Investigating language with multi-voxel pattern analysis

描述（由申请人提供）：我们的目标是应用一个重要的新的功能性神经成像技术，称为多体素模式分析，语音处理的研究。多体素模式分析侧重于大脑激活的分布式模式，如功能性磁共振成像（fMRI）所测量的，应用模式分析技术来确定这些模式可能携带的信息。该技术在视觉处理中的应用已经产生了戏剧性的结果，允许令人惊讶的细粒度的皮层状态之间的歧视，并访问分布式神经表征的相似性结构。我们的初步研究表明，多体素模式分析也可能是一个强大的工具，用于研究语言的神经基础，提供访问项目特定的语音表示及其相似性关系。这项工作的目的是将我们建立的方法应用于语音加工的几个关键问题。首先，我们的目标是解决的问题，音素表示，寻求确认的作用，几个皮层区域表示语音信息。在这些领域内，我们建议调查音素是如何表示的，检查的相似性结构的语音表示和相关的声学和发音功能的个别音素。这部分的工作也将调查的神经相关的类别结构和语音-面孔整合的音素知觉，并测试在音素表征的上下文敏感性。该项目的第二个主要目标是使用多体素模式分析，以调查在语音处理显示赤字的人群，特别是发展性阅读障碍的个人之间的语音的神经表示。最后一个目标是跟踪经验引起的变化，在正常和诵读困难的个人在皮质表示的语音。这项研究旨在阐明正常和无序语言处理的基本方面，并开创新方法在语言神经基础研究中的应用。

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): We aim to apply an important new functional neuroimaging technique, known as multi-voxel pattern analysis, to the study of phonological processing. Multi-voxel pattern analysis focuses on distributed patterns of brain activation, as measured with functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI), applying pattern analytic techniques to determine the information these patterns may carry. Applications of the technique to visual processing have produced dramatic results, allowing surprisingly fine-grained discriminations among cortical states, and accessing the similarity structure of distributed neural representations. Our preliminary research indicates that multi-voxel pattern analysis may also represent a powerful tool for studying the neural basis of language, affording access to item-specific phonological representations and their similarity relations. The objective of the proposed work is to apply our established approach to several key issues concerning phonological processing. First, we aim to address the question of where phonemes are represented, seeking to confirm the role of several cortical regions in representing phonological information. Within these areas, we propose to investigate how phonemes are represented, examining the similarity structure of phonological representations and relating this to the acoustic and articulatory features of individual phonemes. This portion of the work will also investigate the neural correlates of categorical structure and voice-face integration in phoneme perception, and test for context-sensitivity in phoneme representation. A second major goal of the project is to use multi-voxel pattern analysis to investigate the neural representation of phonology in populations displaying deficits in phonological processing, and in particular among individuals with developmental dyslexia. A final aim is to track experience-induced changes in cortical representations of phonology, in both normal and dyslexic individuals. The proposed research is intended to shed light on basic aspects of normal and disordered language processing, as well as to pioneer the application of new methods for studying the neural basis of language.