Processing of Communication Signals in Prefrontal Cortex

描述(由申请人提供)：这项建议研究腹外侧前水平皮质(VPFC)在处理多模式通信信号中的作用。在许多情况下，听觉和视觉刺激提供互补的信息，尤其是通信信号。恒河猴对发声的产生和伴随它们的面部表情之间存在的关联很敏感。理解多通道刺激的基本过程是将两种通道组合成一个统一的表示。在目标1中，我们测试了vPFC在处理多模式通信信号中的作用。我们假设vPFC神经元优先对传递互补信息的听觉和视觉刺激作出反应。在目标2中，我们测试了vPFC在多模式通信信号分类中的作用。恒河猴基于相对抽象的类别而不是原始的知觉特征来区分某些种类的特定发声，这种分类可以从vPFC神经元的放电率中看出。我们假设，vPFC神经元将多模式刺激编码成基于它们所传达的信息的类别，而不是它们的形态属性。

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): This proposal examines the role of the ventrolateral prefontal cortex (vPFC) in the processing of multimodal communication signals. In many cases, auditory and visual stimuli provide complementary information, and this especially true of communication signals. Rhesus macaques are sensitive to the correlations that exist between the production of vocalizations and the facial expressions that accompany them. Fundamental to the process of understanding multimodal stimuli is to combine both modalities into a unified representation. In Aim #1, we test the role of the vPFC in processing multimodal communication signals. We hypothesize that vPFC neurons respond preferentially to auditory and visual stimuli that convey complementary information. In Aim #2, we test the role of the vPFC in the categorization of multimodal communication signals. Rhesus monkeys discriminate between certain classes of species specific vocalizations based on relatively abstract categories as opposed to raw perceptual features, and this categorization can be seen in the firing rates of vPFC neurons. We hypothesize that vPFC neurons code multimodal stimuli into categories that are based on the information they convey as opposed to their morphological properties.