听觉反馈在回声定位蝙蝠发声控制中的作用研究

语言是人类的标志性特征之一。无论是语言的学习、维持、还是控制，听觉反馈都不可或缺。蝙蝠是一类适应于黑暗环境，高度依赖声音的陆生哺乳动物，其中绝大多数蝙蝠能够进行回声定位。与众多依靠发声反馈进行发声控制的哺乳动物不同，回声反馈被认为是蝙蝠回声定位声波动态调节最主要的听觉反馈，而发声反馈在蝙蝠回声定位中的作用一直被忽略。本项目立足于我国蝙蝠物种优势，结合行为学和神经生物学技术手段，研究发声反馈和回声反馈在大蹄蝠回声定位发声控制中的作用。我们将以单摆实验装置为载体，搭建实时、选择性听觉反馈干扰系统，在实验室内利用麦克风矩阵、红外高速录像、在线声音处理、实时声音回放、动物行为状态下胞外膜电位录制等前沿技术，研究大蹄蝠在选择性听觉反馈干扰条件下的回声定位行为及其潜在的神经生物学基础。本项目有利于阐明听觉反馈在蝙蝠回声定位声波动态调节中的作用，为理解人类语言发声控制的神经生物学基础提供新思路。

Speech is considered as a unique feature of humans, and its learning, maintenance, and production control all rely critically on auditory feedback. Bats are a group of terrestrial mammals that adapt to dark environments and rely heavily on sounds. Most bat species are capable of echolocation. Unlike most mammalian species which rely on vocal feedback for vocal production control, echo feedback has long been considered as the most important auditory feedback involved in the dynamic control of the echolocation calls in bats, ignoring the potential contribution of echo feedback in such echolocation tasks. In the proposed project, we take the advantage of the rich species of bats distributing in China to study the contributions of vocal feedback and echo feedback to the dynamic echolocation call control and its underlying neural mechanisms, combing behavioral and neurophysiological approaches. Specifically, we will use a pendulum setup and a real-time selective auditory feedback perturbation system to study the dynamic echolocation control in Hipposideros armiger and the potential neurobiological basis, using a range of techniques including microphone array, high-speed video recording under infrared lights, online signal processing and sound broadcasting, and extracellular recording in behaving animals. This project will be of great importance to understand the role of auditory feedback in the dynamic echolocation control of bats, offering critical insights to human speech.