Functional Architecture of Human Speech Motor Cortex

描述(由申请人提供) 摘要：说话是我们做的最复杂的动作之一，但我们几乎所有人都能毫不费力地学会说话。通过语言进行交流的能力通常被描述为人类行为的独特和决定性特征。尽管它很重要，但支配我们流利说话能力的基本神经机制仍然没有解决。这一建议解决了语言学、系统神经科学和生物医学工程的两个基本问题：1)人类语言运动皮质如何在功能上表示发音的协调运动？2)我们能否应用这一新知识来解码语言运动皮质，以便实际实施神经-假体通讯设备？我们的研究将极大地促进对言语运动皮质如何编码语音产生过程中发音的精确控制的理解，并确定这一控制系统是否可以被用于新的康复策略。三个潜在的影响领域是：语言的神经生物学，其结果将揭示言语运动控制的神经生理学机制；人类神经生理学，其获得的见解可能为分布的人群神经活动的多变量分析提供新的方法；以及翻译神经工程学，其结果将直接应用于语音神经假体设备的开发。我们建议研究语音运动皮质在辅音-元音音节产生和在干扰情况下的发音补偿过程中的功能组织。我们的方法利用安全、高密度、大规模的人类颅内电极记录，比目前的非侵入性神经成像方法有了显著的进步。要做到这一点，我们必须创新语音运动控制研究的新的、综合的方法。我们还将使用新颖的、尚未得到证实的分析，以实时“读出”语言运动皮质。鉴于这些关于言语产生的神经基础及其在神经假体中的战略应用的想法是新的，并且相对未经检验，我们提案中的风险水平大大高于传统的研究人员拨款。由于创伤、中风或疾病导致的深度瘫痪最令人虚弱的方面是丧失说话能力，这会导致严重的社会孤立。我们的研究集中在先前对人类颞叶言语感知的研究中获得的新方法。我们希望扩大我们的研究的影响，并在语音运动控制的神经生物学领域创新一个相关的、高度互补的领域。 公共卫生相关性：发现言语产生的神经机制对于理解包括沉默、口吃、言语失用和失语症在内的大量沟通障碍具有重大意义。此外，这项拟议的研究试图将关于言语神经控制的关键知识转化为一种实用的通信神经假体设备的算法，为患有这些致残神经疾病的患者提供即时、实际的好处。

DESCRIPTION (Provided by the applicant) Abstract: Speaking is one of the most complex actions that we perform, yet nearly all of us learn do it effortlessly. The ability to communicate through speech is often described as the unique and defining trait of human behavior. Despite its importance, the basic neural mechanisms that govern our ability to speak fluently remain unresolved. This proposal addresses two fundamental questions at the crossroads of linguistics, systems neuroscience, and biomedical engineering: 1) How are the coordinated movements of articulation functionally represented in human speech motor cortex? 2) Can we apply this new knowledge to decode speech motor cortex for the practical implementation of a neuro-prosthetic communication device? Our studies should greatly advance understanding of how the speech motor cortex encodes the precise control of articulation during speech production as well as determine whether this control system can be harnessed for novel rehabilitative strategies. Three potential areas of impact are: Neurobiology of Language, where results will shed light on neurophysiologic mechanisms of speech motor control; Human Neurophysiology, where insight gained may suggest novel methods for multivariate analysis of distributed population neural activity; and Translational NeuroEngineering, where results will apply directly to the development of a speech neuro-prosthetic device. We propose to investigate the functional organization of the speech motor cortex during consonant- vowel syllable production, and during articulatory compensation in the context of pertubation. Our methods utilizing safe, high-density, large-scale intracranial electrode recordings in humans represent a significant advancement over current noninvasive neuroimaging approaches. To accomplish this, we must innovate new, integrative approaches to speech motor control research. We will also employ novel and as of yet unproven analyses to 'read-out' speech motor cortex in real-time. Given that these ideas concerning the neural basis of speech production and its strategic application for neuroprosthetics are new and relatively untested, the level of risk in our proposal is substantially higher than in traditional investigator grants. The most debilitating aspect of profound paralysis due to trauma, stroke, or disease is loss of the ability to speak, which leads to profound social isolation. Our research focuses on novel methodologies gained in previous studies of speech perception in the human temporal lobe. We wish to broaden the impact of our research and innovate a related, and highly complementary field in the neurobiology of speech motor control. Public Health Relevance: Discovering the neural mechanisms of speech production has major implications for understanding a large number of communication disorders including mutism, stuttering, apraxia of speech, and aphasia. In addition, the proposed research seeks to translate critical knowledge on the neural control of speech to develop algorithms for a practical communication neuroprosthetic device to provide immediate, practical benefit to patients suffering from these disabling neurological conditions.