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Science 5 March 1976:
Vol. 191. no. 4230, pp. 950 - 952
DOI: 10.1126/science.1251206
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Articles

Science, Vol 191, Issue 4230, 950-952
Copyright © 1976 by American Association for the Advancement of Science

articles

Coordinated activities of middle-ear and laryngeal muscles in echolocating bats

PH Jen and N Suga

The middle-ear muscles and laryngeal muscles of the little brown bat (Myotis lucifugus) are highly developed. When the bat emits orientation sounds, action potentials of middle-ear muscles appear approximately 3 milliseconds after those of the laryngeal muscles; this activity of middle-ear muscles attenuates the vocal self-stimulation and improves the performance of the echolocation system. When an acoustic stimulus is delivered, both types of muscles contract; action potentials of the laryngeal muscles appear approximately 3 milliseconds after those of the middle-ear muscles. These two groups of muscles are apparently activated in a coordinated manner not only by the nerve impulses from the vocalization center, but also by those from the auditory system.


THIS ARTICLE HAS BEEN CITED BY OTHER ARTICLES:
Auditory-Feedback Control of Temporal Call Patterns in Echolocating Horseshoe Bats.
M. Smotherman and W. Metzner (2005)
J Neurophysiol 93, 1295-1303
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »
Auditory responses in avian vocal motor neurons: a motor theory for song perception in birds.
H Williams and F Nottebohm (1985)
Science 229, 279-282
   Abstract »    PDF »


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Science. ISSN 0036-8075 (print), 1095-9203 (online)