Converging Approaches to Determining Sound Localization Mechanisms in the Big Brown Bat, Eptesicus fuscus

The ability to determine the location of a sound source is one of the major functions performed by the auditory system. Echolocating bats use sound localization as their primary means of determining the position of objects in the environment. Using the big brown bat (Eptesicus fuscus) as a model animal, several experimental techniques were used to investigate both vertical and horizontal localization. Physical measureme?its of the sounds arriving at the bat’s head were made to determine the potential acoustic cues that might be used for localization of sound. Behavioral experiments were conducted to begin to determine hozo localization of sound might be affected by manipulation of acoustic parameters. Neurophysiological recordings were conducted to look at the neural processing of the acoustic information used in determining sound source location. The combination of these three approaches have provided results that lead to a better understanding of how these bats are able to localize sounds.