Auditory Information Processing in the Amygdala

描述（由申请人提供）：这项工作的长期目标是提高对声学通信背后的神经机制的理解。这个项目的重点是杏仁核，一个以其在听觉恐惧条件反射中的作用而闻名的结构。对于这个角色，它接收来自丘脑和皮层的听觉输入，有助于将刺激识别为厌恶，并提供适当的情绪反应（例如，自主反应，冻结）。最近的研究表明杏仁核在听觉行为中发挥着更广泛的作用，包括声音交流。这项工作是基于这样的观点，杏仁核通过参与几个过程在声学通信中起着至关重要的作用。1)杏仁核基于来自声音序列的上下文信息、其他感觉信息和动物的内部状态“决定”声音信号是否突出以及该突出性是积极的还是消极的，2）它协调适合于接收到的声音通信信号及其上下文的情绪反应，3）它通过直接和间接投射到皮层和其他听觉器官来调节对随后的声音信号的反应。 结构.换句话说，杏仁核可能会影响我们如何听到和回应语音通信信号。由于缺乏杏仁核神经元如何对交流信号做出反应的信息，对杏仁核如何促进声音交流的理解受到了限制。杏仁核神经元区分社会发声吗？脑电诱发的锋电位序列信号识别有哪些特点？背景信息如何改变杏仁核神经元对社会发声的识别和放电模式？这些问题在三个特定目标中得到解决，这些目标研究听觉反应对几种形式的刺激背景的依赖性：声学背景（发声成分的顺序）（目标1），其他感官背景（目标2）和内部状态（目标3）。在大多数实验中，听觉反应是通过对清醒的、不受约束的动物的杏仁核进行长期记录来获得的。两种动物模型，大棕蝙蝠和CBA/CaJ小鼠，每一个都为拟议的研究提供了特别的优势。杏仁核的功能障碍可能在自闭症、精神分裂症、创伤后应激和耳鸣等疾病的声音输入和情绪反应之间的异常关系中起着关键作用。这项工作奠定了基础，研究杏仁核的功能在这些疾病的动物模型。 公共卫生相关性：杏仁核功能障碍可能在自闭症、精神分裂症、创伤后应激和耳鸣患者对语言和其他声音的异常情绪反应中起着关键作用。这项工作将建立杏仁核神经元如何正常运作，以响应语音样的声音，奠定了基础，研究杏仁核的功能，在动物模型中的这些疾病。!

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): The long-term goal of this work is to improve the understanding of neural mechanisms that underlie acoustic communication. This project focuses on the amygdala, a structure known for its role in auditory fear conditioning. For this role, it receives auditory input from the thalamus and cortex, contributes to identifying a stimulu as aversive, and provides for appropriate emotional responses (e.g., autonomic responses, freezing). Recent work demonstrates a broader role for the amygdala in auditory behavior, including acoustic communication. This work is based on the view that the amygdala plays a critical role in acoustic communication through participation in several processes. 1) The amygdala "decides" whether a vocal signal is salient and whether that salience is positive or negative, based on contextual information from the vocal sequence, other sensory information, and the animal's internal state, 2) It orchestrates emotional responses that are appropriate for the received vocal communication signals and their context, 3) It modulates responsiveness to subsequent vocal signals through its direct and indirect projections to cortical and other auditory structures. In other words, the amygdala is likely to influence how we hear and respond to vocal communication signals. Understanding how the amygdala contributes to acoustic communication has been limited by lack of information on how amygdalar neurons respond to communication signals. Do amygdalar neurons discriminate among social vocalizations? What features of the auditory-evoked spike trains signal discrimination? How does contextual information modify the discrimination and discharge pattern of amygdalar neurons in response to social vocalizations? These questions are addressed within three Specific Aims that investigate the dependence of auditory responses on several forms of stimulus context: acoustic context (the sequencing of composition of vocalizations) (Aims1), other sensory context (Aim 2), and internal state (Aim 3). Auditory responses are obtained using chronic recording from the amygdala of awake, unrestrained animals in most experiments. Two animal models, big brown bats and CBA/CaJ mice, each provide particular advantages for the proposed studies. Dysfunction in the amygdala may play a critical role in abnormal relationships between acoustic inputs and emotional responses in disorders such as autism, schizophrenia, post-traumatic stress, and tinnitus. This work lays groundwork for study of the function of the amygdala in animal models of these disorders. PUBLIC HEALTH RELEVANCE: Dysfunction in the amygdala may play a critical role in the abnormal emotional responses to speech and other sounds that occurs in autism, schizophrenia, post-traumatic stress, and tinnitus. This work will establish how amygdalar neurons normally function in response to speech-like sounds, laying groundwork for study of the function of the amygdala in animal models of these disorders. !