Development and Neuroplasticity of Multisensory Integration

多感觉统合的发展和神经可塑性

• 批准号: RGPIN-2017-04656
• 负责人: Stevenson, Ryan
• 金额: $ 2.19万
• 依托单位: University of Western Ontario
• 依托单位国家: 加拿大
• 项目类别: Discovery Grants Program - Individual
• 财政年份: 2022
• 资助国家: 加拿大
• 起止时间: 2022-01-01 至 2023-12-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nserc-crsng.gc.ca/ase-oro/Details-Detailles_eng.asp?id=764153
• 关键词: Development; Neuroplasticity; Multisensory; Integration

How we as humans process sensory information greatly impacts the manner with which we perceive and interact with the world. The sensory information upon which our perceptions are based is multisensory in nature yet we know surprisingly little about how neural systems develop to integrate information across senses. This work aims to determine basic neural mechanisms and circuitry that underlie this fundamental process, how these neural mechanisms develop, and how they change with experience. Thus, the proposed work will lay bare the neural mechanisms that shape some of the most fundamental aspects of the human experience, particularly how we perceive and interact with our environment. Our environments are inherently noisy, with the senses being consistently bombarded by information. Given this, we must be able to determine which signals originating from a single event, and thus must be integrated into a unified percept - a process known as multisensory integration or perceptual binding. Our work and the work of other labs have shown that the most salient piece of sensory information that is used to solve this so-called “binding problem” is the temporal relationship between sensory inputs. Inputs that share the same temporal structure, specifically the onset of input, are much more likely to originate from the same event. Perceptual systems reflect these environmental statistics and are more likely to integrate sensory inputs that are closely linked in time.Although our previous behavioural studies have demonstrated a strong link between temporal processing of multisensory stimuli and an individual's perceptual ability to bind auditory and visual stimuli, the neural mechanisms by which this link between timing and integration occurs is relatively unknown, as is the development of this process and the impact of sensory experience. The overarching goal of this proposal is to understand (1) how the human brain supports audiovisual temporal integration, (2) how this process develops, and (3) how perceptual experience influences integration. Through the use of cutting-edge neuroimaging techniques paired with elegant experimental designs, this work will provide the first account of the development of neural networks underlying this process that fundamentally shapes our perceptions of the world around us. The first stage of this work will investigate the neural mechanisms through which multisensory temporal processing leads to perceptual binding of sensory information. The second stage will use a cross-sectional design to investigate how these neural networks develop with experience from childhood, through adolescence, and into adulthood. Finally, we will explore the underlying neuroplasticity associated with changes in multisensory integration through a well-established perceptual learning paradigm.

作为人类，我们如何处理感官信息极大地影响着我们感知世界和与世界互动的方式。我们的感知所依据的感官信息本质上是多感官的，但令人惊讶的是，我们对神经系统如何发展以整合跨感官的信息知之甚少。这项工作的目的是确定这一基本过程背后的基本神经机制和电路，这些神经机制如何发展，以及它们如何随着经验而变化。因此，拟议的工作将揭示塑造人类体验的一些最基本方面的神经机制，特别是我们如何感知环境并与环境互动。我们的环境本质上是嘈杂的，感官不断受到信息的轰炸。鉴于此，我们必须能够确定哪些信号源自单个事件，因此必须整合到统一的感知中 - 这一过程称为多感官整合或感知绑定。我们的工作和其他实验室的工作表明，用于解决这种所谓的“绑定问题”的最显着的感觉信息是感觉输入之间的时间关系。共享相同时间结构的输入，特别是输入的开始，更有可能源自同一事件。感知系统反映了这些环境统计数据，并且更有可能整合在时间上紧密相连的感官输入。尽管我们之前的行为研究已经证明多感官刺激的时间处理与个体结合听觉和视觉刺激的感知能力之间存在很强的联系，但时间和整合之间发生这种联系的神经机制相对未知，这一过程的发展和感官体验的影响也是如此。该提案的总体目标是了解（1）人脑如何支持视听时间整合，（2）这个过程如何发展，以及（3）感知体验如何影响整合。通过使用尖端的神经成像技术与优雅的实验设计相结合，这项工作将首次描述这一过程背后的神经网络的发展，该过程从根本上塑造了我们对周围世界的感知。这项工作的第一阶段将研究多感觉时间处理导致感觉信息感知结合的神经机制。第二阶段将采用横断面设计来研究这些神经网络如何随着童年、青春期和成年的经历而发展。最后，我们将通过完善的感知学习范式探索与多感觉整合变化相关的潜在神经可塑性。