Tuesday, July 1, 2025 7/1/2025

Neural basis of vocal signal recognition during natural communication

Award Number: R01DC012087
ORGANIZATION: NATIONAL INSTITUTE ON DEAFNESS AND OTHER COMMUNICATION DISORDERS
OPDIV: NIH
AWARD CLASS: DISCRETIONARY
AWARD ACTIVITY TYPE: SCIENTIFIC/HEALTH RESEARCH (INCLUDES SURVEYS)
PERIOD OF PERFORMANCE START DATE: 07/01/2012
PERIOD OF PERFORMANCE END DATE: 06/30/2028

Group Awards By:

View Award Description

Neural basis of vocal signal recognition during natural communication - Project Summary One of the most frequently discussed challenges facing the auditory system is parsing the voice of a single speaker in a noisy acoustic environments comprising multiple other speakers, commonly referred to as the Cocktail Party Problem (CPP). Despite the significance of the CPP to illustrate the complex nuances of audition that unfold in real-world situations, remarkably little remains known about the supporting neural mechanisms at different levels of the auditory circuit. This gap in our knowledge has emerged, at least in part, due to a lack of a behavioral paradigm in animal models that both recreated the natural complexities and dynamics of natural cocktail parties, while at the same time affording experimental control to manipulate the acoustic scene. Here we seek to bridge this gap by leveraging a novel, multi-speaker behavioral paradigm in a series of complementary experiments to investigate the perceptual and neural mechanisms that are employed in the primate brain to resolve the CPP for natural communication in freely-moving common marmosets. Aim 1 establishes an innovative behavioral paradigm that recreates the natural dynamics of real-world cocktail parties by creating an acoustic scene comprising multiple computer-generated virtual monkeys (VM) whose individual identity and spatial position can be independently and systematically manipulated. Each marmoset placed in these cocktail parties naturally learn the identity of the interactive VM based on idiosyncrasies of their voice and vocal behavior and selectively engage them in conversations, while ignoring the distractor VMs engaged in conversations with each other. Experiments in Aim 2 involve performing simultaneous neurophysiological recordings of prefrontal cortex and hippocampus in marmoset monkeys as they communicate in a cocktail party described in Aim 1. Specifically, experiments are designed to test the respective and complementary roles of these neural substrates in the auditory representing the identity and spatial position of individuals in the CPE. Because of the respective role of prefrontal cortex in attention and hippocampus for allocentric representations of space, these substrates are hypothesized to be critical to resolving the CPP in primates. Aim 3 aims to build on the complementary conceptual and experimental innovations to more directly interrogate the perceptual and neural mechanisms that support communicating in a cocktail party. Specifically we will a cutting-edge closed-loop feedback paradigm that uses machine learning algorithms to optimize the conversational dynamics between the interactive VM and live marmoset in a multi-speaker cocktail party. This model will selectively manipulate targeted features within the ongoing natural conversations to directly interrogate the system and determine the functional role of behavioral parameters and related neural processes.


Issue Date FY	Funding FY	Legal Entity Name	Legal Entity Address	Legal Entity City	Legal Entity State	Legal Entity Zip Code	Legal Entity COUNTY	Legal Entity COUNTRY	Assistance Listing	Award Code	Budget Year	Action Date	Action Type	Action Amount

Issue Date FY: 2025 ( Subtotal = $527,786 )
2025	2025	UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA, SAN DIEGO	9500 GILMAN DR	LA JOLLA	CA	92093	SAN DIEGO	USA	Research Related to Deafness and Communication Disorders	000	13	6/3/2025	NON-COMPETING CONTINUATION	$527,786
														Subtotal = $527,786

Issue Date FY: 2024 ( Subtotal = $558,896 )
2024	2024	UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA, SAN DIEGO	9500 GILMAN DR	LA JOLLA	CA	92093	SAN DIEGO	USA	Research Related to Deafness and Communication Disorders	002	12	7/1/2024	NON-COMPETING CONTINUATION	$558,896
2024	2023	UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA, SAN DIEGO	9500 GILMAN DR	LA JOLLA	CA	92093	SAN DIEGO	USA	Research Related to Deafness and Communication Disorders	001	11	6/24/2024	COMPETING CONTINUATION	$42,660
2024	2022	UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA, SAN DIEGO	9500 GILMAN DR	LA JOLLA	CA	92093	SAN DIEGO	USA	Research Related to Deafness and Communication Disorders	000	10	6/24/2024	NON-COMPETING CONTINUATION	-$42,660
														Subtotal = $558,896

Issue Date FY: 2023 ( Subtotal = $543,086 )
2023	2023	UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA, SAN DIEGO	9500 GILMAN DRIVE	LA JOLLA	CA	92093	SAN DIEGO	USA	Research Related to Deafness and Communication Disorders	000	11	4/21/2023	COMPETING CONTINUATION	$543,086
														Subtotal = $543,086

Issue Date FY: 2022 ( Subtotal = $335,750 )
2022	2022	UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA, SAN DIEGO	9500 GILMAN DR	LA JOLLA	CA	92093	SAN DIEGO	USA	Research Related to Deafness and Communication Disorders	000	10	6/8/2022	NON-COMPETING CONTINUATION	$335,750
														Subtotal = $335,750

Issue Date FY: 2021 ( Subtotal = $334,688 )
2021	2021	UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA, SAN DIEGO	9500 GILMAN DR	LA JOLLA	CA	92093	SAN DIEGO	USA	Research Related to Deafness and Communication Disorders	000	9	6/24/2021	NON-COMPETING CONTINUATION	$334,688
2021	2021	UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA, SAN DIEGO	9500 GILMAN DR	LA JOLLA	CA	92093	SAN DIEGO	USA	Research Related to Deafness and Communication Disorders	001	9	9/24/2021	NON-COMPETING CONTINUATION	$0
														Subtotal = $334,688

Issue Date FY: 2020 ( Subtotal = $334,688 )
2020	2020	UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA, SAN DIEGO	9500 GILMAN DR	LA JOLLA	CA	92093	SAN DIEGO	USA	Research Related to Deafness and Communication Disorders	000	8	6/24/2020	NON-COMPETING CONTINUATION	$334,688
														Subtotal = $334,688

Issue Date FY: 2019 ( Subtotal = $334,688 )
2019	2019	UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA, SAN DIEGO	9500 GILMAN DR DEPT 621	LA JOLLA	CA	92093	SAN DIEGO	USA	Research Related to Deafness and Communication Disorders	001	7	7/25/2019	NON-COMPETING CONTINUATION	$334,688
2019	2016	UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA, SAN DIEGO	9500 GILMAN DR DEPT 621	LA JOLLA	CA	92093	SAN DIEGO	USA	Research Related to Deafness and Communication Disorders	000	5	3/26/2019	EXTENSION WITH OR WITHOUT FUNDS	$0
														Subtotal = $334,688

Issue Date FY: 2018 ( Subtotal = $358,780 )
2018	2018	UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA, SAN DIEGO	9500 GILMAN DR DEPT 621	LA JOLLA	CA	92093	SAN DIEGO	USA	Research Related to Deafness and Communication Disorders	000	5	1/12/2018	SUPPLEMENT FOR EXPANSION	$30,000
2018	2018	UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA, SAN DIEGO	9500 GILMAN DR DEPT 621	LA JOLLA	CA	92093	SAN DIEGO	USA	Research Related to Deafness and Communication Disorders	001	6	6/28/2018	COMPETING CONTINUATION	$328,780
														Subtotal = $358,780

Issue Date FY: 2017 ( Subtotal = $0 )
2017	2016	UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA, SAN DIEGO	9500 GILMAN DR DEPT 621	LA JOLLA	CA	92093	SAN DIEGO	USA	Research Related to Deafness and Communication Disorders	001	5	11/16/2016	EXTENSION WITH OR WITHOUT FUNDS	$95,314
2017	2015	UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA, SAN DIEGO	9500 GILMAN DR DEPT 621	LA JOLLA	CA	92093	SAN DIEGO	USA	Research Related to Deafness and Communication Disorders	000	4	11/16/2016	NON-COMPETING CONTINUATION	-$95,314
														Subtotal = $0

Issue Date FY: 2016 ( Subtotal = $377,763 )
2016	2016	UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA-SAN DIEGO	9500 GILMAN DRIVE	LA JOLLA	CA	92093	SAN DIEGO	USA	Research Related to Deafness and Communication Disorders	000	5	6/21/2016	EXTENSION WITH OR WITHOUT FUNDS	$377,763
														Subtotal = $377,763

Issue Date FY: 2015 ( Subtotal = $373,985 )
2015	2015	UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA-SAN DIEGO	9500 GILMAN DRIVE	LA JOLLA	CA	92093	SAN DIEGO	USA	Research Related to Deafness and Communication Disorders	000	4	6/23/2015	NON-COMPETING CONTINUATION	$373,985
														Subtotal = $373,985

Issue Date FY: 2014 ( Subtotal = $377,763 )
2014	2014	UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA-SAN DIEGO	9500 GILMAN DRIVE	LA JOLLA	CA	92093	SAN DIEGO	USA	Research Related to Deafness and Communication Disorders	000	3	6/30/2014	NON-COMPETING CONTINUATION	$377,763
														Subtotal = $377,763

Issue Date FY: 2013 ( Subtotal = $358,875 )
2013	2013	UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA-SAN DIEGO	9500 GILMAN DRIVE	LA JOLLA	CA	92093	SAN DIEGO	USA	Research Related to Deafness and Communication Disorders	000	2	9/6/2013	NON-COMPETING CONTINUATION	$358,875
														Subtotal = $358,875

Issue Date FY: 2012 ( Subtotal = $377,763 )
2012	2012	UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA-SAN DIEGO	9500 GILMAN DRIVE	LA JOLLA	CA	92093	SAN DIEGO	USA	Research Related to Deafness and Communication Disorders	000	1	6/28/2012	NEW	$377,763
														Subtotal = $377,763

Grand Total All Awards = $5,194,511

Top

All Categories

About

Search

Reports

Data Submission

Award Information

Neural basis of vocal signal recognition during natural communication

Award Number: R01DC012087

ORGANIZATION: NATIONAL INSTITUTE ON DEAFNESS AND OTHER COMMUNICATION DISORDERS

OPDIV: NIH

AWARD CLASS: DISCRETIONARY

AWARD ACTIVITY TYPE: SCIENTIFIC/HEALTH RESEARCH (INCLUDES SURVEYS)

PERIOD OF PERFORMANCE START DATE: 07/01/2012

PERIOD OF PERFORMANCE END DATE: 06/30/2028

Federal Websites

Department of Health & Human Services

HHS Operating Divisions

HHS Staff Divisions

Download A Document Viewer