2015 — 2017 |
Yartsev, Michael |
N/AActivity Code Description: No activity code was retrieved: click on the grant title for more information |
Brain Eager: Going All Wireless to Establish Bats as the First Mammalian Model System For Vocal Learning @ University of California-Berkeley
The ability to learn a language is a core feature of humanity. Yet, the detailed mammalian brain mechanisms that subserve this complex learning process are poorly understood. The reason for this major gap of knowledge stems from a surprising fact: The vast majority of mammals, including non-human primates and all standard mammalian laboratory animal models, do not learn their language, that is, their vocalizations are innate. Hence, the mammalian neural circuits that support language learning have remained largely obscure. The goal of this proposal is to take the most direct approach towards bridging this gap and establish the bat as the first mammalian model system for studying the detailed brain mechanisms subserving vocal learning. To achieve this goal, all wireless behavioral and neural monitoring technology will be developed and implemented to track and analyze vocal and neural signals of bats in natural settings. In addition to the development of new neurotechnologies and establishment of a new model system, the project supports opportunities for students from diverse backgrounds to engage in research and for public science education.
Language learning is a social learning process that occurs under natural conditions and its investigation requires approaches that preserve such settings. To satisfy this requirement, the project aims to develop an all-wireless experimental approach that alleviates many of the physical constraints that are imposed by standard tethered systems. The proposed approach combines novel methods for monitoring and measurement both the animal's behavior, as well as neural activity in relevant brain circuits on a broad range of timescales ranging from milliseconds to months. Taking this approach, the project aims to lay the groundwork for enabling a detailed description of the underlying neuronal dynamics that support vocal learning in the juvenile bat and thereby establish the bat as a mammalian model for investigation of the neurobiology of vocal learning. Considering the profound influence language has over our daily lives, the technologies developed and discoveries made in this research program will be of major interest to both the broad neuroscience community as well as to the general public.
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1 |
2016 |
Yartsev, Michael Moshe |
DP2Activity Code Description: To support highly innovative research projects by new investigators in all areas of biomedical and behavioral research. |
The First Mammalian Model System For Studying Vocal Learning: a Behavioral and Neurophysiological Approach @ University of California Berkeley
PROJECT SUMMARY The ability to learn a language is a core human trait. Yet, the study of its neurobiological underpinnings has faced a major roadblock for hundreds of years - a tractable mammalian model system to study this function has never been established. The reason is that vocal learning abilities are remarkably sparse and out of over 5400 existing mammalian species only a select few possess vocal learning abilities, these are cetaceans, elephants and bats, with initial evidence of vocal development only recently emerging in non-human primates. Thus, all detailed neurobiological investigation of vocal learning focused on the avian brain. While this body of work produced invaluable insight, evolutionary divergence between avian and mammalian brains makes translating findings from birds to humans challenging. For example, the avian equivalent of cortex has a nuclear organization, which is very different from the six-layered cortex of mammals. A mammalian model system is thus imperatively needed to bridge this major gap. Therefore the goal of this proposal is to directly overcome this challenge by establishing bats as the first mammalian model system for studying the neural basis of vocal learning. Our investigations target key cortical areas that are involved in auditory perception and vocal production - two key requirements of vocal learning. These are the auditory and frontal cortices. Bats are further an attractive model system because many behavioral aspects of their vocal learning share many resemblances with those of human language learning. To facilitate our studies we advance three major aims that would enable detailed neurobiological investigation of vocal learning. First, we design a high-throughput, automated vocal-learning paradigm for bats. This system allows unprecedented control over bat vocal learning and targets core features of human vocal learning, such as vocal-motor plasticity at both the laryngeal source and vocal tract. We further use this paradigm in combination with immunohistochemistry to identify candidate brain areas that may participate in vocal learning. Second, we use our development of wireless electrophysiological methods to monitor at millisecond resolution the coding properties of mammalian cortical neurons during vocal learning. This approach will provide both the first description of mammalian cortical computations underlying vocal learning as well as enable a direct comparison to studies in birds and identify generalizable neural mechanisms between birds and mammals. Third, we use cellular-resolution calcium imaging to longitudinally monitor cortical networks throughout the vocal learning process. These experiments will facilitate the first description of the emergence of cortical responses and anatomical topographies during vocal learning. Ultimately, our research program will provide a detailed description of the mammalian neural computations that support our ability to learn language, but it should help us also understand the causes of disorders directly related to speech and language development and aid in the design of more effective therapeutic approaches that will be applicable to humans.
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0.958 |
2021 |
Yartsev, Michael Moshe |
R01Activity Code Description: To support a discrete, specified, circumscribed project to be performed by the named investigator(s) in an area representing his or her specific interest and competencies. |
From Social Networks to Neural Networks: Investigating the Neural Basis of Real-Life Social Relationships @ University of California Berkeley
PROJECT SUMMARY Social relationships develop between individuals with a social network. Difficulties in mediating social relationships with other individuals is strongly associated with severe mental disorders ranging from depression, chronic stress, autism and other. Thus, understanding the neural underpinning of social relationships is paramount. To gain insight that would inform of real-life behavior, I propose to study the nervous system under real-life conditions in which social interactions in humans and animals typically occur. In particular, I focus on the fact that social interactions typically involve multiple participants, employ the usage of a flexible repertoire of communication signals, and occur between individuals of varying social bonds and personality traits. Furthermore, social relationships evolve over prolonged periods of time in a dynamic fashion. In this proposal we focus on the anterior cingulate cortex (ACC). We do so because activity in this area has previously been strongly associated with social behaviors across a wide range of mammalian species, including humans. However, much less is known about the neural computations in the ACC with respect to social relationships, especially during real-life and multi-dimensional social conditions. To do so, we use the Egyptian fruit bat, a highly social, long-lived mammal that is accustom to group living and where individuals engage in relationships that extend over many months/years. We further develop advanced behavioral measurements that allow us to monitor the social interactions of individuals within our colonies continuously and characterize their social relationships between group members. To study the neural circuits that underlie social relationships we develop wireless neurophysiological tools that enable monitoring neural activity from entire colonies of bats simultaneously at cellular and millisecond resolutions (electrophysiology) and over prolonged periods of time (calcium imaging). This novel approach allows us to consider the true complexity of real-life social interactions and consider the social bonds between the individuals, the dynamic structure of the social relationships as well as the individual variability in personality traits. Specifically, we aim to achieve the following aims: (1) We start by describing the basic neural dynamics in the ACC during semi-natural, dyadic, social interactions and communication. (2) We next describe the ACC neural dynamics during interaction occurring within real-life, stable, social networks while considering the relationships between individuals (3) We describe the evolution of ACC neural dynamic in parallel to the dynamical changes that occur in real-life social networks. (4) We use optogenetics tools to disrupt neural activity in the ACC during group social interactions in order to assess its causal role in real-life social relationships with other individuals. Combined, these experiments will provide a detailed description of ACC neural computations underlying the mediation of social relationships within a social network. In doing so, we aim for these results to provide important insight that could be used in clinical future application in patients.
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0.958 |