Neural mechanisms of sound localization in an echolocating bat.
The mustache bat emits a three-harmonic echolocation pulse. At the external ear, large interaural intensity differences are generated only when a sound originates within a limited area of two-dimensional space, and this area is different for each pulse harmonic. As a consequence, the external ear generates pronounced binaural spectral cues containing two-dimensional spatial information. This information is encoded in the inferior colliculus by neurons tuned to one of the harmonics and sensitive to interaural intensity differences.
D000162:Acoustics; D000818:Animals; D001307:Auditory Perception / Q000502:physiology*; D002685:Chiroptera / Q000502:physiology*; D004431:Ear, External / Q000502:physiology; D004455:Echolocation / Q000502:physiology*; D007245:Inferior Colliculi / Q000502:physiology; D009474:Neurons / Q000502:physiology; D009949:Orientation / Q000502:physiology*; D013017:Sound Localization / Q000502:physiology*