實驗心理學與認知神經科學界亟待解決的基礎議題之一，乃各腦區或神經組織如何溝通協調以完成特定的認知歷程。這個議題之所以困難，除了研究工具的限制，另外也和神經訊號的複雜性與非線性特質（Buzsaki and Mizuseki, 2014）無法經由傳統的線性式訊號分析方法進行有效解析有重要關聯。雖然靈長類動物的研究資料或可提供部分的相關神經機制線索，但因神經共振與傳導方式及效率仍與人類有相當差異，故尚無法與人類直接比較（Pryluk et al., Cell, 2019）。為闡明腦神經運作機制與腦區動態作用的因果關係，我們預定運用與黃鍔院士共同開發的全新非線性動態數據分析方法（如Holo-Hilbert Spectral Analysis, HHSA; Huang et al., 2016），配合非侵入性腦刺激（如跨顱電/磁刺激），並結合心理學與神經電生理和神經造影工具，全面性探討知覺、注意力、工作記憶、認知控制與動作控制相關的認知功能，具體研究內容將聚焦在：（1）特徵聯結（feature-binding）神經機制與由上而下或由下而上的注意力控制機制（top-down/bottom-up attention control），（2）記憶訊息登錄與維持（encoding and maintenance）的神經機制，（3）認知及動作控制的神經機制，（4）不同神經節點如何透過快速的訊息交換與協調以便及時因應環境變化而反映其後的神經機制。事實上，已有越來越多的研究證據指出認知控制及相關的注意力認知功能，可有效預測學業表現以及未來發展（甚至可長達30年後的表現），例如：社經地位、身體健康、婚姻狀態、藥物濫用與否、犯罪傾向等。另一方面，世界衛生組織資料顯示，全世界有超過3億人口受到憂鬱症影響，約160萬人因暴力喪生以及130萬人自殺；這些問題都與不同程度的注意力及認知控制缺陷有關。據此可知，認知控制能力與注意力堪稱影響一生的關鍵，一個清楚且完整的神經機制整合性理論，將可為這些嚴重的社會與醫療問題提供有意義的解決方案。我們的終極目標係為基礎認知神經科學、臨床治療、學童教育、及神經與精神科學轉譯醫學界開啟更多可能，同時針對相關政策之擬定提出具科學實驗證據的合適建言，使國家社會之福祉獲得提升。 ;One ultimate challenge in human mind research is how billions of neurons can communicate and integrate information for synthesizing holistic cognitive function in the ever-changing environment. This question cannot be fully answered with correlational relationship but it also needs causal evidence. We propose to investigate the cognitive functions associated with cognitive control and to elucidate the neural mechanisms of its subcomponents such as visual attention, visual working memory, and inhibitory control in order to form an integrative theory of these functions with a complementary combination of neuroimaging and neuromodulational techniques to establish both correlational and causal evidence. We also need sophisticated and powerful tools and analytical methods in order to decipher and delineate the complex neural communication and synchronization in which the frequency modulation and amplitude modulation are intertwined in a dynamical and nonstationary way. Therefore we will utilize our high dimensional Holo-Hilbert Spectral Analysis to reveal the full spectra of nonlinear signals and to overcome the major flaws of current main stream of analytical methods (Fourier or wavelet analysis) which can only resolve linear problems. We expect to further extend our leading role in non-invasive brain stimulation studies in cognitive neuroscience in Asia then broaden academic influence in the field internationally. On the basis of these theoretical findings, our ultimate goals are: (1) to form a synergistic neural oscillation theory of cognitive control; (2) to provide opportunities for training new generations of researchers; (3) for integrative studies concerning cognitive neuroscience, clinical and translational medicine; (4) to offer evidence-based suggestions on precise and personalized clinical non-invasive brain stimulation treatments in neurological/psychiatric disorders; (5) to offer potential educational interventions to policy makers in order to improve the well-being in the society.
