Auditory Cortical Areas for Encoding and Memory

描述（由申请人提供）：沟通对我们的生存至关重要，但我们不知道大脑如何编码这些信息。此外，人类的许多交流和语言都是基于学习简单的听觉联想。研究非人类灵长类动物的交流和学习可以为语言的神经前体提供一个模板。这个建议的一个指导性主题是，一个可测试的神经模型的通信，包括听觉学习，记忆和对象识别，将最容易出现集中，详细的调查个别神经元及其感知和行为的相关。最近发现，猴子的左颞极的上级颞回的皮质专门用于处理特定物种的猴子发声，这种通信声音的偏侧化类似于人类。在这种情况下，大脑半球特化的机制是通过胼胝体抑制右半球。基于这一发现，将确定颞极内听觉神经元对各种声音刺激（包括猴子发声）的选择性。接下来，我们将阐明是否听觉反应神经元的颞极内的空间听觉信息的差异，并映射其位置。我们还将确定颞极神经元是否编码概念学习和延迟记忆。这些实验对于描述颞极在交流中的作用至关重要。将使用植入颞极的单个单元电极在清醒猴中测试关于听觉信息的神经编码的特定假设。总之，这里提出的实验解决了听觉处理中尚未系统探索的基本问题。人们期望，更彻底地了解猴子的听觉系统将提供有益的见解，人类沟通的神经基板和机制，学习障碍和沟通障碍的原因和治疗。

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): Communication is of major importance to our survival and yet we do not understand how the brain encodes this information. Moreover, much of human communication and language is predicated on learning simple auditory associations. Investigating non-human primate communication and learning can provide a template for the neural precursors of language. A guiding theme of this proposal is that a testable neural model of communication, including auditory learning, memory, and object identification, will emerge most readily from focused, detailed investigations of individual neurons and their perceptual and behavioral correlates. It was found recently that the cortex of the monkey's left temporal pole in the superior temporal gyrus is specialized for processing species-specific monkey vocalizations and this lateralization of communication sounds is similar to humans. The mechanism for hemispheric specialization in this case is suppression of the right hemisphere via the corpus callosum. Building on this finding, the selectivity of auditory neurons within the temporal pole to various sound stimuli, including monkey vocalizations, will be determined. Next, we will elucidate whether auditory responsive neurons within the temporal pole respond differentially to spatial auditory information and map their location. We will also determine if the temporal pole neurons are encoding conceptual learning and delay memory. These experiments are essential to describe the role of the temporal pole in communication. Specific hypothesis concerning the neural encoding of auditory information will be tested in awake monkeys using single unit electrodes implanted in the temporal pole. All together, the experiments proposed here address basic issues in auditory processing that have not been systematically explored. It is expected that a more thorough understanding of the monkey auditory system will provide useful insights into the neural substrates and mechanisms of human communication and into the causes and treatment of learning disabilities and communicative disorders.