The integration of facial gestures and vocal signals is an essential process in communication and relies on an interconnected circuit of brain regions. The neural basis of face and vocal integration is a topic of great importance since sensory integration is essential to speech perception and object recognition and is impaired in autism spectrum disorders (ASD) and other intellectual disabilities. Our previous investigations have shown that primate VLPFC, a proposed homologue of human IFG, has neurons that are responsive to species-specific faces and that it integrates these stimuli. Furthermore, VLPFC neurons are active during a crossmodal working memory task with neurons demonstrating increased delay activity, match suppression & enhancement, and activity that is tied to both task and stimulus factors. Importantly, VLPFC neuronal activity is also critical for audiovisual working memory since temporary inactivation results in a decrease in working memory performance. In this proposal we will focus on the role of two additional cortical areas that are connected to VLPFC. Both the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC) and the medial prefrontal cortex (MPFC) are connected to VLPFC and have been shown to support cognitive functions that are a part of audiovisual working memory. Furthermore, we will address the lingering question of which features of face and vocal stimuli are integrated by VLPFC neurons during audiovisual processing and we will expand our focus to ensembles of VLPFC neurons in order to appropriately address this in Aim 3. We hypothesize that the connected cortical areas VLPFC, DLPFC and MPFC play different but contributing roles in the processing, integration and remembering of face and vocal information during social communication.

Public Health Relevance

The ventrolateral prefrontal cortex is part of brain network involved in social communication. It is important for the processing, integration and remembering of face and vocal information. This proposal is aimed at expanding our understanding of the cortical network that underlies audiovisual memory to include investigations of dorsolateral and medial prefrontal regions in addition to the ventrolateral prefrontal cortex. Our questions are aimed at understanding how neurons in these areas process and integrate communication stimuli. These questions are important since individuals with Autism Spectrum Disorder show deficits in audiovisual speech perception which may originate from disruption of the integration of auditory and visual information which would have a deleterious effect on speech perception and social communication.

Agency
National Institute of Health (NIH)
Institute
National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders (NIDCD)
Type
Research Project (R01)
Project #
5R01DC004845-19
Application #
9934178
Study Section
Special Emphasis Panel (ZRG1)
Program Officer
Poremba, Amy
Project Start
2001-04-01
Project End
2022-06-30
Budget Start
2020-07-01
Budget End
2021-06-30
Support Year
19
Fiscal Year
2020
Total Cost
Indirect Cost
Name
University of Rochester
Department
Neurosciences
Type
School of Medicine & Dentistry
DUNS #
041294109
City
Rochester
State
NY
Country
United States
Zip Code
14627
Plakke, B; Romanski, L M (2016) Neural circuits in auditory and audiovisual memory. Brain Res 1640:278-88
Hwang, Jaewon; Romanski, Lizabeth M (2015) Prefrontal neuronal responses during audiovisual mnemonic processing. J Neurosci 35:960-71
Plakke, Bethany; Hwang, Jaewon; Romanski, Lizabeth M (2015) Inactivation of Primate Prefrontal Cortex Impairs Auditory and Audiovisual Working Memory. J Neurosci 35:9666-75
Diehl, Maria M; Romanski, Lizabeth M (2014) Responses of prefrontal multisensory neurons to mismatching faces and vocalizations. J Neurosci 34:11233-43
Plakke, Bethany; Romanski, Lizabeth M (2014) Auditory connections and functions of prefrontal cortex. Front Neurosci 8:199
Plakke, Bethany; Diltz, Mark D; Romanski, Lizabeth M (2013) Coding of vocalizations by single neurons in ventrolateral prefrontal cortex. Hear Res 305:135-43
Romanski, Lizabeth M (2012) Integration of faces and vocalizations in ventral prefrontal cortex: implications for the evolution of audiovisual speech. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A 109 Suppl 1:10717-24
Romanski, L M; Hwang, J (2012) Timing of audiovisual inputs to the prefrontal cortex and multisensory integration. Neuroscience 214:36-48
Romanski, L M; Diehl, M M (2011) Neurons responsive to face-view in the primate ventrolateral prefrontal cortex. Neuroscience 189:223-35
Romanski, Lizabeth M; Averbeck, Bruno B (2009) The primate cortical auditory system and neural representation of conspecific vocalizations. Annu Rev Neurosci 32:315-46

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