Audiomotor integration for active sensing in the echolocating bat, Eptesicus fuscus

Abstract

Echolocating bats probe the environment with sonar signals that change as they seek, pursue and intercept insect prey on the wing. Coordinating its sonar vocalizations with flight dynamics in response to changing echo information, the bat exhibits a dazzling display of sensorimotor integration. Our work aims at understanding the mechanisms supporting audiomotor integration for echolocation in the FM-bat, Eptesicus fuscus. Behavioral studies measure adaptive responses of free-flying bats engaged in complex spatial tasks. The directional aim of the bat’s sonar beam and temporal patterning of cries provide explicit data on the motor commands that feed directly back to the auditory system for spatially-guided behavior. Neural studies focus on the superior colliculus (SC), a midbrain structure implicated in species-specific orienting behaviors. A population of SC neurons shows echo-delay tuning, a response property believed to play a role in target range coding. Microstimulation of the SC elicits head and pinna movements, along with sonar vocalizations. SC recordings from tethered, vocalizing bats reveal bursts of neural activity preceding each sonar cry. Collectively, these results suggest that the bat SC plays a functional role in the auditory information processing and orienting behaviors that operate together in echolocation. [Work supported by NSF, NIMH and Whitehall Foundation.]