Perception-action coupling in infancy.

识别和理解他人的行为和意图的能力是模仿、运动学习和社会认知发展的关键先决条件。婴儿如何理解和代表他人的行为？哪些大脑系统参与处理这些信息，这些系统是如何发展的？这些都是发展认知神经科学的基本问题。在过去的几年里，越来越多的证据表明，在表演一个动作时激活的大脑网络在观察同一动作时也会被激活。目前，我们对这些网络的动态以及学习和经验对这些网络发展的作用的理解是初步的。我的研究项目的长期目标是确定行动感知网络在生命的第一年是如何发展的，并评估这种发展是否是同一时期大脑结构和功能连接变化的结果。我建议在第一年婴儿快速获得和完善运动技能的过程中，在多个时间点绘制动作感知网络的结构和功能连接，并量化从一个时间段到下一个时间段的变化，以了解网络的组织。我也将对动作执行网络做同样的研究，以了解这个网络如何影响动作感知系统。直到最近，由于大脑成像技术的限制，这将是一个非常困难的命题。然而，成像技术的进步，如儿科MRI的出现，现在使这成为可能。在接下来的五年里，我的具体短期目标是：·在生命的第一年，绘制与动作感知和动作执行网络相关的大脑区域之间的功能连接，量化同期观察到的运动发育的变化，并调查这两个网络是否相互作用。绘制生命第一年期间大脑结构的发育图，并特别关注感觉运动白色物质轨迹，量化第一年期间支持动作感知和动作执行网络的基础结构连接的变化。·确定动作-知觉和动作-执行网络的结构连接性和功能关联之间的关系，并研究结构和功能之间的关系如何在生命的第一年演变。这项研究的结果将填补该领域的一个关键空白，为这些过程的发展提供新的见解和方向。具体而言，理解和描述运动体验与大脑结构和功能之间的关系将为大脑网络的时空演变提供新的重要见解，并将为理解发育障碍提供模板。此外，我与发展神经科学和工程领域的研究人员的合作将导致新的方法，允许表征涉及感知和行动的潜在网络动态和连接，并为学员提供独特的机会。

The ability to recognize and understand the actions and intentions of others is a critical prerequisite for the development of imitation, motor learning and social cognition. How do infants understand and represent the actions of others? What brain systems are involved in processing this information and how do these systems develop? These are fundamental questions in developmental cognitive neuroscience. Over the past few years there is increasing evidence that the brain networks activated during the performance of a movement are also activated during the observation of the same movement. At present, our understanding of the dynamics of these networks and the role of learning and experience on the development of these networks is rudimentary. The long term goal of my research program is to determine how the action-perception network develops during the first year of life and to evaluate whether this development is the result of changes in the structural and functional connectivity in the brain during the same period. I am proposing to map both the structural and functional connectivity of the action-perception network at multiple time points over the course of first year when infants are rapidly acquiring and refining their motor skills, and to quantify the changes from one time period to the next to understand the organization of the network. I will also do the same for the action-execution network to understanding how this network influences the action-perception system. Until recently, this would have been a very difficult proposition due to limitations in brain imaging technology. However, advances in imaging technologies, such as the advent of pediatric MRI, now make this possible. Over the next five years, my specific short-term objectives are:• Map the functional connections between the brain regions associated with the action-perception and action-execution networks during the first year of life, quantify the changes with respect to observed motor development during the same period, and investigate whether the two networks interact with each other.• Map the development of brain structure during the first year of life, and focusing specifically on the sensorimotor white matter tracks, quantify the changes in the underlying structural connectivity that supports the action-perception and the action-execution networks during the first year.• Determine the relationship between structural connectivity and functional associations of the action-perception and the action-execution networks, and investigate how the relationship between structure and function evolves during the first year of life.The results from this study will fill a critical gap in the field by providing new insights and directions into the development of these processes. Specifically, understanding and describing the relationship between motor experience and brain structure and function will provide new and significant insights into the temporal and spatial evolution of brain networks and will provide a template for understanding developmental disorders. In addition, my collaborations with researchers in the fields of developmental neuroscience and engineering will lead to novel approaches allowing characterization of underlying network dynamics and connectivity involved in perception and action and provide a unique opportunity for trainees.