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

我的研究计划的目的是阐明发育中的人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官整合的发展。限制我们理解人脑发育的一个重要因素是，发展研究主要是孤立地研究感觉模式。然而，在自然环境中，在空间和时间上重合的视觉和听觉信息往往联系在一起，形成多感官戒律。拟议研究计划的具体目标是绘制和比较感官反应(例如心理物理检测和感官诱发电位)对基本视觉和听觉刺激的发展过程。其次，心理物理学研究将确定在(A)听觉对视觉知觉的影响和(B)视觉对听觉知觉的影响的条件下，发育过程中多感觉整合的机制。第三，神经生理学研究将确定大脑发育过程中多感觉整合发生的时间和地点，以及其神经底物的电生理特征。目前的建议支持的研究对于我们理解人脑的发育及其功能组织和可塑性是重要的。这将引起神经科学、生物学、工程学和医学领域的研究人员的极大兴趣。这项研究将使加拿大研究人员在发育神经科学领域成为国际领先者。

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.