Gene expression and signal classification in the auditory system of bats

描述（由申请人提供）：小棕蝠（鼠耳蝠lucifugus）具有精湛的回声定位能力;它们可以利用它们的声纳系统在黑暗中导航，探测，识别，定位和跟踪猎物。他们的回声定位信号已被详细研究，但他们的通信呼叫不太好的特点，尽管广泛使用在他们的社会互动，例如在母婴互动，并在捍卫或广告喂养区。本研究的目标是表征，并确定的行为相关性，声音的沟通信号的小棕蝙蝠，以及调查的解剖基板处理这些电话。M.研究人员会在一夜之间录下个别蝙蝠的叫声，并会发展一套自动分类算法，以客观地将所录得的叫声分类。为了研究参与通信信号处理的解剖结构，立即早期基因ZENK（zif 268，egr 1，NGFI-A，krox-24）将被用作脑激活的分子标记。在鸣禽中，在暴露于鸟类自己的歌声或同种歌声（即，ZENK在处理这些歌曲的特定大脑区域被上调。最近对青蛙的一项研究也表明，ZENK在青蛙听觉中脑的孤立区域显示出呼叫依赖性激活。这些研究表明，ZENK可用于阐明通信信号处理的解剖学基础。为了确定每种呼叫类型的行为相关性，将向蝙蝠播放单个呼叫，并对蝙蝠的反应进行视听调查。蝙蝠的听觉系统是研究语音处理的有用模型（由于蝙蝠的回声定位[和通信]呼叫和人类语音之间的声音特征相似，以及它们听觉系统的结构和功能组织）。这项研究将揭示复杂自然声音的神经处理。

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): Little brown bats (Myotis lucifugus) have exquisite ability to echolocate; they can utilize their sonar system to navigate, and detect, identify, locate and track prey, in darkness. Their echolocation signals have been studied in detail but their communication calls are less well characterized despite the widespread use during their social interactions, e.g. in mother-young interactions, and in defending or advertising feeding areas. The goals of this study are to characterize, and determine the behavioral relevance of, sound communication signals of little brown bats, as well as to investigate the anatomical substrates for processing of these calls. The communication calls of M. lucifugus will be recorded from individual bats overnight, and an automatic classification algorithm will be developed to objectively classify the recorded calls. To study the anatomical structures involved in processing of the communication signals, the immediate early gene ZENK (zif268, egr1, NGFI-A, krox-24) will be used as a molecular marker for brain activation. In songbirds, after exposure to the bird's own songs or conspecific songs (i.e., songs within their species), ZENK is upregulated in specific brain areas involved in processing of these songs. A recent study in frogs also showed that ZENK displays call-dependent activation in isolated regions of the frog auditory midbrain. These studies demonstrate that ZENK can be used to elucidate the anatomical substrates of processing of communication signals. To determine the behavioral relevance of each call type, individual calls will be played back to a bat, and the bat's response investigated audio-visually. The bat auditory system has served as a useful model for studying speech processing (due to the similarities in sound features between bat's echolocation [and communication] calls and human speech sounds, and in structural and functional organizations of their auditory systems). The proposed study would shed light on the neural processing of complex natural sounds.