Hearing and voice are the principal instruments of human communication. Early auditory experience of our native language(s) shapes the way we hear for the rest of our lives. By 12 months of age, we have already developed auditory perceptual skills around the speech phonemes we hear in social environments. This early specialization of auditory processing facilitates sensorimotor integration as we learn to speak; accurate phoneme discrimination in the first year of life is correlated with language proficiency years later. An important goal in the pursuit to understand how we acquire and use speech and what goes wrong when we can't use speech is determining how developmental experience of vocal sounds shapes auditory processing and perception for successful communication. While it is clear that the optimal time in life for language development is limited to before puberty, we do not know why the young brain is particularly sensitive to auditory-vocal experience or how vocal learning shapes auditory circuits in the service of communication. We propose to integrate manipulations in vocal learning with measures of central auditory processing and behavior to determine how early auditory-vocal experience shapes development of the auditory cortex and perception in songbirds. The proposed experiments will identify neural mechanisms for experience-dependent development of vocal communication. The significance of the proposed research to the NIH mission is three-fold. First, this work will identify changes in auditory cortical processing that accompany milestones in normal vocal learning. Second, the work will test the impact of delayed and impaired vocal development on auditory processing and perception. Third, our results will provide insights into how experience manipulations and training can improve prevention, diagnosis and treatment of developmental speech impairments such as those observed in children with auditory spectrum disorders.

Public Health Relevance

The proposed research will combine manipulations in vocal learning, high resolution electrophysiological recordings of brain activity and behavioral assessment of auditory perceptual skills to determine how early auditory-vocal learning shapes development of the central auditory system for communication.

Agency
National Institute of Health (NIH)
Institute
National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders (NIDCD)
Type
Research Project (R01)
Project #
5R01DC009810-07
Application #
9233100
Study Section
Auditory System Study Section (AUD)
Program Officer
Poremba, Amy
Project Start
2008-12-01
Project End
2021-02-28
Budget Start
2017-03-01
Budget End
2018-02-28
Support Year
7
Fiscal Year
2017
Total Cost
$291,845
Indirect Cost
$100,595
Name
Columbia University (N.Y.)
Department
Psychology
Type
Other Domestic Higher Education
DUNS #
049179401
City
New York
State
NY
Country
United States
Zip Code
10027
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Calabrese, Ana; Woolley, Sarah M N (2015) Coding principles of the canonical cortical microcircuit in the avian brain. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A 112:3517-22
Schneider, David M; Woolley, Sarah M N (2013) Sparse and background-invariant coding of vocalizations in auditory scenes. Neuron 79:141-52
Woolley, Sarah M N; Portfors, Christine V (2013) Conserved mechanisms of vocalization coding in mammalian and songbird auditory midbrain. Hear Res 305:45-56
Woolley, Sarah M N (2012) Early experience shapes vocal neural coding and perception in songbirds. Dev Psychobiol 54:612-31
Schumacher, Joseph W; Schneider, David M; Woolley, Sarah M N (2011) Anesthetic state modulates excitability but not spectral tuning or neural discrimination in single auditory midbrain neurons. J Neurophysiol 106:500-14
Ramirez, Alexandro D; Ahmadian, Yashar; Schumacher, Joseph et al. (2011) Incorporating naturalistic correlation structure improves spectrogram reconstruction from neuronal activity in the songbird auditory midbrain. J Neurosci 31:3828-42
Woolley, Sarah M N; Moore, Jordan M (2011) Coevolution in communication senders and receivers: vocal behavior and auditory processing in multiple songbird species. Ann N Y Acad Sci 1225:155-65
Calabrese, Ana; Schumacher, Joseph W; Schneider, David M et al. (2011) A generalized linear model for estimating spectrotemporal receptive fields from responses to natural sounds. PLoS One 6:e16104
Sanes, Dan H; Woolley, Sarah M N (2011) A behavioral framework to guide research on central auditory development and plasticity. Neuron 72:912-29

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