Delineation of auditory-motor population dynamics underlying sensorimotor integration in the birdsong system

项目总结 语言是一种闭环系统的行为，它需要大脑不断地感知和产生声音信号 实时的。目前的言语神经生物学理论认为，跨越听觉和听觉的神经群活动 运动区在语音产生过程中动态耦合，但语音感知依赖于听觉 单独处理。这一感觉运动整合假说将允许大脑利用即时听觉 反馈以微调引发演讲的运动动作。感觉运动的严格神经生物学测试 集成需要(1)能够控制和测量感觉运动行为的模型系统，(2) 在感觉和运动中同时进行大规模神经记录的实验技术 以及(3)开发人口规模分析的计算能力，以评估 单个神经元的分布动力学。这一建议提出了试验和试验的协同组合 符合这些要求的分析：听觉和运动的同时记录和扰动 欧洲八哥在鸟鸣产生和感知过程中的区域与新颖的拓扑结构相结合 数据分析(TDA)，以揭示实例化感觉运动整合的总体机制。欧洲人 八哥是了解支持感觉运动的神经生物学机制的理想有机体。 集成；它们产生并依赖于复杂的语音通信信号，并在 侵入性电生理学研究。这项提案的首要目标是调查如何分配 神经元群体活动在闭合环行为过程中整合了听觉和运动信息--特别是 伯德桑。这一建议的中心假设是听觉和运动人群的活动是独一无二的 再加上鸟儿唱歌的时候，而不是鸟儿听歌声的时候。这一假设将通过 以下是具体目标：在目标1中，同时记录鸟类歌唱时的听觉和运动区 听歌将使人们能够了解人口活动是如何跨地区协调的。在目标2中， 当鸟类鸣叫时，来自听觉区域的录音同时伴有运动区的光遗传抑制 听歌将使人们能够描述地区之间的因果互动。将使用新的TDA来量化 跨区域和跨时间的神经活动的协调，使人们能够机械性地洞察 种群动态结构歌唱行为。对比听觉和运动区的人群活动 在歌唱和聆听之间，将允许识别感官运动整合所独有的动力。在……里面 从近期来看，这一建议提供了一种对神经元群体如何协调到 在鸣禽系统中执行感应器马达集成。从长远来看，这种方法将使未来 研究大脑网络动力学如何支持语音等闭环系统行为。归根结底，这 建议将能够培训和发展具有以下特点的独特和协同的技能组合 有可能为感觉运动整合的神经生物学机制提供新的见解。

PROJECT SUMMARY Speech is a closed-loop behavior which requires the brain to continuously perceive and produce acoustic signals in real time. Current neurobiological theories of speech posit that neural population activity across auditory and motor regions is dynamically coupled during speech production, but that speech perception relies on auditory processing alone. This sensorimotor integration hypothesis would allow the brain to exploit immediate auditory feedback to fine-tune the motor actions that elicit speech. Rigorous neurobiological tests of sensorimotor integration require (1) a model system that enables the control and measurement of sensorimotor behaviors, (2) the experimental expertise to conduct large-scale neural recordings simultaneously in sensory and motor regions, and (3) the computational abilities to develop population scale analyses that assess coordination in the distributed dynamics of individual neurons. This proposal presents a synergistic combination of experiments and analyses that meet these requirements: Simultaneous recordings and perturbations of both auditory and motor regions in European starlings during birdsong production and perception are combined with novel topological data analyses (TDA) to uncover the population mechanisms that instantiate sensorimotor integration. European starlings are an ideal organism for understanding neurobiological mechanisms that support sensorimotor integration; they produce and rely on complex vocal communication signals and have a long history of use in invasive electrophysiology studies. The overarching goal of this proposal is to investigate how distributed neuronal population activity integrates auditory and motor information during closed-loop behavior—specifically birdsong. The central hypothesis of this proposal is that auditory and motor population activity is uniquely coupled when birds sing, in contrast to when birds listen to song. This hypothesis will be tested through the following specific aims: In Aim 1, simultaneously recording auditory and motor regions while birds sing and listen to song will enable an understanding of how population activity is coordinated across regions. In Aim 2, recordings from auditory regions with concurrent optogenetic inhibition of motor regions while birds sing and listen to song will enable a delineation of causal interactions between regions. Novel TDA will be used to quantify the coordination of neural activity across regions and through time, enabling mechanistic insight into how population dynamics structure song behavior. Contrasting population activity across auditory and motor areas between singing and listening will allow for the identification of dynamics unique to sensorimotor integration. In the near-term, this proposal provides a mechanistic understanding of how neuronal populations coordinate to perform sensorimotor integration in the songbird system. In the long-term, this approach will enable future research into how brain network dynamics support closed-loop behaviors, such as speech. Ultimately, this proposal will enable the training and development of a unique and synergistic combination of skills that has the potential to provide novel insight into the neurobiological mechanisms of sensorimotor integration.