CAREER: Prediction and Reward in Auditory Statistical Learning

每一种人类文化都创造了音乐，这推动了全球数十亿美元的产业。社会影响也很重要，因为音乐与社会联系紧密。对于一群人来说，一起创作音乐可以促进同理心和合作行为。众所周知，音乐的积极体验在一定程度上取决于可预测性（对接下来会发生什么的了解）。然而，人们对可预测的音乐特征（例如，旋律、和声和节奏）来奖励。这个CAREER奖使用一个不熟悉的音调系统来探索人们如何学习对新的声学关系做出反应。 更一般地说，它评估了预测和奖励在听觉学习中的作用，以前的研究探索了人们如何学习对听觉刺激的结构化序列做出反应，使参与者接触到新的特征，然后监测奖励值的主观评级的变化。然而，即使是新的组成使用熟悉的结构特征，这激活了一个巨大的知识库的预测隐含在我们的生活。这给预测和奖励的研究带来了严重的混乱。为了规避这一挑战，研究人员将使用一种新的系统，称为Bohlen-Pierce量表。通过将参与者暴露在新颖的、声学控制的声音中，研究者可以测试是否可以仅仅从新形成的预测中获得奖励价值。研究人员还将比较典型的听众和听众与两个听觉/知觉障碍（失乐症和快感缺乏症）之一学习新的声音模式。总体目标是了解重复和声音模式的变化在驱动学习，记忆和奖励中的双重作用。这项工作将感知测试，功能性MRI和神经心理学测试与声音设计相结合。这些活动将与教育计划相结合，以开发一个独特的理学士学位课程。该奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并已被认为是值得通过使用基金会的智力价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估的支持。

Every human culture creates music, which drives a multi-billion-dollar industry worldwide. The societal impact is also important, as music is tightly linked to social bonding. For groups of individuals, making music together can promote empathy and cooperative behavior. The positive experience of music is known to depend, in part, on predictability (the knowledge of what comes next). However, little is known about how predictable musical features (e.g., melody, harmony, and rhythm) come to be rewarding. This CAREER award uses an unfamiliar tonal system to explore how people learn to respond to novel acoustic relationships. More generally, it evaluates the roles of prediction and reward in auditory learning.Previous work exploring how people learn to respond to structured sequences of auditory stimuli have exposed participants to novel features and then monitored changes in subjective ratings of reward value. However, even new compositions use familiar structural features, which activate a large knowledge base of predictions acquired implicitly throughout our lives. This poses a serious confound to the study of prediction and reward. To circumvent this challenge, the investigator will use a novel system, known as the Bohlen-Pierce scale. By exposing participants to novel, acoustically controlled sounds, the investigator can test whether reward value can be acquired solely from newly formed predictions. The investigator will also compare how typical listeners and listeners with one of two auditory/perceptual disorders (amusia and anhedonia) learn novel sound patterns. The overall aim is to understand the dual roles of repetition and variation of sound patterns in driving learning, memory, and reward. The work merges perceptual testing, functional MRI, and neuropsychological testing with sound design. These activities will be integrated with an educational plan to develop a unique Bachelor of Science degree program.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.