Collaborative proposal: GCR: In Search for the Interactions that Create Consciousness

这个项目的重点是意识的物理足迹。一个由工程师、神经外科医生和神经科学家组成的汇聚一堂的团队将专注于理解意识出现的原因这一根本问题。这项研究利用系统神经科学、神经外科、信号处理和机器学习的技术，以及从人类和非人类灵长类动物收集的数据，旨在开发支持意识的大脑回路相互作用模型。提高对意识机制的理解将促进意识障碍和认知问题(以及其他更广泛的影响)的新治疗方法的进步。该项目包括跨学科研究培训，将把研究成果整合到教学中，并包括对高中生和中学生的推广。丘脑支持意识内容所需的皮质神经集合的灵活形成/激活的理论将得到完善，并将开发恢复非人类灵长类动物意识的方法。这些进展将通过建立新的模型、推进机器学习方法并研究其理论和实践基础来实现。新方法将是可扩展的，预计它们将能够识别大脑区域之间的因果交互作用，即一个区域的活动是否导致另一个区域的活动。这一奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的智力优势和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

This project focuses on the physical footprints of consciousness. A convergent team of engineers, neurosurgeons and neuroscientists will focus on the fundamental problem of understanding what causes the emergence of consciousness. Using techniques from systems neuroscience, neurosurgery, signal processing and machine learning, and data collected with humans and non-human primates, the research aims to develop models of the brain circuit interactions supporting consciousness. Improved understanding of the mechanism of consciousness will facilitate the advancement of new therapeutic approaches for disorders of consciousness and cognitive problems (among other broader impacts). The project includes interdisciplinary research training, will integrate research findings into teaching, and includes outreach to high-school and middle-school students.The theory that the thalamus supports the flexible formation/activation of cortical neural ensembles required for the content of consciousness will be refined, and methods that will restore consciousness in non-human primates will be developed. These advances will be enabled by building novel models, advancing machine learning methods, and researching their theoretical and practical underpinnings. The new methods will be scalable and it is anticipated that they will able to identify causal interactions between brain regions, i.e., whether activity in one area causes activity in another.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.