CRCNS: Integrative Information Processing

描述(申请人提供)：整合来自各种来源的感觉信息以产生运动指令是人类行为的基础。多感觉和感觉运动整合障碍影响人类健康的许多方面，从社会互动和交流到在复杂环境中的运动。例如，将视线引导到声音的位置是一项复杂的信息处理任务，需要将听觉输入信号转换为移动眼睛的运动命令。这一过程在人类忽视的患者中受到了损害。在这里，我们提出了一种联合计算和实验的方法来说明这个问题。具体地说，我们将研究有关声音位置的信息是如何在灵长类上丘(SC)神经元的棘波序列中编码的，并与向SC提供输入或从SC接收输出的结构(如听觉皮质、顶叶内皮质和旁正中网状结构)进行比较。我们将探索刺激位置表示的参照系(目标1)和编码格式(目标2)。特别令人感兴趣的是视觉和听觉表征之间的关系：我们将定量评估这些表征之间的相似性。在目标3中，我们将考虑如何将这些信号“读出”成移动眼睛的命令。这个理论和实验目标将测试算法，这些算法可以向视觉和听觉目标产生准确的运动命令，尽管这些信号在早期阶段的编码方式不同。这些目标将加强我们对从感觉输入到运动输出的神经处理的理解。这里研究的多感觉和感觉运动整合的问题涉及到各种神经疾病，如中风和其他类型的脑损伤引起的疾病。更好地理解从感觉输入到运动反应的转换将有助于确定感觉-运动整合受损的神经疾病的病理生理基础。公共卫生相关性：涉及多感觉和感觉运动整合的问题与各种神经疾病有关，包括中风、忽视、帕金森病和自闭症。更好地理解不同形式的感觉输入是如何转化为产生运动指令的，将有助于我们识别这些疾病的病理生理基础。最终，来自一种感觉通道的信息被用来弥补另一种感觉通道的缺陷的新疗法可能会从这项研究中出现。

Description (provided by applicant): Integrating sensory information from a variety of sources to produce motor commands is fundamental to human behavior. Impairments in multisensory and sensorimotor integration impact numerous aspects of human health, ranging from social interactions and communication to movements in a complicated environment. For example, directing gaze to the location of a sound is a complex information processing task requiring the conversion of auditory input signals into motor commands to move the eyes. This process is impaired in human neglect patients. Here, we propose a joint computational and experimental approach to illuminate this problem. Specifically, we will investigate how information about sound location is encoded in the spike trains of neurons in primate superior colliculus (SC), in comparison to structures that provide inputs to or receive an output from the SC, such as auditory cortex, intraparietal cortex, and the paramedian reticular formation. We will explore the reference frame (Aim 1) and coding format (Aim 2) of the representation of stimulus location. Of particular interest will be the relationship between visual and auditory representations: we will evaluate quantitatively the similarity between these representations. In Aim 3, we will consider how these signals are "read out" into commands to move the eyes. This theoretical and experimental aim will test algorithms that could produce accurate motor commands to both visual and auditory targets despite differences in how these signals are encoded at earlier stages. These aims will enhance our understanding of neural processing from sensory input to motor output. The issues of multisensory and sensorimotor integration investigated here bear on a variety of neurological disorders such as those arising from stroke and other types of brain lesions. A better understanding of the transformation from sensory input to motor response will aid in identifying the pathophysiological substrates in neurological disorders with impaired sensorimotor integration. PUBLIC HEALTH RELEVANCE: Problems involving multisensory and sensorimotor integration are implicated in a variety of neurological disorders including stroke, neglect, Parkinson's disease, and autism. A better understanding of how sensory inputs of different modalities are transformed to produce motor commands will help us identify the pathophysiological substrates of these diseases. Ultimately, new therapies in which information from one sensory modality is used to compensate for deficiencies in another sensory modality may emerge from this research.