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Vestigial auriculomotor activity indicates the direction of auditory attention in humans
eLife ( IF 6.4 ) Pub Date : 2020-07-03 , DOI: 10.7554/elife.54536
Daniel J Strauss 1 , Farah I Corona-Strauss 1 , Andreas Schroeer 1 , Philipp Flotho 1 , Ronny Hannemann 2 , Steven A Hackley 3
Affiliation  

Unlike dogs and cats, people do not point their ears as they focus attention on novel, salient, or task-relevant stimuli. Our species may nevertheless have retained a vestigial pinna-orienting system that has persisted as a 'neural fossil’ within in the brain for about 25 million years. Consistent with this hypothesis, we demonstrate that the direction of auditory attention is reflected in sustained electrical activity of muscles within the vestigial auriculomotor system. Surface electromyograms (EMGs) were taken from muscles that either move the pinna or alter its shape. To assess reflexive, stimulus-driven attention we presented novel sounds from speakers at four different lateral locations while the participants silently read a boring text in front of them. To test voluntary, goal-directed attention we instructed participants to listen to a short story coming from one of these speakers, while ignoring a competing story from the corresponding speaker on the opposite side. In both experiments, EMG recordings showed larger activity at the ear on the side of the attended stimulus, but with slightly different patterns. Upward movement (perking) differed according to the lateral focus of attention only during voluntary orienting; rearward folding of the pinna’s upper-lateral edge exhibited such differences only during reflexive orienting. The existence of a pinna-orienting system in humans, one that is experimentally accessible, offers opportunities for basic as well as applied science.

中文翻译:

残留的耳运动活动指示人类听觉注意力的方向

与狗和猫不同,当人们将注意力集中在新奇、显着或与任务相关的刺激上时,他们不会竖起耳朵。尽管如此,我们的物种可能仍然保留了一个退化的耳廓定向系统,该系统在大脑中作为“神经化石”存在了大约 2500 万年。与这一假设一致,我们证明听觉注意力的方向反映在退化的耳运动系统内肌肉的持续电活动中。表面肌电图 (EMG) 取自移动耳廓或改变其形状的肌肉。为了评估反射性的、刺激驱动的注意力,我们在四个不同的横向位置展示了来自扬声器的新声音,而参与者则默默地阅读他们面前的无聊文本。为了测试自愿,以目标为导向的注意力,我们指示参与者听来自其中一位演讲者的短篇小说,同时忽略来自另一边相应演讲者的竞争故事。在这两个实验中,EMG 记录显示,在参与刺激的一侧耳朵有更大的活动,但模式略有不同。向上运动(perking)仅在自愿定向期间根据注意力的横向焦点而有所不同;耳廓上外侧边缘的向后折叠仅在反射定向期间表现出这种差异。人类耳廓定向系统的存在,一个可以通过实验获得的系统,为基础科学和应用科学提供了机会。在这两个实验中,EMG 记录显示,在参与刺激的一侧耳朵有更大的活动,但模式略有不同。向上运动(perking)仅在自愿定向期间根据注意力的横向焦点而有所不同;耳廓上外侧边缘的向后折叠仅在反射定向期间表现出这种差异。人类耳廓定向系统的存在,一个可以通过实验获得的系统,为基础科学和应用科学提供了机会。在这两个实验中,EMG 记录显示,在参与刺激的一侧耳朵有更大的活动,但模式略有不同。向上运动(perking)仅在自愿定向期间根据注意力的横向焦点而有所不同;耳廓上外侧边缘的向后折叠仅在反射定向期间表现出这种差异。人类耳廓定向系统的存在,一个可以通过实验获得的系统,为基础科学和应用科学提供了机会。耳廓上外侧边缘的向后折叠仅在反射定向期间表现出这种差异。人类耳廓定向系统的存在,一个可以通过实验获得的系统,为基础科学和应用科学提供了机会。耳廓上外侧边缘的向后折叠仅在反射定向期间表现出这种差异。人类耳廓定向系统的存在,一个可以通过实验获得的系统,为基础科学和应用科学提供了机会。
更新日期:2020-07-03
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