[Media Release] Scientists have developed a neural network model of a bat’s auditory system to understand how bats rapidly discriminate between signals from edible insects and surrounding background noise
June 06, 2016
An intriguing aspect of auditory signal processing is that certain creatures can tune in to specific frequencies relevant to behavior – such as for hunting or survival – while filtering out all other ‘noise’. Scientists know that, while sensory information is transmitted from the ears to the cerebral cortex in a ‘feedforward’ manner, the information is also modulated by feedback from the cerebral cortex itself. Cortical neurons are excited by relevant signals, and tell the peripheral neurons to hone in on them while at the same time reducing signals from surrounding noise – a ‘gating’ mechanism, in other words. However, exactly how this process works is unclear.
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