Aspects of spatiotemporal integration in bat sonar

Bat sonar is an active sense that is based on the common mammalian auditory system. Bats emit echolocation calls in the high frequency range and extract information about their surroundings by listening to the returning echoes. These echoes carry information, like spatial cues, about object location in the three-dimensional space (azimuth, elevation, and distance). Distance information, for example, is obtained from temporal cues as the interval between the emission of an echolocation call and the returning echo (echo delay). But echoes also carry information about spatial object properties like shape, orientation, or size (in terms of its height, width, and depth). To achieve a reliable internal representation of the environment, bats need to integrate spatial and temporal echo information. In this cumulative thesis different aspects of spatiotemporal integration in bat sonar were addressed, beginning with the perception and neural encoding of object size. Object width as size relevant dimension is encoded by the intensity of its echo. Additionally, the sonar aperture (the naturally co-varying spread of angles of incidence from which the echoes impinge on the ears) co-varies proportionally. In the first study, using a combined psychophysical and electrophysical approach (including the presentation of virtual objects), it was investigated which of both acoustic cues echolocating bats (Phyllostomus discolor) employ for the estimation of object width. Interestingly, the results showed that bats can discriminate object width by only using sonar-aperture information. This was reflected in the responses of a population of units in the auditory midbrain and cortex that responded strongest to echoes from objects with a specific sonar aperture, independent of variations in echo intensity. The study revealed that the sonar aperture is a behaviorally relevant and reliably encoded spatial perceptual cue for object size. It furthermore supported the theory that the mammalian central nervous system is principally aiming to find modality independent representation of spatial object properties. We therefore suggested that the sonar aperture, as an echo acoustic equivalent of the visual aperture (also referred to as the visual angle), could be one of these object properties. In the visual system object size is encoded by the visual aperture as the extent of the image on the retina. It depends on object distance that is not explicitly encoded. Thus, for reliable size perception at different distances, higher computational mechanisms are needed. This phenomenon is termed ‘size constancy’ or ‘size-distance invariance’ and is assumed to reflect an automatic re-scaling of visual aperture with perceived object distance. But in echolocating bats object width (sonar aperture) and object distance (echo delay) are accurately perceived and explicitly neurally encoded. In the second study we investigated whether bats show the ability to spontaneously combine spatial and temporal cues to determine absolute width information in terms of sonar size constancy (SSC). This was addressed by using the same setup and species as in the psychophysical approach of the first study. As a result SSC could not be verified as an important feature of sonar perception in bats. This lack of SSC could result from the bats relying on different modalities to extract size information at different distances. Alternatively, it is thinkable that familiarity with a behaviorally relevant, conspicuous object is required, as it was discussed for visual size constancy. But size constancy is found in many sensory modalities and more importantly, SSC was recently found in a blind human echolocator. It was discussed to be based on the same spatial and temporal cues as presented in our study. Thus, this topic should be readdressed in bats in a more natural context as size constancy could be a general mechanism for object normalization. As the spatiotemporal layout of the environment and the objects within changes with locomotion, in the third study the spatiotemporal integration in bat biosonar in a natural and naturalistic context was addressed. Trawling bats species hunt above water and capture fish or insects directly from or close to the surface. Here water acts as an acoustic mirror that can reduce clutter by reflecting sonar emissions away from the bats. However, objects on the water lead to echo enhancement. In a combined laboratory and field study we tested and quantified the effect of different surface types with different reflection properties (smooth and clutter surface) and object height on object detection and discrimination in the trawling bat species, Myotis daubentonii. The bats had to detect a mealworm presented above these different surfaces and discriminate it from an inedible PVC disk. At low heights above the clutter surface, the bats’ detection performance was worse than above a smooth surface. At a height of 50 cm, the surface structure had no influence on target detection. Above the clutter surface, object discrimination decreased with decreasing height. The study revealed different perceptual strategies that could allow efficient object detection and discrimination. When approaching objects above clutter, echolocation calls showed a significantly higher peak frequency, eventually suggesting a strategy for temporal separation of object echoes from clutter. Flight-path reconstruction showed that the bats attacked objects from below over water but from above over clutter. These results are consistent with the hypothesis that trawling bats exploit an echo-acoustic ground effect, in terms of a spatiotemporal integration of direct object reflections with indirect reflections from the water surface. It could lead to optimized prey-detection and discrimination not only for prey on the water but also above. Additionally, the bats could employ a precedence-like strategy to avoid misleading spatial cues that signal the wrong object elevation by using only the first and therewith direct echo for object localization

A Novel Framework for Online Amnesic Trajectory Compression in Resource-constrained Environments

State-of-the-art trajectory compression methods usually involve high space-time complexity or yield unsatisfactory compression rates, leading to rapid exhaustion of memory, computation, storage and energy resources. Their ability is commonly limited when operating in a resource-constrained environment especially when the data volume (even when compressed) far exceeds the storage limit. Hence we propose a novel online framework for error-bounded trajectory compression and ageing called the Amnesic Bounded Quadrant System (ABQS), whose core is the Bounded Quadrant System (BQS) algorithm family that includes a normal version (BQS), Fast version (FBQS), and a Progressive version (PBQS). ABQS intelligently manages a given storage and compresses the trajectories with different error tolerances subject to their ages. In the experiments, we conduct comprehensive evaluations for the BQS algorithm family and the ABQS framework. Using empirical GPS traces from flying foxes and cars, and synthetic data from simulation, we demonstrate the effectiveness of the standalone BQS algorithms in significantly reducing the time and space complexity of trajectory compression, while greatly improving the compression rates of the state-of-the-art algorithms (up to 45%). We also show that the operational time of the target resource-constrained hardware platform can be prolonged by up to 41%. We then verify that with ABQS, given data volumes that are far greater than storage space, ABQS is able to achieve 15 to 400 times smaller errors than the baselines. We also show that the algorithm is robust to extreme trajectory shapes.Comment: arXiv admin note: substantial text overlap with arXiv:1412.032

Size constancy in bat biosonar?

Perception and encoding of object size is an important feature of sensory systems. In the visual system object size is encoded by the visual angle (visual aperture) on the retina, but the aperture depends on the distance of the object. As object distance is not unambiguously encoded in the visual system, higher computational mechanisms are needed. This phenomenon is termed "size constancy". It is assumed to reflect an automatic re-scaling of visual aperture with perceived object distance. Recently, it was found that in echolocating bats, the 'sonar aperture', i.e., the range of angles from which sound is reflected from an object back to the bat, is unambiguously perceived and neurally encoded. Moreover, it is well known that object distance is accurately perceived and explicitly encoded in bat sonar. Here, we addressed size constancy in bat biosonar, recruiting virtual-object techniques. Bats of the species Phyllostomus discolor learned to discriminate two simple virtual objects that only differed in sonar aperture. Upon successful discrimination, test trials were randomly interspersed using virtual objects that differed in both aperture and distance. It was tested whether the bats spontaneously assigned absolute width information to these objects by combining distance and aperture. The results showed that while the isolated perceptual cues encoding object width, aperture, and distance were all perceptually well resolved by the bats, the animals did not assign absolute width information to the test objects. This lack of sonar size constancy may result from the bats relying on different modalities to extract size information at different distances. Alternatively, it is conceivable that familiarity with a behaviorally relevant, conspicuous object is required for sonar size constancy, as it has been argued for visual size constancy. Based on the current data, it appears that size constancy is not necessarily an essential feature of sonar perception in bats

Sensorimotor Model of Obstacle Avoidance in Echolocating Bats

Bat echolocation is an ability consisting of many subtasks such as navigation, prey detection and object recognition. Understanding the echolocation capabilities of bats comes down to isolating the minimal set of acoustic cues needed to complete each task. For some tasks, the minimal cues have already been identified. However, while a number of possible cues have been suggested, little is known about the minimal cues supporting obstacle avoidance in echolocating bats. In this paper, we propose that the Interaural Intensity Difference (IID) and travel time of the first millisecond of the echo train are sufficient cues for obstacle avoidance. We describe a simple control algorithm based on the use of these cues in combination with alternating ear positions modeled after the constant frequency bat Rhinolophus rouxii. Using spatial simulations (2D and 3D), we show that simple phonotaxis can steer a bat clear from obstacles without performing a reconstruction of the 3D layout of the scene. As such, this paper presents the first computationally explicit explanation for obstacle avoidance validated in complex simulated environments. Based on additional simulations modelling the FM bat Phyllostomus discolor, we conjecture that the proposed cues can be exploited by constant frequency (CF) bats and frequency modulated (FM) bats alike. We hypothesize that using a low level yet robust cue for obstacle avoidance allows bats to comply with the hard real-time constraints of this basic behaviour

An integrative approach to assess the behavioral impacts of noise stimuli on the Australian black field cricket, Teleogryllus commodus

For acoustically oriented species, elevated levels of ambient sound can interfere with an organism’s ability to detect and assess acoustic signals and cues needed for making important decisions. Ambient noise, defined as any unwanted or non-focal acoustic signal, can impact behavior and decision-making by disrupting auditory sensory perception. As a result, noise in the context of this dissertation can be further delineated as excess sound that hinders a receiver\u27s ability to detect and distinguish acoustic signals. Noise consists of either airborne or substrate-borne modalities or both. While many studies focus on the impact of airborne noise, many species have evolved the ability to detect both airborne and substrate-borne sounds. This bias towards airborne stimuli has left researchers with only a partial understanding of the impact of noise on animal behavior. Taking an integrative approach, this dissertation identifies the impacts of multisensory noise on the behavior of the Australian black field cricket (Teleogryllus commodus). First, I established the sensitivity of the auditory system to airborne sonic (1-20 kHz), airborne ultrasonic (\u3e20 kHz), and substrate-borne stimuli (50-1600 Hz). I also determined that noise regardless of modality or bandwidth (sonic, ultrasonic, and substrate vibrations) has a significant impact on female phonotaxis. Finally, I tested how each noise type influences female choice regarding male calling phenotype and found that all noise types and bandwidths disrupt the mate choice process. I identified two possible causes for these shifts in behavior: energetic and informational masking. Energetic masking occurs when noise energetically overlaps with the signal and prevents detection of the signal. Informational masking occurs when the noise does not energetically overlap with the signal but still interferes with the female’s ability to extract information. The findings of this dissertation demonstrate the complexities of noise and its impacts on animal behavior, emphasizing the need to consider the sensory sensitivity of animals in studying the effects of noise. By furthering our understanding of how different noise types inform how animals interact with their environment, we can better determine the constraints and adaptations of living in an increasingly noisy world