Auditory cortical tuning to communication sounds and genetic constraints on the vocal learning landscape

听觉皮层对交流声音的调节和声乐学习环境的遗传限制

• 批准号: 10607688
• 负责人: Jacob Aaron Edwards
• 金额: $ 4.68万
• 依托单位: COLUMBIA UNIV NEW YORK MORNINGSIDE
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 财政年份: 2022
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2022-09-01 至 2025-08-31
• 项目状态: 未结题
• 来源: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10607688
• 关键词: Acoustics; Adolescent; Adult; Affect; Animal Model; Animals; Auditory; Auditory Perceptual Disorders; Auditory area; Behavior; Behavioral; Behavioral Genetics; Birds; Carrying Capacities; Characteristics; Child; Code; Communication; Data; Data Analyses; Development; Disease; Electrophysiology (science); Fathers; Fostering; Foundations; Gene Mutation; Genes; Genetic; Genetic Identity; Goals; Grant; Hearing; Hearing problem; Heritability; Home; Human; Hybrids; Impairment; Infant; Institutes; Investigation; Journals; Language; Lead; Learning; Life; Life Experience; Measures; Morphology; Neurons; Outcome; Parents; Pattern; Perception; Process; Production; Publications; Research; Sensory; Shapes; Short-Term Memory; Single Parent; Social Interaction; Songbirds; Source; Speech; Speech Sound; Stimulus; Structure; Support System; Testing; Time; Training; Twin Studies; Universities; Voice; Work; Writing; autism spectrum disorder; awake; base; career; code development; communication behavior; developmental disease; experience; experimental study; genetic makeup; genome-wide; insight; language processing; learning ability; long term memory; neuroimaging; prevent; receptive field; relating to nervous system; response; sensory mechanism; sensory system; skills; social; sound; specific language impairment; speech processing; symposium; syntax; tutoring; vocal learning; vocalization

Project Summary Hearing and speech are fundamental to human communication. Before infants are 12 months old, they have learned the statistical regularities of speech sounds around them, which guides vocal learning throughout early life and permanently alters auditory coding in cortical neurons. Deficits in cortical speech coding are hallmarks of central auditory disorders such as auditory processing disorder (APD), specific language impairment (SLI), and autism spectrum disorder (ASD), which together affect an estimated 7% of children. These disorders are highly heritable and involve additive effects of multiple gene mutations. But, how genes constrain the landscape through which auditory coding unfolds over development is entirely unknown. The proposed aims test specific hypotheses regarding genetic constraints on auditory coding in songbirds, an animal model of speech processing. Like humans and unlike other animals, songbirds learn to sing by learning regularities in the vocal sounds of adults they interact with socially, and auditory cortical coding is permanently altered by experience. The songbird secondary auditory cortex, caudomedial nidopallium (NCM) is required for vocal learning, and contains neurons that are selectively tuned for acoustics of songs heard in early life. Preliminary behavioral data indicate that juveniles raised by birds of a different species learn the morphologic structure of their foster father’s song, but arrange their song with temporal structure typical of their genetic relatives, despite never having heard those songs. In contrast, hybrid birds born of mixed-species parents copy both the morphology and temporal structure of their father’s song, despite having only half the genetic makeup. These data lead me to hypothesize that separate subpopulations of NCM neurons selectively code for song morphology and temporal structure (Aim 1), and that temporal coding is constrained by genetics (Aim 2). I propose to analyze singing behavior in songbirds with differing genetic backgrounds and specific differences in singing behavior. I will compare electrophysiological responses of their NCM neurons to natural songs, songs with altered temporal structure, and synthetic sounds that systematically vary in acoustics and timing. I will use neural encoding analyses to measure which stimulus features drive responses, and decoding analyses to measure what information neurons carry about stimuli. Expected outcomes will provide fundamental insights into the genetic sources of limitations on cortical auditory coding capacity, and will inform mechanism-based approaches to treating central auditory disorders such as APD, SLI, and ASD. The training plan includes training in electrophysiology in awake animals, advanced neural data analyses, developing expertise in behavioral genetics, and writing for journal publications, grants, and conference presentations. Training will take place in the sponsor’s and co-sponsor’s labs, housed in Columbia University’s Zuckerman Institute. The Institute is home to world-renowned neuroscientists and state-of-the-art facilities.

项目摘要 听觉和言语是人类交流的基础。在婴儿12个月大之前， 他们已经学会了周围语音的统计学，这指导了整个声乐学习 并永久性地改变皮层神经元的听觉编码。皮质语音编码的缺陷是 中枢听觉障碍的标志，如听觉处理障碍（APD）、特定语言障碍、 自闭症障碍（SLI）和自闭症谱系障碍（ASD），这些疾病共同影响了约7%的儿童。 这些疾病是高度遗传的，涉及多个基因突变的累加效应。但是基因是如何 听觉编码在发育过程中的作用是完全未知的。的 提出的目的是测试关于鸣禽听觉编码的遗传限制的特定假设， 语音处理的动物模型。和人类一样，鸣禽通过学习来学会唱歌，而与其他动物不同 在成年人的声音中，他们与社会互动，听觉皮层编码是永久性的。 被经验改变。鸣禽的次级听觉皮层，尾内侧巢皮质（NCM）是必需的， 声音学习，并含有神经元，有选择地调整为声学的歌曲听到的早期生活。 初步的行为数据表明，由不同种类的鸟类饲养的幼鸟学习形态学。 但他们的歌曲安排与时间结构典型的遗传 我的朋友们，虽然他们从来没有听过这些歌。相比之下，杂交鸟类出生的混合物种的父母复制 无论是形态学还是时间结构，它们的父亲的歌曲，尽管只有一半的基因组成。 这些数据使我假设，不同的NCM神经元亚群选择性地编码 鸣唱形态和时间结构（目标1），时间编码受遗传学约束 (Aim 2）。我建议分析鸣禽的鸣叫行为，不同的遗传背景和具体的 歌唱行为的差异。我将比较他们的NCM神经元的电生理反应， 歌曲，改变了时间结构的歌曲，以及在声学上系统变化的合成声音， 时机我将使用神经编码分析来测量哪些刺激特征驱动反应， 分析以测量神经元携带有关刺激的信息。预期成果将提供 对皮质听觉编码能力限制的遗传来源的基本见解，并将告知 基于机制的方法来治疗中枢听觉障碍，如APD，SLI和ASD。培训 计划包括在清醒的动物中进行电生理学培训，先进的神经数据分析，开发 行为遗传学方面的专业知识，并为期刊出版物，赠款和会议演讲撰写文章。 培训将在位于哥伦比亚大学Zuckerman的申办者和共同申办者实验室进行 院该研究所是世界知名神经科学家和最先进设施的所在地。