Work

Auditory brainstem response parameters in big brown bats are insensitive to echo glint structure

Year: 2025

Type: article

Abstract: Echolocating big brown bats (Eptesicus fuscus) perceive a target's reflecting parts, or glints, from spectral peaks and nulls in echoes. Glints serve as cues for object size and shape. In this exploratory study, we investigated whether the scalp-recorded auditory brainstem response (ABR) carries information about glints. We show that ABR amplitude, latency, and root mean square energy do not differentiate between glints in a manner paralleling the bat's perception. ABR recordings, even though they encode some perceptually relevant features of echoes, may not be sensitive enough to distinguish these more subtle cues.

Source: JASA Express Letters

DOI: 10.1121/10.0038943

Authors: Andrea Megela Simmons, Amaro Tuninetti, James A. Simmons

Institution: Brown University

Language: English

Topic: Bat Biology and Ecology Studies

Subfield: Ecology, Evolution, Behavior and Systematics

Field: Agricultural and Biological Sciences

Domain: Life Sciences

Open Access status: diamond

Funder: Office of Naval Research

Awards: G1256050880, G1477030654