Auditory Information Processing in the Midbrain

中脑的听觉信息处理

• 批准号: 6796568
• 负责人: JEFFREY JAMES WENSTRUP
• 金额: $ 3.74万
• 依托单位: NORTHEAST OHIO MEDICAL UNIVERSITY
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 财政年份: 1990
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 1990-12-01 至 2006-03-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/6796568
• 关键词: Chiroptera; acoustic nerve; auditory cortex; auditory nuclei; auditory pathways; auditory stimulus; electronic recording system; immunocytochemistry; inferior colliculus; iontophoresis therapy; laboratory mouse; mesencephalon; neural information processing; neuronal transport; neurophysiology; neurotransmitter antagonist; perfusion; sectioning; sonar; sound frequency; sound perception; speech recognition; stereotaxic techniques; vocalization

DESCRIPTION: (Adapted from applicant's abstract): The long term goal of this research is to identify mechanisms and pathways that give rise to the encoding and representation of information conveyed by vocal cornmuniction signals. Communication by sound employs spectrally and temporally complex signals, and their analyses in the central nervous system require integration across spectral and temporal elements in the signals. Such integration, once considered an exclusive role of auditory cortex, now appears to occur in sub-cortical auditory regions. This proposal focuses on the neuronal mechanisms and structural features of temporal and spectral integration in the auditory midbrain. Understanding where and what types of specialized processing of speech-like sounds occurs in particular pathways to auditory cortex will provide a fuller understanding of the bases of language perception disorders and potential intervention strategies.One form of time- and frequency-sensitive integration, common in the forebrains of a wide range of vertebrates, is performed by combinatorial neurons that respond best when distinct spectral elements in vocalizations are combined in specific temporal relationships. The proposed research examines how and where combinatorial responses originate in the mustached bat. In the auditory cortex of this species, combinatorial responses are abundant and well-characterized, and there is a good understanding of their potential significance in sonar and social communication behaviors. These neurons are also abundant in the inferior colliculus (IC), and may be formed there. The first two specific aims examine how brainstem auditory neurons contribute to the combinatorial responses in the inferior colliculus that analyze the bat's sonar echoes. The first aim will examine the neurophysiological properties of neurons in the cochlear nucleus that may contribute to the construction of these combinatorial responses. The second aim is to use anterograde tracing methods to determine what projections from the auditory brainstem provide the basis for frequency integration by combinatorial neurons in the inferior colliculus. The third specific aim uses physiological recording and local application of drugs to examine the mechanisms operating in the inferior colliculus that create the temporally sensitive facilitation that characterizes combinatorial responses. The fourth specific aim uses the same physiological/pharmacological techniques to study a class of combinatorial neurons that may respond to social vocalizations. This aim will test whether there is a fundamental mechanistic link between the well-studied combinatorial neurons that analyze sonar echoes and those that analyze other complex sounds, such as social vocalizations. These mechanisms may be similar to those operating at early stages in the analysis of speech sounds.

描述：（改编自申请人的摘要）：本项目的长期目标 研究的目的是确定产生编码的机制和途径 以及通过声音通信信号传达的信息的表示。 声音通信采用频谱和时间复杂的信号，并且 他们对中枢神经系统的分析需要整合 信号中的频谱和时间元素。这样的整合，一旦 被认为是听觉皮层的专有作用，现在似乎发生在 皮质下听觉区域。该提案重点关注神经元机制 以及听觉中时间和频谱整合的结构特征 中脑。了解在何处以及何种类型的专门加工 类似言语的声音发生在通往听觉皮层的特定路径中 提供对语言感知障碍的基础的更全面的理解 和潜在的干预策略。时间和频率敏感的一种形式 整合在多种脊椎动物的前脑中很常见， 由组合神经元执行，当不同光谱时反应最好 发声中的元素以特定的时间关系组合在一起。这 拟议的研究探讨了组合反应的起源方式和地点 长着小胡子的蝙蝠。在这个物种的听觉皮层中，组合 回复内容丰富、特色鲜明，具有良好的效果 了解它们在声纳和社会交流中的潜在意义 行为。这些神经元在下丘 (IC) 中也很丰富，并且 可能在那里形成。 前两个具体目标检查脑干听觉神经元如何发挥作用 下丘的组合反应分析 蝙蝠的声纳回声。第一个目标是检查神经生理学 耳蜗核中神经元的特性可能有助于 构建这些组合响应。第二个目标是使用 顺行追踪方法来确定听觉的投射 脑干为组合神经元的频率整合提供基础 在下丘。第三个具体目标使用生理记录 和局部应用药物来检查体内的运作机制 下丘产生时间敏感的促进作用 表征组合响应。第四个具体目标使用相同的 研究一类组合的生理/药理学技术 可能对社交发声做出反应的神经元。这个目标将测试是否 经过充分研究的组合之间存在基本的机制联系 分析声纳回声和分析其他复杂声音的神经元， 比如社交发声。这些机制可能类似于 在语音分析的早期阶段进行操作。