Navigation Links
Bat brains offer clues as to how we focus on some sounds and not others
Date:11/14/2010

San Diego - How do you know what to listen to? In the middle of a noisy party, how does a mother suddenly focus on a child's cry, even if it isn't her own?

Bridget Queenan, a doctoral candidate in neuroscience at Georgetown University Medical Center is turning to mustached bats to help her solve this puzzle.

At the annual meeting of the Society for Neuroscience in San Diego, Queenan will report that she has found neurons in the brains of bats that seem to "shush" other neurons when relevant communications sounds come in a process she suggests may be working in humans as well.

In her investigations, she has also found that "some neurons seemed to know to yell louder to report communication sounds over the presence of background noise."

"So we can now start to piece together how the cells in your brain are able to deal with the complex sensory environment we live in," Queenan added.

To understand auditory brain function, bats are especially interesting animals to study because they process sound through echolocation, which is a kind of biological sonar. Bats call out and then listen to their own echoes produced when those calls bounce off nearby objects. Bats use these echoes to navigate and to hunt.

Not only do the brains of bats have to process a constant stream of pulses and echoes, they have to simultaneously process the bats' social communication, Queenan says.

"What we are trying to figure out is how a bat can fly around echolocating - screeching and listening to its own individual sounds bouncing back - amidst a whole colony of hundreds of other echolocating bats and possibly hear another bat saying 'watch out! Bats actually do make these cautious calls quite a bit," she says. "In fact, bats have a whole host of communication sounds: angry sounds, warning sounds, and sounds that says 'please don't hurt me."

The auditory processing area in bats' brains is larger than other cente
'/>"/>

Contact: Karen Mallet
km463@georgetown.edu
215-514-9751
Georgetown University Medical Center
Source:Eurekalert

1

GOOD

Page: 1 2

Related biology news :

1. Old and young brains rely on different systems to remember emotional content
2. Rice University psychologist finds womens brains recognize, encode smell of male sexual sweat
3. Our brains make their own marijuana: Were all pot heads deep inside
4. Snakes and how they helped our big brains evolve
5. Monkey brains signal the desire to explore
6. Scientists remove amyloid plaques from brains of live animals with Alzheimers disease
7. Stimulus grant of nearly $9 million to UC San Diego funds big study of young brains
8. Ladder-walking locusts show big brains arent always best
9. Bigger not necessarily better, when it comes to brains
10. New neuroimaging analysis technique identifies impact of Alzheimers disease gene in healthy brains
11. Psychopaths brains wired to seek rewards, no matter the consequences
Post Your Comments:
*Name:
*Comment:
*Email:
(Date:6/17/2013)... in patients with severe brain infections in Vietnam. Further ... responsible for the symptoms of disease. , The virus ... 644 patients with severe brain infections in the study, ... the 122 patients with non-infectious brain disorders that were ... system are often fatal and patients who do survive, ...
(Date:6/17/2013)... in Wayne State University,s Department of Physics kicked ... Experience for Undergraduates (REU) program. This program aims ... research in astrophysics, and in particle and nuclear ... professor of physics in Wayne State,s College of ... of the grant, the student participants will work ...
(Date:6/17/2013)... , June 17, 2013 As mobile ... need to secure them grows exponentially, and biometric ... report from Heavy Reading Insider ( ... Heavy Reading ( www.heavyreading.com ). ... the market for biometric authentication on smartphones, analyzing ...
Breaking Biology News(10 mins):New virus isolated from patients with severe brain infections 2New virus isolated from patients with severe brain infections 3Wayne State welcomes undergraduates from around the US for physics research experience 2Biometric Authentication Provides Better Mobile Device Security, Heavy Reading Finds 2Biometric Authentication Provides Better Mobile Device Security, Heavy Reading Finds 3
... genetic screening (PGS) has been one,of the most hotly ... years. None of the trials,carried out so far has ... European Society of Human,Reproduction and Embryology (ESHRE) Task Force ... if a novel,method of doing PGS using polar body ...
... signal molecule made by the human body that triggers the ... according to new research published today in Nature Medicine ... say that if scientists could block this signal, it may ... arthritis is the most common autoimmune disease, affecting around 1 ...
... fans are in awe of what their football heroes can ... remains strangely mysterious. Although being in excellent physical condition undoubtedly ... can turn an average bloke into a Ronaldo. Now, scientists ... this "something else" might be. Dr. Robbie Wilson will talk ...
Cached Biology News:ESHRE launches international study of polar body screening 2New trigger for chronic inflammation in rheumatoid arthritis discovered 2What makes a great footballer? 2
(Date:6/18/2013)... The human skin is the largest organ, yet many do ... Similar to the liver, or heart, the skin must be ... Recent reports from the mankatofreepress.com explained how caring for the ... other life supporting organs. The article suggests several types of ... the appearance of skin, and fight off acne causing factors. ...
(Date:6/18/2013)... JERUSALEM , June 18, 2013 ... study using the company,s  proprietary AMCA Guided Bone Regeneration (GBR) ... dental implants. A common problem encountered when patients ... lack of sufficient bone volume to house the implant. Consequently ... a bone substitute until the natural bone regenerates. The bone ...
(Date:6/18/2013)... LONDON , June 18, 2013 /PRNewswire/ ... leading international investment research firm, announces the ... (BIO.PA), a French biopharmaceutical company developing and ... supportive care indications.      (Logo: ... a comprehensive report examining the investment merits ...
(Date:6/18/2013)... Israel , June 18, 2013 ... Active Pharmaceutical Ingredients (APIs), generic and innovative intermediates, and finished ... that the company has been granted a United ... the US and Europe for the ... number 8,410,176 B2 is titled Intermediate Compounds and Processes ...
Breaking Biology Technology:Natural Acne Remedies Through Diet, Probiotic Action Shares New Insight on What Foods May Help Lead to Clear Skin 2RegeneCure Starts Clinical Study Using Polymeric Bone Stimulating Membrane for Dental Implants 2RegeneCure Starts Clinical Study Using Polymeric Bone Stimulating Membrane for Dental Implants 3Edison Expands French Healthcare Sector Coverage With Initiation of Coverage on BioAlliance Pharma 2Edison Expands French Healthcare Sector Coverage With Initiation of Coverage on BioAlliance Pharma 3Mapi Pharma Granted United States Patent for Pain Relief Medication "Tapentadol" 2
... Feb. 26 Biomerix Corporation announced today that it ... clearance to market REVIVE(TM). Constructed using the Biomerix Biomaterial(TM), ... ingrowth and can be utilized in a variety of ... hernias. With more than 700,000 procedures per year, inguinal ...
... Feb. 26 ThermoGenesis, Corp. (Nasdaq: KOOL ), ... and store adult stem cells, said today that the FDA ... of certain lots of AXP disposable bagsets that it announced ... recall was not the result of any safety issues; the ...
... SOPHIA ANTIPOLIS, France, February 26 NicOx,S.A. (NYSE ... for,full year 2008 and provided an overview of ... investigational,drug for the treatment of the signs and ... Michele Garufi, Chief Executive Officer of NicOx, ...
Cached Biology Technology:Biomerix Corporation Announces FDA Clearance and Market Launch of REVIVE(TM) for Use in Soft Tissue Repair Procedures 2ThermoGenesis Says FDA Concurs with Plan for Previously Announced AXP(TM) Bagset Recall 2ThermoGenesis Says FDA Concurs with Plan for Previously Announced AXP(TM) Bagset Recall 3Financial Results for Full Year 2008: NicOx in a Unique Position to Deliver Significant Shareholder Value 2Financial Results for Full Year 2008: NicOx in a Unique Position to Deliver Significant Shareholder Value 3Financial Results for Full Year 2008: NicOx in a Unique Position to Deliver Significant Shareholder Value 4Financial Results for Full Year 2008: NicOx in a Unique Position to Deliver Significant Shareholder Value 5Financial Results for Full Year 2008: NicOx in a Unique Position to Deliver Significant Shareholder Value 6Financial Results for Full Year 2008: NicOx in a Unique Position to Deliver Significant Shareholder Value 7Financial Results for Full Year 2008: NicOx in a Unique Position to Deliver Significant Shareholder Value 8Financial Results for Full Year 2008: NicOx in a Unique Position to Deliver Significant Shareholder Value 9Financial Results for Full Year 2008: NicOx in a Unique Position to Deliver Significant Shareholder Value 10Financial Results for Full Year 2008: NicOx in a Unique Position to Deliver Significant Shareholder Value 11Financial Results for Full Year 2008: NicOx in a Unique Position to Deliver Significant Shareholder Value 12Financial Results for Full Year 2008: NicOx in a Unique Position to Deliver Significant Shareholder Value 13Financial Results for Full Year 2008: NicOx in a Unique Position to Deliver Significant Shareholder Value 14Financial Results for Full Year 2008: NicOx in a Unique Position to Deliver Significant Shareholder Value 15
... frozen Sf9 Insect Cells are derived from the ... for optimal growth, use in transfections, plaque assays, ... frozen in a protocol that optimizes recovery of ... growth in serum-free BacVector Insect Cell Medium and ...
... software package that provides crystallographers with ... buffer creation, set-up of experimental conditions ... The software helps crystallographers through the ... crystallography: Design of ...
... premium quality recombinant form of Thermus aquaticus ... for a wide range of PCR applications. ... performance, each preparation is extensively tested in ... DNA Polymerase possesses an integral 5′→3′ exonuclease ...
... direct antibiotic-based selection system for recombinant identification. ... eliminating the need for costly color screening. ... to 100% accuracy in recombinant selection. pLivSelect ... colony picking. This cloning kit can be ...
Biology Products: