Auditory and Integrative Functions of the Prefrontal Cortex

描述（由申请人提供）：面部手势和语音信号的整合是沟通中的一个重要过程，涉及许多大脑区域。在处理面部和声音信息方面发挥关键作用的一个大脑区域是腹侧额叶，它是我们语言处理区域的所在地。虽然以前的研究已经描述了额叶在工作记忆中的作用，决策，以及视觉信息的目标导向行为，但很少有人研究灵长类前额叶皮层中听觉和整合过程的细胞基础。该实验的目的是了解腹侧前额叶皮层的神经元如何处理和整合复杂的听觉和视觉信息，特别是与社交相关的面部和发声信息。我们以前已经表明，单一的神经元，反应的面孔，发声，并将其整合中发现的腹外侧前额叶皮质（VLPFC），一个地区同源的语言区域在人类额下回。然而，发声反应神经元，也对面孔作出反应，主要发现在前VLPFC。这表明VLPFC的部分可能专门用于处理和整合社会刺激，如人脸和发声，或人类大脑中的语音和手势。我们将评估灵长类动物前额叶皮层在视听记忆任务中的神经元活动，这将确定：1）发声处理是一个多感官过程; 2）哪些因素有助于多感官处理和社会与非社会刺激的整合; 3）腹侧前额叶皮层在记住面部发声刺激时是否必要？如果我们能够理解当面部表情与声音信息结合或被声音信息增强时通常发生的神经过程，我们可能开始理解当这个过程被中断时发生的问题，就像语言障碍和自闭症谱系障碍一样。

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): The integration of facial gestures and vocal signals is an essential process in communication and involves many brain regions. One brain region that has been shown to play a crucial role in the processing of face and vocal information is the ventral frontal lobe, home to our language processing areas. While previous studies have described the role of the frontal lobes in working memory, decision-making, and goal-directed behavior with regard to visual information few have examined the cellular basis of auditory and integrative processes in the primate prefrontal cortex. The goal of the experiments in this proposal is to understand how neurons in the ventral prefrontal cortex process and integrate complex auditory and visual information, especially face and vocalization information that is relevant to social communication. We have previously shown that single neurons which respond to faces, to vocalizations, and to their integration are found in the ventral lateral prefrontal cotex (VLPFC), a region homologous to language regions in human inferior frontal gyrus. However, vocalization responsive neurons, which also respond to faces, are mainly found in anterior VLPFC. This suggests that portions of VLPFC may be specialized to process and integrate social stimuli, such as faces and vocalizations, or speech and gestures in the human brain. We will assess neuronal activity in primate prefrontal cortex during audiovisual memory tasks which will determine: 1) Is vocalization processing a multisensory process; 2) What factors contribute to multisensory processing and integration of social versus non-social stimuli; and 3) Is the ventral prefrontal cortex necessary in remembering a face-vocalization stimulus? If we can understand the neural processes that normally occur when a facial gesture is integrated with, or enhanced by vocal information, we may begin to understand the problems that occur when this process is disrupted as it may be in language disorders and in autism spectrum disorders.