| Abstract: | The role of the auditory cortex and inferior colliculus in echolocation detection and tracking of a moving target and also the role of these parts of the brain in regulation of the vocal apparatus were studied by behavioral and bioacoustic methods in the greater horseshoe batRhinolophus ferrum-equinium. Total bilateral blocking of the auditory cortex was shown to cause significant and irreversible changes in tracking a moving target. Meanwhile destruction of the auditory cortex had no appreciable effect on activity of the bat's vocal apparatus. Total bilateral destruction of the inferior colliculi in the greater horseshoe bat led to disappearance of the response to a moving target (either an artificial target or a natural prey — an insect). In animals with destruction of the inferior colliculi drastic changes were observed in the spectra of the location signals: Numerous low-frequency and high-frequency spectral components appeared. It is concluded from the results that the inferior colliculi in the midbrain participate directly in echolocation detection of moving targets and also in coordination of the reception-emission system of the echolocator in bats. Participation of the auditory cortex in echolocation detection of moving targets is manifested as optimization of the working of the echolocation system.A. A. Ukhtomskii Physiological Research Institute, A. A. Zhdanov Leningrad State University. Translated from Neirofiziologiya, Vol. 16, No. 6, pp. 737–745, November–December, 1984. |
