Information Processing in the Inferior Colliculus

描述（由申请人提供）：拟开展的工作研究了下丘中央核（CNIC）中声音信息的表征。这种结构接收一系列复杂的输入，其中包含关于进入耳朵的声音的不同类型的信息。脑干中多达20-30个独立的处理中心向CNIC提供输入。这些信息包括声音是什么，是谁或什么产生的，以及声源所在的位置。所有这些信息都必须经过CNIC才能到达皮层，因此CNIC神经元组装这些不同表征的方式对于理解听觉处理至关重要。建议进行三项调查。首先，一种新的统计方法将被应用于构建CNIC中神经元感受野的通用模型。这些模型将允许理解声音的身份及其信息内容的表示方式。其次，将研究在CNIC的神经元中结合声音定位的三种线索的方式。这将为神经元编码刺激的多个方面的方式提供见解，这是大脑所有部分的共同问题。第三，将研究放大声音动态特性的电路。这些元素使我们能够处理具有多个声源的复杂声学环境，特别是分离产生重叠声音的源的问题。

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): The proposed work investigates the representation of information about sound in the central nucleus of the inferior colliculus (CNIC). This structure receives a complex array of inputs containing different kinds of information about the sounds coming into the ears. As many as 20-30 separate processing centers in the brainstem contribute inputs to the CNIC. These include information about what the sound is, who or what produced it, and where the source is located. All of this information must pass through the CNIC on the way to the cortex, so the way in which the neurons of the CNIC assemble these diverse representations is essential to understanding auditory processing. Three investigations are proposed. First, a new statistical method will be applied to construct generic models of the receptive fields of neurons in CNIC. These models will allow understanding of the way the identity of sounds and their information content is represented. Second, the way in which the three cues for sound localization are combined in neurons of the CNIC will be studied. This will provide insights into the way in which neurons encode multiple aspects of stimuli, a common problem in all parts of the brain. Third, the circuits that amplify dynamic features of sound will be studied. These elements allow us to deal with complex acoustic environments with multiple sound sources, especially with the problem of separating sources that produce overlapping sounds.