The functional organization of the developing brain: insight from multisensory integration

我的研究计划的目标是阐明发育中的人类大脑的组织和功能可塑性。为了做到这一点，我研究了感知的不同方面的发展。更具体地说，这项建议侧重于多感觉整合的发展。限制我们理解人类大脑发育的一个重要因素是，发育研究主要是孤立地研究感觉通道。然而，在自然环境中，视觉和听觉信息在空间和时间上一致，往往联系在一起，形成多感官的戒律。拟议研究计划的具体目的是绘制和比较感官反应的发展过程（例如，心理物理检测和感觉诱发电位）到基本视觉和听觉刺激。其次，心理物理学研究将确定在发育过程中，在（a）听觉影响视觉感知和（B）视觉影响听觉感知的条件下，多感觉整合的机制。第三，神经生理学研究将确定发育过程中大脑中多感觉整合发生的时间和地点以及其神经基质的电生理特征。目前提案支持的研究对于我们理解人类大脑发育及其功能组织和可塑性非常重要。这将是在神经科学，生物学，工程学和医学领域的研究人员极大的兴趣。 这项研究将使加拿大研究人员成为发展神经科学领域的国际领导者。

The objective of my research programme is to elucidate the organization and functional plasticity of the developing human brain. To do so, I study the development of different aspects of perception. More specifically, this proposal focuses on the development of multisensory integration. An important factor limiting our understanding of human brain development is that developmental research has mainly studied sensory modalities in isolation. Yet, in the natural environment visual and auditory information that coincide in space and in time are often linked together to form multisensory precepts. The specific aims of the proposed research programme are to chart and compare the developmental course of sensory responses (e.g., psychophysical detection and sensory evoked potentials) to basic visual and auditory stimulation. Secondly, psychophysical investigations will identify the mechanisms of multisensory integration during development, under conditions of (a) auditory influence on visual perception and under conditions of (b) visual influence on auditory perception. Thirdly, neurophysiological investigation will determine when and where in the brain multisensory integration occurs during development as well as the electrophysiological characteristics of its neural substrate. The research supported by the current proposal is important for our understanding of human brain development and of its functional organization and plasticity. This will be of great interest for researchers in the field of neurosciences, biology, engineering, and medicine.  This research will enable Canadian researchers to be international leaders in the field of developmental neurosciences.