Auditory & Integrative Functions of the Prefrontal Cortex

摘要 面部手势和声音信号的整合是交流和交流中必不可少的过程 依赖于大脑区域的相互连接的环路。面孔和声音融合的神经基础 是一个非常重要的话题，因为感觉整合对言语感知和 物体识别，在自闭症谱系障碍(ASD)和其他智力障碍中受损 残疾人士。我们之前的研究表明，灵长类VLPFC，一种被提议的同源物 有对特定物种的脸有反应的神经元，它整合了 这些刺激。此外，在跨模式工作记忆中，VLPFC神经元是活跃的 神经元表现出延迟活动增加、匹配抑制和增强的任务， 以及与任务和刺激因素相关的活动。重要的是，VLPFC神经元活动 对视听工作记忆也是至关重要的，因为暂时的失活会导致 在工作记忆方面的表现。在本提案中，我们将重点介绍另外两个角色 连接到VLPFC的皮质区域。背外侧前额叶皮质(DLPFC) 内侧前额叶皮质(MPFC)与VLPFC相连，已被证明 支持视听工作记忆中的认知功能。此外，我们还将 解决挥之不去的问题，即面部和声音刺激的哪些特征是由 视听处理过程中的VLPFC神经元，我们将把我们的重点扩大到 以便在目标3中适当地解决这一问题。我们假设 连接的皮质区域VLPFC、DLPFC和MPFC在脑内起着不同但有贡献的作用 社交过程中人脸和声音信息的加工、整合和记忆 沟通。

SUMMARY The integration of facial gestures and vocal signals is an essential process in communication and relies on an interconnected circuit of brain regions. The neural basis of face and vocal integration is a topic of great importance since sensory integration is essential to speech perception and object recognition and is impaired in autism spectrum disorders (ASD) and other intellectual disabilities. Our previous investigations have shown that primate VLPFC, a proposed homologue of human IFG, has neurons that are responsive to species-specific faces and that it integrates these stimuli. Furthermore, VLPFC neurons are active during a crossmodal working memory task with neurons demonstrating increased delay activity, match suppression & enhancement, and activity that is tied to both task and stimulus factors. Importantly, VLPFC neuronal activity is also critical for audiovisual working memory since temporary inactivation results in a decrease in working memory performance. In this proposal we will focus on the role of two additional cortical areas that are connected to VLPFC. Both the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC) and the medial prefrontal cortex (MPFC) are connected to VLPFC and have been shown to support cognitive functions that are a part of audiovisual working memory. Furthermore, we will address the lingering question of which features of face and vocal stimuli are integrated by VLPFC neurons during audiovisual processing and we will expand our focus to ensembles of VLPFC neurons in order to appropriately address this in Aim 3. We hypothesize that the connected cortical areas VLPFC, DLPFC and MPFC play different but contributing roles in the processing, integration and remembering of face and vocal information during social communication.