入物的改进编码算法的设计提供信息。以往的听觉和视觉神经影像学研究表明，在使用空间信息的注意力自愿转换中，有几个皮层结构参与其中，但使用非空间信息转换注意力的机制和动力学尚不清楚。我们将在行为学和神经影像学研究中，以执行心理声学任务的人类受试者为对象，研究基于非空间刺激特征的听觉注意定向和转换。为了捕获皮层动力学，我们将采用多模式成像方法，结合磁和脑电图（M-EEG）提供的时间分辨率，同时使用解剖磁共振成像（MRI）扫描共同约束皮层激活的定位。我们的第一个目标是执行一组心理物理实验，旨在研究成本的基础上切换注意力的非空间刺激功能作为一个功能的周边分离竞争的声音。我们的第二个目标是使用神经影像技术来研究基于非空间特征的注意转换的皮层动力学。通过结合心理物理学和神经影像学，我们将确定参与定向和听觉注意转换的皮层网络的时间动态。这项研究将使我们更好地了解听觉系统如何使我们在具有挑战性的声学环境中有效地进行沟通。

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): The ability to pay attention to sound sources of interest is critical for verbal communication in many situations. When multiple talkers are speaking simultaneously, being able to direct and redirect attention is necessary to extract relevant information. However, the neural processing involved in directing auditory attention is not fully understood. Moreover, establishing how top-down control of attention interacts with the bottom-up differentiability of sound sources provides a critical first step in understanding how hearing deficits can impact effective cognitive control; understanding this issue could inform the design of improved coding algorithms for hearing aids and cochlear implants. Previous neuroimaging studies in both audition and vision have implicated the involvement of several cortical structures in the voluntary switching of attention using spatial information, but the mechanisms and dynamics of switching attention using non-spatial information are unknown. We will study orientation and switching of auditory attention based on non-spatial stimulus features in behavioral and neuroimaging studies of human subjects performing psychoacoustical tasks. To capture cortical dynamics, we will employ a multimodal imaging approach, combining the temporal resolution provided by magneto- and electro-encephalography (M-EEG) while co-constraining the localization of cortical activation using anatomical magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scans. Our first aim is to perform a set of psychophysical experiments designed to examine the cost of switching attention based on non-spatial stimulus features as a function of the peripheral separability of competing sounds. Our second aim is to use neuroimaging techniques to examine the cortical dynamics of switching attention based on non-spatial features. By combining psychophysics and neuroimaging, we will determine the temporal dynamics of the cortical network involved in orientation and switching of auditory attention. This research will allow us to better understand how the auditory system enables us to communicate effectively in challenging acoustic environments.