Abstract
Monaural occlusion alters binaural sound localization cues. Nevertheless, young barn owls learn to localize sounds after eight weeks of occlusion. We investigated effects of monaural occlusion on responses of space‐tuned neurons in the optic tectum. In normal birds, 85% of cells in deep layers respond to sound and light (bimodal); the rest respond to sound only. None respond to light only. Bimodal cells have coincident auditory and visual receptive fields and space for both modalities is mapped onto the tectum. Acute ear plugging abolished the auditory responsiveness of tectal cells. In contrast, after 8 to 14 weeks of occlusion, tectal cells were responsive and space‐tuned. Twenty recordings from superficial tectal layers revealed all normal receptive fields. In deeper layers (43 recordings), 50% of the cells were bimodal, 40% responded to light only and 10% to sound only. Although the auditory fields were elongated vertically, they were normal in their horizontal dimensions. Moreover, the auditory and v...
Published Version
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