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 听力和言语是人类交流的基础。在婴儿12个月大之前，他们 已经学习了周围语音的统计规律，这引导了整个过程的声音学习 早期生活，并永久改变皮质神经元中的听觉编码。皮质语音编码的缺陷是 中央听觉疾病的标志，例如听觉处理障碍（APD），特定语言 损伤（SLI）和自闭症谱系障碍（ASD），估计有7％的儿童。 这些疾病是高度遗传的，并且涉及多个基因突变的加性作用。但是，基因 限制听觉编码在开发上展开的景观完全未知。这 拟议的目的是测试有关在鸣鸟中对听觉编码的遗传约束的特定假设，这是一种 语音处理的动物模型。像人类一样，与其他动物不同，歌手学会通过学习唱歌 他们在社交上与成人互动的成年人声音的规律性，并且听觉皮层编码是永久的 随着经验而改变。鸣禽二级听觉皮层，尾niDopallium（NCM）是必需的 声带学习，并包含神经元，这些神经元被选择性地调整为早年听到的歌曲的声学。 初步行为数据表明，不同物种的鸟类饲养的少年学会了形态学 他们寄养父亲的歌的结构，但用典型的遗传结构来安排他们的歌 亲戚，目的地从未听过这些歌曲。相反，由混合物种父母出生的杂种鸟复制 父亲歌曲的形态和临时结构，多皮特只有一半的基因组成。 这些数据使我假设NCM神经元的单独亚群选择性地代码 歌曲的形态和临时结构（AIM 1），该临时编码受遗传学的约束 （目标2）。我建议分析具有区分遗传背景和特定的鸣禽中的唱歌行为 歌唱行为的差异。我将将其NCM神经元的电生理反应与天然进行比较 歌曲，临时结构改变的歌曲以及在声学和声音上有所不同的合成声音 定时。我将使用神经编码分析来测量哪些刺激具有驱动反应和解码 分析以测量哪些信息神经元有关刺激。预期的结果将提供 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央听觉疾病，例如APD，SLI和ASD。培训 计划包括在清醒动物中进行电生理学的培训，高级神经数据分析，发展 行为遗传学以及为期刊出版物，赠款和会议演讲写作方面的专业知识。 培训将在哥伦比亚大学的Zuckerman举行的赞助商和共同赞助商的实验室中进行 研究所。该研究所拥有世界知名的神经科学家和最先进的设施。