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A State-Feedback Neurodynamic Model of Echolocation in Blind Humans

Award Number: R21EY032282
ORGANIZATION: NATIONAL EYE INSTITUTE
OPDIV: NIH
AWARD CLASS: DISCRETIONARY
AWARD ACTIVITY TYPE: SCIENTIFIC/HEALTH RESEARCH (INCLUDES SURVEYS)
PERIOD OF PERFORMANCE START DATE: 07/01/2021
PERIOD OF PERFORMANCE END DATE: 06/30/2024

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A State-Feedback Neurodynamic Model of Echolocation in Blind Humans - PROJECT SUMMARY For the 40 million people worldwide who are blind, everyday activities like navigating a room, identifying a building, or catching a bus present major challenges, especially in unfamiliar areas. Some blind individuals augment their perception to a remarkable degree via active echolocation, producing a “click” sound with their tongues to perceive the object and spatial data encoded in the returning echoes. Echolocation is a useful perceptual and mobility aid for blind persons and a unique scientific model to studying fundamental neural and perceptual mechanisms. Yet it remains incompletely understood, understudied, and thus rarely taught, rendering it inaccessible to the majority of untrained people who are blind or visually impaired. The goal of the proposed research is to characterize the neural dynamics underlying active echolocation. It is a unique sensing modality that consistently activates various occipital “visual” cortical regions in blind echolocators, but the dynamics of that brain activity, and its relationship to active click production, is poorly understood. Here we propose to leverage the fine-grained temporal resolution of magnetoencephalography (MEG) to trace the dynamics of echolocation processing and to determine the roles and processing circuits for active echolocation signals. We will recruit blind and sighted participants and record MEG as they listen to echo stimuli and actively ensonify virtual reflecting objects in the scanner. We will use these data to propose a model of echolocation incorporating the active click production, sensory feedback from the echoes, and relevance to a behavioral goal. The results will inform theories of active perception, which currently lack well defined models in audition; neuroplasticity in blindness, which underrepresents temporal dynamics; and eventually orientation and mobility training, which lacks evidence to motivate echolocation-based interventions. Methodologically, in performing the proposed work, we will pioneer temporally resolved neuroscience of echolocation, expand the application of artifact-reduction algorithms, and introduce a novel framework for studying auditory sensory-motor coupling paradigms.


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 = $0 )
2025	2022	THE SMITH-KETTLEWELL EYE RESEARCH INSTITUTE	2318 FILLMORE ST	SAN FRANCISCO	CA	94115	SAN FRANCISCO	USA	Vision Research	000	2	3/20/2025	NON-COMPETING CONTINUATION	$0
														Subtotal = $0

Issue Date FY: 2022 ( Subtotal = $226,908 )
2022	2022	SMITH-KETTLEWELL EYE RESEARCH INSTITUTE, THE	2318 FILLMORE ST	SAN FRANCISCO	CA	94115	SAN FRANCISCO	USA	Vision Research	000	2	6/24/2022	NON-COMPETING CONTINUATION	$226,908
														Subtotal = $226,908

Issue Date FY: 2021 ( Subtotal = $204,034 )
2021	2021	SMITH-KETTLEWELL EYE RESEARCH INSTITUTE, THE	2318 FILLMORE ST	SAN FRANCISCO	CA	94115	SAN FRANCISCO	USA	Vision Research	000	1	6/22/2021	NEW	$204,034
														Subtotal = $204,034

Grand Total All Awards = $430,942

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A State-Feedback Neurodynamic Model of Echolocation in Blind Humans

Award Number: R21EY032282

ORGANIZATION: NATIONAL EYE INSTITUTE

OPDIV: NIH

AWARD CLASS: DISCRETIONARY

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

PERIOD OF PERFORMANCE START DATE: 07/01/2021

PERIOD OF PERFORMANCE END DATE: 06/30/2024

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