Biomaterial Database

Prediction of auditory spatial acuity from neural images on the owl's auditory space map. 2003

Avinash D S Bala, and Matthew W Spitzer, and Terry T Takahashi

Institute of Neuroscience, University of Oregon, Eugene, Oregon 97403, USA. avinash@uoneuro.uoregon.edu

The owl can discriminate changes in the location of sound sources as small as 3 degrees and can aim its head to within 2 degrees of a source. A typical neuron in its midbrain space map has a spatial receptive field that spans 40 degrees--a width that is many times the behavioural threshold. Here we have quantitatively examined the relationship between neuronal activity and perceptual acuity in the auditory space map in the barn owl midbrain. By analysing changes in firing rate resulting from small changes of stimulus azimuth, we show that most neurons can reliably signal changes in source location that are smaller than the behavioural threshold. Each source is represented in the space map by a focus of activity in a population of neurons. Displacement of the source causes the pattern of activity in this population to change. We show that this change predicts the owl's ability to detect a change in source location.

UI	MeSH Term	Description	Entries
D008297	Male		Males
D008636	Mesencephalon	The middle of the three primitive cerebral vesicles of the embryonic brain. Without further subdivision, midbrain develops into a short, constricted portion connecting the PONS and the DIENCEPHALON. Midbrain contains two major parts, the dorsal TECTUM MESENCEPHALI and the ventral TEGMENTUM MESENCEPHALI, housing components of auditory, visual, and other sensorimoter systems.	Midbrain,Mesencephalons,Midbrains
D009474	Neurons	The basic cellular units of nervous tissue. Each neuron consists of a body, an axon, and dendrites. Their purpose is to receive, conduct, and transmit impulses in the NERVOUS SYSTEM.	Nerve Cells,Cell, Nerve,Cells, Nerve,Nerve Cell,Neuron
D005260	Female		Females
D000161	Acoustic Stimulation	Use of sound to elicit a response in the nervous system.	Auditory Stimulation,Stimulation, Acoustic,Stimulation, Auditory
D000818	Animals	Unicellular or multicellular, heterotrophic organisms, that have sensation and the power of voluntary movement. Under the older five kingdom paradigm, Animalia was one of the kingdoms. Under the modern three domain model, Animalia represents one of the many groups in the domain EUKARYOTA.	Animal,Metazoa,Animalia
D001307	Auditory Perception	The process whereby auditory stimuli are selected, organized, and interpreted by the organism.	Auditory Processing,Perception, Auditory,Processing, Auditory
D001522	Behavior, Animal	The observable response an animal makes to any situation.	Autotomy Animal,Animal Behavior,Animal Behaviors
D012680	Sensitivity and Specificity	Binary classification measures to assess test results. Sensitivity or recall rate is the proportion of true positives. Specificity is the probability of correctly determining the absence of a condition. (From Last, Dictionary of Epidemiology, 2d ed)	Specificity,Sensitivity,Specificity and Sensitivity
D013016	Sound	A type of non-ionizing radiation in which energy is transmitted through solid, liquid, or gas as compression waves. Sound (acoustic or sonic) radiation with frequencies above the audible range is classified as ultrasonic. Sound radiation below the audible range is classified as infrasonic.	Acoustic Waves,Elastic Waves,Sonic Radiation,Sound Waves,Acoustic Wave,Elastic Wave,Radiation, Sonic,Radiations, Sonic,Sonic Radiations,Sound Wave,Sounds,Wave, Acoustic,Wave, Elastic,Wave, Sound,Waves, Acoustic,Waves, Elastic,Waves, Sound