Auditory Circuits for Interpreting Vocal Communication Signals

用于解释语音通信信号的听觉电路

• 批准号: 10540732
• 负责人: Frederic E. THEUNISSEN
• 金额: $ 31.22万
• 依托单位: UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA BERKELEY
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 财政年份: 2020
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2020-01-01 至 2024-12-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10540732
• 关键词: Acoustics; Affect; Anatomy; Animal Model; Animals; Area; Auditory; Auditory Perception; Auditory area; Auditory system; Behavior; Behavioral; Biological Models; Birds; Categories; Cochlear Implants; Communication; Complex; Comprehension; Computer Analysis; Computing Methodologies; Data; Databases; Detection; Development; Discrimination; Fathers; Goals; Hearing Aids; Human; Hunger; Individual; Knowledge; Laboratories; Learning; Learning Disabilities; Lesion; Location; Mediating; Memory; Mental disorders; Methods; Modeling; Nature; Neurons; Operant Conditioning; Partner in relationship; Performance; Pitch Perception; Play; Positioning Attribute; Process; Research; Role; Semantics; Series; Signal Transduction; Songbirds; Sound Localization; Source; Speech; Stress; System; Testing; Voice; Work; auditory processing; cognitive ability; cognitive skill; design; experimental study; neural; neural circuit; neural prosthesis; neuroethology; neurophysiology; next generation; non-linear transformation; novel; response; semantic processing; signal processing; social; social attachment; sound; speech processing; speech recognition; vocalization; zebra finch

Project Summary/Abstract To interpret the vocalizations used in communication, such as human speech, animals and humans must perform a range of auditory tasks: the detection and localization of sounds, the perception of pitch and timbre, and the parsing and categorization of the information bearing sound features that is required for the interpretation of communication calls. Auditory neuroscientists have obtained a relatively good model of how complex sounds are represented in the primary auditory cortex primarily in terms of their spectro-temporal features. We also know that a network of higher-level auditory and associative cortical areas is involved in processing speech in humans and communication calls in animals. However, the neural circuits and the corresponding non-linear transformations that occur between primary auditory cortical areas and cortical regions that categorize communication sounds in terms of their meaning remains unknown. We are developing the avian model system to bridge this gap. Songbirds have a large repertoire of communication sounds that are used in distinct behavioral contexts. By combining behavioral and neurophysiological experiments, we will investigate how calls are categorized into call-types (semantics). We will also investigate the neural representation for learned categories that correspond to different vocalizers (voice). Using state-of-the-art computational approaches, we will decipher the sequence of non-linear processing steps occurring both at the level of single neurons and neuronal ensembles that perform these sound- to-meaning transformations. Our studies will elucidate the roles of different circuits within auditory cortex for processing semantics and voice. This knowledge will be essential to understand how dysfunctional auditory processing in certain mental disorders affects speech recognition and consequently other cognitive skills. Our work could also be instrumental in the development of novel signal processing methods for auditory neural prosthetics or hearing aids.

项目概要/摘要 解释交流中使用的发声，例如人类语言、动物语言 人类必须执行一系列听觉任务：声音的检测和定位， 对音高和音色的感知，以及信息承载的解析和分类 解释通信呼叫所需的声音特征。听觉 神经科学家已经获得了一个相对较好的复杂声音如何表示的模型 在初级听觉皮层中，主要是根据其频谱-时间特征。我们也 知道高级听觉和关联皮层区域的网络参与 处理人类的语音和动物的通信呼叫。然而，神经回路 以及初级听觉皮层之间发生的相应非线性变换 根据交流声音的含义对交流声音进行分类的区域和皮质区域 仍然未知。我们正在开发鸟类模型系统来弥补这一差距。鸣禽 拥有大量用于不同行为环境的交流声音。 通过结合行为学和神经生理学实验，我们将研究呼叫是如何发生的 分为调用类型（语义）。我们还将研究神经表征 学习了与不同发声者（声音）相对应的类别。使用最先进的 计算方法，我们将破译非线性处理步骤的序列 发生在执行这些声音的单个神经元和神经元集合的水平上 到意义的转换。我们的研究将阐明不同电路的作用 听觉皮层用于处理语义和语音。这些知识对于 了解某些精神障碍中功能失调的听觉处理如何影响言语 识别以及其他认知技能。我们的工作也可能有助于 开发用于听觉神经假体或助听器的新型信号处理方法。