The Neural Organization of Tool Use Actions in Humans

描述(申请人提供)：作为现代人，我们的大量日常活动(如做饭、吃饭、写作、刷牙等)熟练使用手工工具和器皿。因此，危害这些行为的脑损伤或疾病的后果往往是毁灭性的。然而，令人惊讶的是，人们对这些能力的神经机制知之甚少。这个项目的主要目标是促进我们对这些神经机制及其在日常生活活动(ADL)中所起作用的理解。快速、事件相关的功能磁共振成像(FMRI)被用来实现三个特定的目标，这些目标来自人类和非人类灵长类动物的工具使用的神经可信模型：1)确定手动抓取和机械“手”抓取所涉及的神经表征之间的关系，并指定这些关系如何随经验变化。2)根据物体的三维结构特性与其功能和用途的知识来确定抓取物体所涉及的神经基质。3)确定日常单手和双手工具使用技能的大脑组织，以及它们与不涉及工具的成熟技能的关系。这些研究涉及日常人类行为的一个基本方面，即工具的使用，而这一方面在主流心理学和神经科学文献中几乎被忽视了。我们的技术有效地区分了行动组织(计划)和执行中涉及的流程。重点是确定可靠的个体差异的神经表征以及群体数据中的共同特征。包括惯用左手和惯用右手的参与者。左撇子在行为和功能成像研究中经常被忽视，然而他们获得和表现手工技能的方式可能在理论和临床上都与右撇子不同。这项工作的结果将与了解和改进涉及工具和其他可操作物体的损害/疾病(ADL)的康复相关，包括：脑血管意外(CVA)、脊髓损伤、多发性硬化症(MS)和帕金森病(PD)。研究结果也与认知神经假体和其他辅助技术的发展有关。

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): As modern humans, a vast number of our daily activities (e.g., cooking and eating, writing, brushing teeth, etc.) involve the skillful use of manual tools and utensils. Thus, the consequences of brain injuries or diseases that compromise these behaviors are often devastating. Yet, strikingly little is known about the neural mechanisms responsible for these abilities. The overarching goal of this project is to advance our understanding of these neural mechanisms and the roles they play in activities of daily living (ADLs). Rapid, event-related, functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) is used to achieve three specific aims that arise from a neurally-plausible model of tool use in human and non-human primates: 1) determine the relationship between neural representations involved in manual prehension versus grasping with a mechanical "hand," and specify how these change with experience. 2) Determine the neural substrates involved in grasping objects on the basis of their 3-D structural properties versus knowledge of their functions and uses. 3) Determine the cerebral organization of everyday uni- and bi-manual tool use skills and their relationship to well-established skills that do not involve tools. These studies address a fundamental aspect of everyday human behavior, tool use, that has been all but overlooked in the mainstream psychological and neuroscience literatures. Our techniques distinguish effectively between processes involved in action organization (planning) versus execution. Emphasis is placed on identifying reliable individual differences in neural representations as well as common features in group data. Left-handed as well as right-handed participants are included. Left-handers are often neglected in behavioral and functional imaging research, yet the way that they acquire and represent manual skills may differ from right-handers in ways that are of both theoretical and clinical importance. Results of this work will have relevance to understanding and improving the rehabilitation of injuries/diseases that compromise (ADLs) involving tools and other manipulable objects, including: Cerebral Vascular Accidents (CVAs), spinal cord injuries, Multiple Sclerosis (MS), and Parkinson's Disease (PD). Results are also relevant to the development of cognitive neuroprostheses and other assistive technologies.