Internally Coupled Ears (ICE): How Neuronal Processing Gets Restricted

Abstract

Event Abstract Back to Event Internally Coupled Ears (ICE): How Neuronal Processing Gets Restricted Elisa Benedetti1, 2*, Christine Vossen1, 2, Julie Goulet1, 2 and Leo J. Van Hemmen1, 2 1 Physik Department T35, TU München , Germany 2 Bernstein Center for Computational Neuroscience, Germany Lizards, frogs, most birds, and alligators have internally coupled ears (ICE) where the tympanic membranes connect through a large mouth or other cavity and influence each other. Here a new model of auditory information processing for internally coupled ears is presented. This model is analytically soluble. The mouth cavity is simplified as a cylinder so that the processing of the incoming sound waves can be described through the internally coupled tympanic membranes. We have applied the model to Hemidactylus frenatus, one of the smallest lizards on earth. For this animal, the model shows that the internal coupling of the ears enhances internal time differences by a factor of 3 up to about 3 kHz and creates internal amplitude differences in the tympanic membrane vibrations for frequencies beyond 3 kHz. These results are in very good agreement with experimental measurements up to a frequency of 5 kHz. Above this threshold, it has been found experimentally that the model systematically overestimates the amplitude of vibrations of the tympanic membrane. To test whether and how the actual shape of the mouth cavity may modify the results found for the simplified cylindrical geometry, the eigenmodes and eigenfrequencies for the reconstructed mouth cavity have been calculated numerically. The lowest eigenfrequency is found to be 5.1 kHz, allowing a simple explanation of how the directional response of the tympanic membrane is affected by resonance. Implications for lizards and other animals using the ICE technique are presented. References Vossen, C., Christensen-Dalsgaard, J. & van Hemmen, J.L. (2010) Analytical model of internally coupled ears, J. Acoust. Soc. Am. 128(2), 909-918. Christensen-Dalsgaard, J. & Manley, G.A. (2005) Directionality of the lizard ear, J. Exp. Biol. 208, 1209–1217. Christensen-Dalsgaard, J. & Manley, G. A. (2008) Acoustical coupling of lizard eardrums, JARO 9(4), 407–416. Keywords: Internally coupled ears, sensory processing, auditory processing, Lizards, theoretical model Conference: Bernstein Conference 2012, Munich, Germany, 12 Sep - 14 Sep, 2012. Presentation Type: Poster Topic: Sensory processing and perception Citation: Benedetti E, Vossen C, Goulet J and Van Hemmen LJ (2012). Internally Coupled Ears (ICE): How Neuronal Processing Gets Restricted. Front. Comput. Neurosci. Conference Abstract: Bernstein Conference 2012. doi: 10.3389/conf.fncom.2012.55.00028 Copyright: The abstracts in this collection have not been subject to any Frontiers peer review or checks, and are not endorsed by Frontiers. They are made available through the Frontiers publishing platform as a service to conference organizers and presenters. The copyright in the individual abstracts is owned by the author of each abstract or his/her employer unless otherwise stated. Each abstract, as well as the collection of abstracts, are published under a Creative Commons CC-BY 4.0 (attribution) licence (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/) and may thus be reproduced, translated, adapted and be the subject of derivative works provided the authors and Frontiers are attributed. For Frontiers’ terms and conditions please see https://www.frontiersin.org/legal/terms-and-conditions. Received: 03 Jun 2012; Published Online: 12 Sep 2012. * Correspondence: Mrs. Elisa Benedetti, Physik Department T35, TU München, Munich, Germany, elibene@ph.tum.de Login Required This action requires you to be registered with Frontiers and logged in. To register or login click here. Abstract Info Abstract The Authors in Frontiers Elisa Benedetti Christine Vossen Julie Goulet Leo J Van Hemmen Google Elisa Benedetti Christine Vossen Julie Goulet Leo J Van Hemmen Google Scholar Elisa Benedetti Christine Vossen Julie Goulet Leo J Van Hemmen PubMed Elisa Benedetti Christine Vossen Julie Goulet Leo J Van Hemmen Related Article in Frontiers Google Scholar PubMed Abstract Close Back to top Javascript is disabled. Please enable Javascript in your browser settings in order to see all the content on this page.