首都医科大学Xu Zhang等研究人员合作发现，功能连接通过侧向化角度编码声音位置。这一研究成果于2024年10月29日在线发表在国际学术期刊《神经科学通报》上。

研究人员调查了听觉“何处”通路中的功能连接是否在被动听音期间编码声音位置。参与者在被动听取来自五个不同水平位置（−90°、−45°、0°、45°、90°）的声音时接受功能磁共振成像。研究人员能够从“何处”通路的功能连接模式中解码声音位置。

此外，研究人员发现这种声音位置的神经表征主要基于声音相对于前中线的侧向化角度编码。此外，整体脑分析表明，枕叶区域与初级听觉皮层之间的功能连接也通过侧向化角度编码声音位置。

总体而言，这些结果揭示了一种基于侧向化角度的声音位置表征，通过功能连接模式编码，这可能补充了基于激活的对立半场编码，从而提供对听觉空间更精确的表征。

据悉，快速定位声音来源的能力使人类能够有效理解周围环境。之前的研究表明，大脑皮层中存在一个处理声音位置的听觉“何处”通路。沿该通路的神经激活通过对立半场编码声音位置，即每个单侧区域由来自对侧半场的声音激活。然而，这些区域如何相互作用以形成听觉空间的统一表征仍不清楚。

附：英文原文

Title: Functional Connectivity Encodes Sound Locations by Lateralization Angles

Author: Tong, Renjie, Su, Shaoyi, Liang, Ying, Li, Chunlin, Sun, Liwei, Zhang, Xu

Issue&Volume: 2024-10-29

Abstract: The ability to localize sound sources rapidly allows human beings to efficiently understand the surrounding environment. Previous studies have suggested that there is an auditory “where” pathway in the cortex for processing sound locations. The neural activation in regions along this pathway encodes sound locations by opponent hemifield coding, in which each unilateral region is activated by sounds coming from the contralateral hemifield. However, it is still unclear how these regions interact with each other to form a unified representation of the auditory space. In the present study, we investigated whether functional connectivity in the auditory “where” pathway encoded sound locations during passive listening. Participants underwent functional magnetic resonance imaging while passively listening to sounds from five distinct horizontal locations (90°, 45°, 0°, 45°, 90°). We were able to decode sound locations from the functional connectivity patterns of the “where” pathway. Furthermore, we found that such neural representation of sound locations was primarily based on the coding of sound lateralization angles to the frontal midline. In addition, whole-brain analysis indicated that functional connectivity between occipital regions and the primary auditory cortex also encoded sound locations by lateralization angles. Overall, our results reveal a lateralization-angle-based representation of sound locations encoded by functional connectivity patterns, which could add on the activation-based opponent hemifield coding to provide a more precise representation of the auditory space.

DOI: 10.1007/s12264-024-01312-0

Source: https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s12264-024-01312-0