Non-sensory Circuits for Auditory Perceptual Learning

用于听觉感知学习的非感觉回路

基本信息

批准号：
10563542
负责人：
Melissa Lynne Caras
金额：
$ 50.02万
依托单位：
UNIV OF MARYLAND, COLLEGE PARK
依托单位国家：
美国
项目类别：
财政年份：
2023
资助国家：
美国
起止时间：
2023-01-01 至 2027-12-31
项目状态：
未结题

来源：
https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10563542
关键词：
Anesthesia procedures Animal Testing Animals Arousal Attention Auditory Auditory area Auditory system Behavioral Brain Brain region Calcium Clinical Cochlear Implants Cues Data Detection Devices Dyslexia Electrodes Electrophysiology (science)Fiber Frequencies Gerbils Goals Hearing Aids Impairment Individual Language Measures Mediating Methods Monitor Music Neurobiology Neurodevelopmental Disorder Neurons Noise Pathway interactions Perception Perceptual learning Photometry Population Prefrontal Cortex Presbycusis Process Psychometrics Rewards Role Sensory Thresholds Shapes Signal Transduction Speech Speech Development Speech Perception Stimulus Testing Time Training Viral Work autism spectrum disorder calcium indicator design expectation experimental study hearing impairment improved in vivo model organism neural neural circuit neuromechanism non-Native optogenetics pharmacologic presynaptic response sensory cortex skills sound sound frequency speech recognition therapy design tool

项目摘要

PROJECT SUMMARY Training can sharpen and refine our perceptual skills. In the auditory system, this process— termed perceptual learning— shapes the acquisition of both native and non-native languages, and can improve speech and music recognition in users of assisted listening devices. Previous work has highlighted important contributions of non-sensory processes (such as attention and reward) to perceptual learning, but the underlying neural circuit mechanisms remain poorly understood. Recent evidence suggests the involvement of the orbitofrontal cortex (OFC), a prefrontal cortical region implicated in signaling reward and expectation, and in exerting top-down control of sensory cortical processing. This project will explore the contribution of the OFC to auditory perceptual learning in a classic model organism for auditory studies, the Mongolian gerbil. Our overarching hypothesis, informed by previous and ongoing work, is that training on an auditory task strengthens a descending projection from the OFC to the auditory cortex, leading to gradual improvements in auditory cortical sensitivity that underlie perceptual learning. We propose three specific aims to test this hypothesis. In Aim 1, we use multichannel electrophysiology and pathway-specific fiber photometry to determine whether training on an auditory task strengthens a descending projection from the OFC to auditory cortex by increasing presynaptic activity. In Aim 2, we combine pharmacological and optogenetic methods to determine whether the OFC modulates auditory cortical processing and/or perception in behaving animals via a descending monosynaptic projection, and reveal whether this capability is enhanced after perceptual learning. Finally, in Aim 3 we determine whether optogenetic activation of auditory cortical-projecting neurons in the OFC is sufficient for improving auditory cortical and perceptual sensitivity in behaving animals in the absence of training. In summary, our experiments combine a powerful array of in vivo tools to dissect the neural circuit mechanisms that support auditory perceptual learning. The importance of perceptual learning for improving auditory skills in hearing impaired listeners, and the disruption of perceptual learning in individuals with neurodevelopmental disorders, like dyslexia and autism, highlight an urgent need for a more complete description of how perceptual learning is implemented in the brain.

项目摘要培训可以提高和完善我们的感知能力。在听觉系统中，此过程称为感知学习 - 塑造对本地语言和非本地语言的获取，并且可以改善辅助听力设备的用户的语音和音乐识别。以前的工作强调了重要非敏感过程（例如注意力和奖励）对感知学习的贡献，但潜在的神经回路机制仍然很少了解。最近的证据表明 Orbitrontal Cortex（OFC），一种在信号奖励和期望中实施的前额叶皮质区域，以及在自上而下控制感觉皮质加工时。该项目将探讨OFC的贡献在经典模型生物体中进行听觉研究的听觉学习，蒙古的Gerbil。我们的以前和正在进行的工作所告知的总体假设是听觉任务的培训优势从OFC到听觉皮层的下降投影，导致成绩提高听觉皮质敏感性是感知学习的基础。我们提出了三个特定的目标来测试这一点假设。在AIM 1中，我们使用多通道电生理学和途径特异性光纤光度法确定对听觉任务的培训是否能增强OFC到听觉的下降投影皮质通过增加突触前活性。在AIM 2中，我们将药物和光学遗传学方法结合到确定OFC是否通过行为动物调节听觉皮质处理和/或通过一个下降的单突触投影，并揭示感知后这种能力是否增强学习。最后，在AIM 3中，我们确定听觉皮质射击神经元的光遗传学激活是否是否在OFC中，足以改善听觉的皮质和感知敏感性缺乏培训。总而言之，我们的实验结合了一系列强大的体内工具来剖析支持听觉感知学习的神经电路机制。感知学习的重要性提高听觉障碍的听觉技巧，听众的障碍和个人的感知学习中断有了阅读障碍和自闭症等神经发育障碍，迫切需要更完整描述如何在大脑中实施感知学习。