Auditory-motor integration in infancy and early childhood

拟议的研究计划解决有关婴儿期和幼儿期大脑运动系统的整合和发展的基本科学问题。听音乐节奏会激活大脑中的运动区，有节奏的运动会增强听觉节奏感知。这些相互作用的神经系统使听觉-运动整合成为音乐和语言感知和产生的一个重要过程。尽管这些神经连接对交流很重要，但人们对这些系统如何以及何时交织在一起知之甚少。 该研究计划将1）提高我们对节奏的听觉特征（例如音高，克里思）如何促进婴儿和儿童的节奏感知和运动-运动整合的理解; 2）研究运动如何促进婴儿节奏感知; 3）跟踪幼儿期的节奏感知和产生如何为以后的声音流畅性提供支持。 该计划将是第一个联合收割机生理（即，脑电图或EEG）和行为（即视频编码、节奏产生任务）测量，以研究听觉和运动脑网络的成熟如何促进预测性节奏运动。拟议的研究将使学生在发展研究的最前沿接受培训。它还将为学生提供神经生理学，行为学和计算技术方面的实践学习。重要的是，这项关于基本感觉运动能力及其对整个生命周期的注意力和认知的一般影响的新问题的调查将对节奏感知做出实质性的理论和经验贡献。

The proposed research program addresses fundamental scientific questions about the integration and development of auditory-motor systems in infancy and into early childhood. Listening to musical rhythms activates motor areas in the brain, and rhythmic movements enhance auditory rhythm perception. These reciprocal neural systems make auditory-motor integration an essential process for the perception and production of music and language. Despite the importance of these neural connections for communication, little is known about how and when these systems become intertwined. The research program will 1) enhance our understanding of how auditory features of rhythms (e.g. pitch, tempo) facilitate rhythm perception and auditory-motor integration in infants and children; 2) investigate how movement facilitates infant rhythm perception; 3) track how rhythm perception and production in early childhood scaffold later vocal fluency. The program will be the first to combine physiological (i.e., electroencephalography or EEG) and behavioural (i.e. video coding, rhythm production tasks) measures to investigate how maturation in auditory and motor brain networks facilitates predictive rhythmic movements. The proposed research will allow students to receive training at the forefront of developmental research. It will also provide students with hands-on learning in neurophysiological, behavioural, and computational techniques. Importantly, this investigation of novel questions about basic sensory-motor abilities and their generalized effects on attention and cognition across the lifespan will make substantial theoretical and empirical contributions to rhythm perception.