Auditory Circuits for Interpreting Vocal Communication Signals

项目总结/摘要 解释交流中使用的发声，如人类语言，动物 并且人类必须执行一系列听觉任务：声音的检测和定位， 音高和音色的感知，以及方位信息的解析和分类 解释通信呼叫所需的声音特征。听觉 神经科学家们已经获得了一个相对较好的模型，来描述复杂的声音是如何被表达的。 在初级听觉皮层主要是根据他们的频谱时间特征。我们也 我知道，一个更高层次的听觉和联想皮层区域的网络参与了 人类的语音处理和动物的通讯呼叫。然而，神经回路 以及相应的非线性转换，发生在初级听觉皮层 根据交流声音的意义对它们进行分类的区域和皮层区域 仍然未知。我们正在开发鸟类模型系统来弥补这一差距。鸣禽 有大量的交流声音，用于不同的行为环境。 通过结合行为和神经生理学实验，我们将研究如何调用 分类为调用类型（语义）。我们还将研究 学习与不同发声者（声音）相对应的类别。使用最先进的 计算方法，我们将破译非线性处理步骤的序列 发生在单个神经元和执行这些声音的神经元集合体的水平上， to-意思是转换。我们的研究将阐明不同回路在 处理语义和声音的听觉皮层。这些知识将是必不可少的 了解某些精神疾病中功能失调的听觉处理如何影响言语 认知能力和其他认知技能。我们的工作也可能有助于 开发用于听觉神经修复或助听器的新型信号处理方法。

Project Summary/Abstract To interpret the vocalizations used in communication, such as human speech, animals and humans must perform a range of auditory tasks: the detection and localization of sounds, the perception of pitch and timbre, and the parsing and categorization of the information bearing sound features that is required for the interpretation of communication calls. Auditory neuroscientists have obtained a relatively good model of how complex sounds are represented in the primary auditory cortex primarily in terms of their spectro-temporal features. We also know that a network of higher-level auditory and associative cortical areas is involved in processing speech in humans and communication calls in animals. However, the neural circuits and the corresponding non-linear transformations that occur between primary auditory cortical areas and cortical regions that categorize communication sounds in terms of their meaning remains unknown. We are developing the avian model system to bridge this gap. Songbirds have a large repertoire of communication sounds that are used in distinct behavioral contexts. By combining behavioral and neurophysiological experiments, we will investigate how calls are categorized into call-types (semantics). We will also investigate the neural representation for learned categories that correspond to different vocalizers (voice). Using state-of-the-art computational approaches, we will decipher the sequence of non-linear processing steps occurring both at the level of single neurons and neuronal ensembles that perform these sound- to-meaning transformations. Our studies will elucidate the roles of different circuits within auditory cortex for processing semantics and voice. This knowledge will be essential to understand how dysfunctional auditory processing in certain mental disorders affects speech recognition and consequently other cognitive skills. Our work could also be instrumental in the development of novel signal processing methods for auditory neural prosthetics or hearing aids.