Neurobiology of Hemispheric Specialization in Primates

灵长类动物半球特化的神经生物学

• 批准号: 6946388
• 负责人: WILLIAM D HOPKINS
• 金额: $ 32.86万
• 依托单位: EMORY UNIVERSITY
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 财政年份: 2004
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2004-09-15 至 2008-05-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/6946388
• 关键词: Pan; animal communication behavior; auditory stimulus; behavioral /social science research tag; brain mapping; cerebral dominance; cognition; handedness; interhemispheric transfer; language; magnetic resonance imaging; motor cortex; neural information processing; neuroanatomy; neurophysiology; neuropsychological tests; paralinguistic behavior; perception; positron emission tomography; psychomotor function; social behavior; speech; vocalization

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): The long-term objectives of this proposal are to understand the neurobiological basis of complex cognitive, perceptual and motor processes from the standpoint of neurophysiological and neuroanatomical specializations of the left and right cerebral hemispheres. The aims are to evaluate neural systems involved in the expression of communicative behaviors, execution and perception of motor actions and social behaviors that are hypothesized to be homologs to the evolution of complex human cognition including expressive and receptive language. Positron emission tomography (PET) will be used to assess the neurobiology of gestural and vocal communication in chimpanzees. Additional PET studies will be conducted to evaluate whether the "mirror-neuron" system of motor action and perception previously described in monkeys underlies the execution and perception of complex motor processes, such as imitation, in chimpanzees. PET studies will also be used to evaluate evolutionary hypotheses of language origins that are rooted in the social functions of language. Of specific interest is the link between the evolution of language and the function of social grooming in primates. To test these hypotheses, PET will be used to evaluate the neural systems involved in grooming by chimpanzees. The neurobiology of handedness, one of the most pronounced manifestations of hemispheric specialization, will also be evaluated in the proposed studies. PET will be used to assess where the hand is represented in the primary motor cortex in chimpanzees and these data will be mapped to known neuroanatomical landmarks on the motor strip of chimpanzees. Hand regions will then be mapped and quantifed in the left and right cerebral hemispheres from magnetic resonance images (MRI) and asymmetries in this region will be correlated with various measures of hand preference and skill. The overall studies will contribute to our understanding of factors that influence individual and species differences in the expression of hemispheric specialization.

描述（由申请人提供）：该提案的长期目标是从左右脑半球的神经生理学和神经植物学专长的角度了解复杂的认知，感知和运动过程的神经生物学基础。目的是评估参与沟通行为表达的神经系统，对运动动作和社会行为的表达和感知，这些神经系统被认为是对复杂人类认知的演变的同源性，包括表达和接受语言。正电子发射断层扫描（PET）将用于评估黑猩猩的手势和声音传播的神经生物学。将进行其他宠物研究，以评估先前在猴子中描述的运动动作和感知的“镜像神经元”系统是否是在黑猩猩中对复杂运动过程（例如模仿）的执行和感知。宠物研究还将用于评估植根于语言功能的语言起源的进化假设。特别感兴趣的是语言演变与灵长类动物中社会修饰的功能之间的联系。为了检验这些假设，PET将用于评估黑猩猩涉及修饰的神经系统。在拟议的研究中，也将评估惯用性的神经生物学是半球专业化的最明显表现之一。 PET将用于评估黑猩猩主要运动皮层中的手在哪里表示，这些数据将映射到黑猩猩运动带上已知的神经解剖学地标。然后，将在磁共振图像（MRI）中映射和量化手动区域，并在该区域的左侧和右脑半球中进行量化，并且该区域的不对称性将与各种手动偏好和技能的度量相关。总体研究将有助于我们理解影响半球专业表达中个体和物种差异的因素。