Auditory-Vocal Interaction Mechanisms

描述（由申请人提供）：拟议研究的总体目标是揭示非人灵长类动物听觉-声音相互作用的生理机制。这些机制对我们理解人类语言产生和感知机制具有根本性的重要性，但我们对这些机制的理解很少，而且没有足够的非人类灵长类动物模型可以在细胞水平上解决这些问题。在这个应用程序中，我们将在一种高度发声的灵长类动物，普通狨猴（Callithrix jacchus）中检查我们的研究问题。与其他非人类灵长类动物相比，狨猴有几个重要的优势：丰富的声乐技能，圈养时的高繁殖率，以及平滑的大脑，可以很容易地接触到大脑皮层的所有部分。在拟议的实验中，我们将重点研究狨猴听觉皮层中听觉-声音相互作用的神经基质。在目标1中，我们将开发一种行为范式来实验诱导普通狨猴发声。长期以来，研究人员一直在寻找猴子通过行为（而非电）引起发声的能力，这仍然是研究非人类灵长类动物发声控制机制的一个重大障碍。我们将在目标2中研究听觉皮层的不同区域是如何参与听觉-声音相互作用的。这一发现将揭示狨猴听觉皮层中参与听觉-声音相互作用的神经元的功能和解剖学特性，并为未来研究它们与参与声音产生的大脑结构的联系铺平道路。在目标3中，我们将研究行为背景在听觉皮层内听觉-声音相互作用中的作用。狨猴在不同的行为环境下会发出各种各样的声音。我们将研究不同类型的发声是否在单个听觉皮层神经元中产生不同的调节作用。本研究结果将为人类语言感知机制的研究提供重要见解，并建立非人类灵长类动物模型来研究与语言和听力疾病和功能障碍相关的问题。

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): The overall objective of the proposed research is to reveal physiological mechanisms underlying auditory-vocal interaction in non-human primates. Such mechanisms have fundamental importance to our understanding of human speech production and perception mechanisms but are poorly understood, and there are no adequate non-human primate models available to address these issues at the cellular level. In this application, we will examine our research questions in a highly vocal primate, the common marmoset (Callithrix jacchus). The marmoset provides several important advantages over other non-human primate species: a rich vocal repertoire, a high reproductive rate while in captivity, and a smooth brain allowing easy access to all parts of the cerebral cortex. In the proposed experiments, we will focus on neural substrates of auditory-vocal interactions in marmoset auditory cortex. In Aim 1, we will develop a behavioral paradigm to experimentally induce vocalizations in the common marmoset. The ability to behaviorally (not electrically) elicit vocalizations in monkeys has long been sought by researchers and remains a significant obstacle in the study of vocal control mechanisms in non-human primates. We will study in Aim 2 how various areas of the auditory cortex are involved in auditory-vocal interactions. Findings from this aim will reveal functional and anatomical properties of neurons involved in auditory-vocal interactions in marmoset auditory cortex, and pave the way for future studies of their connectivity with the brain structures involved in vocal production. In Aim 3, we will study the role of behavioral context in auditory-vocal interactions within auditory cortex. Marmosets produce a wide range of vocalizations in different behavioral contexts. We will investigate whether different types of vocalizations produce different modulatory effects in individual auditory cortical neurons. Findings of this research will provide important insight into speech perception mechanisms in humans and establish a non-human primate model to investigate issues related to diseases and dysfunctions in speech and hearing.