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Encoding repetition rate and duration in the inferior colliculus of the big brown bat, Eptesicus fuscus

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Summary

  1. 1.

    Encoding of temporal stimulus parameters by inferior collicular (IC) neurons of Eptesicus fuscus was studied by recording their responses to a wide range of repetition rates (RRs) and durations at several stimulus intensities under free field stimulus conditions.

  2. 2.

    The response properties of 424 IC neurons recorded were similar to those reported in previous studies of this species.

  3. 3.

    IC neurons were classified as low-pass, band-pass, and high-pass according to their preference for RRs (Fig. 6) and/or durations (Fig. 8) characteristic of, respectively, search, approach, or terminal phases of echolocation. These neurons selectively process stimuli characteristic of the various phases of hunting.

  4. 4.

    Best RRs (Fig. 7A) and best durations (Fig. 7B) were not correlated with either the BFs or recording depths (Figs. 7C, D and 10). This suggests that each isofrequency lamina is capable of processing RRs and durations of all hunting phases.

  5. 5.

    Responses of one half of IC neurons studied were correlated with the stimulus duty cycle (Fig. 9). These neurons may preferentially process terminal phase information when the bat's pulse emission duty cycle increases.

  6. 6.

    While the stimulus RR affected the dynamic range and overall profile of the intensity rate function (Fig. 11), only little effect was observed with different stimulus durations (Fig. 12).

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Abbreviations

BF :

best frequency

IC :

inferior colliculus

MT :

minimum threshold

PAM :

pulsatile amplitude modulation

RR :

repetition rate

SAM :

sinusoidal amplitude modulation

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Division of Biological Sciences, University of Missouri-Columbia, 65211, Columbia, MO, USA

    A. Daniel Pinheiro, Min Wu & Philip H. -S. Jen

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  1. A. Daniel Pinheiro
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  2. Min Wu
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  3. Philip H. -S. Jen
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Pinheiro, A.D., Wu, M. & Jen, P.H.S. Encoding repetition rate and duration in the inferior colliculus of the big brown bat, Eptesicus fuscus . J Comp Physiol A 169, 69–85 (1991). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00198174

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