Mapping perception and emotion in the human brain with functional magnetic resonance imaging and diffusion tensor imaging using naturalistic stimuli

创建大脑如何处理我们周围现实世界的认知地图是神经科学的核心目标。然而，这并不是一项简单的任务，因为人类认知非常复杂，细致入微，并且涉及在多模态和动态世界中处理信息。由于其复杂性，以前的研究依赖于现实世界中的刺激代理，这些代理可能无法充分代表他们试图调查的刺激（以及认知过程）。认知神经科学的研究正逐渐从严格控制的实验范式转向更自然的任务，以探索现实世界处理的多尺度动态。自然主义刺激（如视听电影）可能更适合通过提供更有效的自然观看和聆听代理来帮助映射复杂的人类大脑反应。 然而，随着从严格控制到自然主义认知的转变，以有意义的方式分析、解释和解开复杂的大脑反应的计算挑战也随之而来。为了克服这些挑战，我的研究结合了行为，神经成像和计算技术，在动态和自然的条件下研究大脑。该研究计划的长期目标是绘制人类大脑中自然主义认知的结构和功能架构。为了实现这一目标，本研究计划有三个具体的短期目标：1）建立一个数据库的情感，知觉，和生理反应的个人对广泛的电影刺激，这将是一个必不可少的和宝贵的资源，扩大自然神经科学领域; 2）使用先进的数据-驱动的分析方法，其使用大脑活动模式识别电影刺激中的事件，并将大脑反应模式与感知和情感整合，刺激的属性;以及3）使用最先进的计算建模技术来识别白色物质连通性和自然主义大脑反应之间的结构/功能关系。这一高度创新的研究计划将采用系统方法来研究自然主义认知，方法是将行为特征、功能性神经成像和结构连接结合起来，以确定自然主义认知的潜在网络架构。因此，它将促进加拿大自然神经科学领域的突破性进展，并将为绘制人类大脑中真实世界认知的结构和功能架构迈出第一步。这项研究将处于认知神经科学令人兴奋和及时的数据驱动方法的最前沿，旨在弥合研究与现实世界之间的差距。此外，它将通过阐明大脑能够处理我们周围复杂的多模态世界的方式，为社会提供关键的好处。

Creating cognitive maps of how the brain processes the real-world around us is a central goal of neuroscience. This is no simple task, however, as human cognition is vastly complex, nuanced, and involves processing information in a multimodal and dynamic world. Because of its complexity, previous research has relied on proxies of stimuli in the real-world that may not adequately represent the stimulus (and thus the cognitive process) they are attempting to investigate. Increasingly, research in cognitive neuroscience is shifting away from strictly controlled experimental paradigms in favour of more naturalistic tasks to probe the multiscale dynamics of real-world processing. Naturalistic stimuli (such as audiovisual movies) may be better suited to help map complex human brain responses by providing a more valid proxy of natural viewing and listening. With the shift from strict control to naturalistic cognition, however, comes the computational challenge of analyzing, interpreting, and disentangling complex brain responses in a meaningful way. To overcome these challenges, my research combines behavioural, neuroimaging, and computational techniques to study the brain under dynamic and naturalistic conditions. The long-term objective of this program of research is to map the structural and functional architecture of naturalistic cognition in the human brain. To achieve this, this program of research has three specific short-term objectives: 1) to build a database of emotional, perceptual, and physiological responses of individuals to a wide range of movie stimuli that will be an essential and valuable resource for expanding the field of naturalistic neuroscience; 2) to use advanced data-driven analysis approaches that identify events in movie stimuli using brain activity patterns and integrate brain response patterns with perceptual and emotional attributes of the stimulus; and 3) to use state-of-the-art computational modeling techniques to identify structure/function relationships between white matter connectivity and naturalistic brain responses. This highly innovative program of research will take a systems approach to the study of naturalistic cognition by incorporating behavioural characteristics, functional neuroimaging, and structural connectivity to identify the underlying network architecture of naturalistic cognition. Thus, it will facilitate ground-breaking advancements in the field of naturalistic neuroscience in Canada and will provide the first step to mapping the structural and functional architecture of real-world cognition in the human brain. This research will be at the forefront of an exciting and timely data-driven approach to cognitive neuroscience aimed at bridging the gap between research and the real-world. Further, it will provide a critical benefit to society by elucidating the ways in which the brain is able to process the complex, multimodal world around us.