Experience-dependent plasticity of auditory processing for vocal communication

项目总结 许多发育性沟通障碍，如语音障碍、特定语言 功能障碍和阅读障碍与影响语音的中枢听觉处理缺陷有关 感知力。婴儿通过接触学习如何对其母语(S)的音素进行分类 但令人惊讶的是，人们对此的神经机制知之甚少 关键的发展过程。这个项目的首要目标是了解它的复杂性 像语音这样的信号在中央听觉区域负责细胞和电路特性 对它们进行解码。这项研究使用了斑马雀，这是一种公认的听觉处理模型 和学习。像说话一样，鸟鸣有一个复杂的光谱和时间结构，幼鸟 需要听歌才能正常发展听觉。使用斑马雀模型 实现了一种结合了声学结构的强大实验控制、社会控制的方法 与细胞内和细胞外电生理有关的歌曲体验的背景和时间 蛋白质表达和运输的测量和分析。在声乐表演的关键阶段 在听觉学习中，皮层水平区域的神经元发育不同的内在机制 属性，这些属性影响它们处理通信声音的方式。目标1检查声学 这种可塑性发生所需的刺激。目标2研究了这种经历的机制- 依赖的内在可塑性。目标3测试在嘈杂环境中体验如何影响听觉处理 条件。通过确定听觉体验的时间和结构如何塑造发展 在单细胞水平的学习任务中，这项研究具有重要的意义 了解贫穷的环境如何导致相关的听觉处理缺陷 患有广泛的人类沟通障碍。

PROJECT SUMMARY Many developmental communication disorders, such as speech sound disorder, specific language impairment, and dyslexia, are associated with central auditory processing deficits that affect phonetic perception. Infants learn how to classify the phonemes of their native language(s) through exposure to speech in the first year of life, but surprisingly little is known about the neural mechanisms of this key developmental process. The overarching goal of this project is to understand how complex signals like speech shape cellular and circuit properties in the central auditory areas responsible for decoding them. This research uses the zebra finch, a well-established model for auditory processing and learning. Like speech, birdsong has a complex spectral and temporal structure, and young birds need to hear song for normal development of auditory perception. Using the zebra finch model enables an approach that combines strong experimental control of the acoustic structure, social context, and timing of song experience, with intracellular and extracellular electrophysiological measurements and analyses of protein expression and trafficking. During a critical stage in vocal development, neurons in a cortical-level area involved in auditory learning develop diverse intrinsic properties that influence how they process communication sounds. Aim 1 examines the acoustic stimuli required for this plasticity to occur. Aim 2 investigates the mechanism of this experience- dependent intrinsic plasticity. Aim 3 tests how experience affects auditory processing in noisy conditions. By identifying how the timing and structure of auditory experience shape development at the single-cell level in a well-described learning task, this research has significant implications for understanding how impoverished environments can lead to auditory processing deficits associated with a wide range of human communication disorders.