Kondo Hirohito M, Farkas Dávid, Denham Susan L, Asai Tomohisa, Winkler István
Human Information Science Laboratory, NTT Communication Science Laboratories, NTT Corporation, Atsugi, Kanagawa 243-0198, Japan
Institute of Cognitive Neuroscience and Psychology, Research Centre for Natural Sciences, Hungarian Academy of Sciences, Magyar Tudósok körútja 2, 1117 Budapest, Hungary.
Philos Trans R Soc Lond B Biol Sci. 2017 Feb 19;372(1714). doi: 10.1098/rstb.2016.0110. Epub 2017 Jan 2.
Multistability in perception is a powerful tool for investigating sensory-perceptual transformations, because it produces dissociations between sensory inputs and subjective experience. Spontaneous switching between different perceptual objects occurs during prolonged listening to a sound sequence of tone triplets or repeated words (termed auditory streaming and verbal transformations, respectively). We used these examples of auditory multistability to examine to what extent neurochemical and cognitive factors influence the observed idiosyncratic patterns of switching between perceptual objects. The concentrations of glutamate-glutamine (Glx) and γ-aminobutyric acid (GABA) in brain regions were measured by magnetic resonance spectroscopy, while personality traits and executive functions were assessed using questionnaires and response inhibition tasks. Idiosyncratic patterns of perceptual switching in the two multistable stimulus configurations were identified using a multidimensional scaling (MDS) analysis. Intriguingly, although switching patterns within each individual differed between auditory streaming and verbal transformations, similar MDS dimensions were extracted separately from the two datasets. Individual switching patterns were significantly correlated with Glx and GABA concentrations in auditory cortex and inferior frontal cortex but not with the personality traits and executive functions. Our results suggest that auditory perceptual organization depends on the balance between neural excitation and inhibition in different brain regions.This article is part of the themed issue 'Auditory and visual scene analysis'.
感知中的多稳态是研究感觉-知觉转换的有力工具，因为它能产生感觉输入与主观体验之间的分离。在长时间聆听三音组音调序列或重复单词的声音序列时（分别称为听觉流和言语转换），会出现不同感知对象之间的自发切换。我们利用这些听觉多稳态的例子，来研究神经化学和认知因素在多大程度上影响了观察到的感知对象之间切换的独特模式。通过磁共振波谱测量大脑区域中谷氨酸-谷氨酰胺（Glx）和γ-氨基丁酸（GABA）的浓度，同时使用问卷和反应抑制任务评估人格特质和执行功能。使用多维标度（MDS）分析确定了两种多稳态刺激配置中感知切换的独特模式。有趣的是，尽管每个个体在听觉流和言语转换中的切换模式不同，但从两个数据集中分别提取了相似的MDS维度。个体切换模式与听觉皮层和额下回中的Glx和GABA浓度显著相关，但与人格特质和执行功能无关。我们的结果表明，听觉感知组织取决于不同脑区神经兴奋与抑制之间的平衡。本文是主题为“听觉与视觉场景分析”的特刊的一部分。
