Seasonal variations in auditory processing in the inferior colliculus of Eptesicus fuscus

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How do seasonal changes in hormonal status shape the auditory processing of bats, particularly influencing male and female responses to vocalizations throughout the year?

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How do seasonal changes in hormonal status shape the auditory processing of bats, particularly influencing male and female responses to vocalizations throughout the year?

Image courtesy of interviewee. November 5, 2024

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This video describes a researcher's long-term study of auditory processing mechanisms in echolocating bats. The focus has been on understanding their neural circuitry, particularly in relation to seasonal variations influenced by hormonal changes during breeding cycles. The researcher explains how they maintained a breeding colony in captivity by mimicking natural light and temperature cycles.

The study highlights how female bats experience different needs throughout their reproductive cycle, particularly during mating, gestation, and nurturing of pups. The research emphasizes the subtle changes in auditory processing associated with seasonal and hormonal variations, affecting how these bats perceive sounds related to communication and echolocation.

The researchers have conducted experiments to record the responses of neurons in the bats' auditory systems throughout the year, observing differences in sensitivity to sound duration and frequency variations based on reproductive stages. The findings indicate that bats adjust their auditory sensitivity to better detect sounds crucial for communication, mating, and hunting, suggesting a complex interplay between hormonal states, neural responsiveness, and seasonal rhythms in auditory processing.

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Here are five key points extracted from the video:

1. **Research Focus on Bat Auditory Processing**: The author's research primarily revolves around the auditory processing mechanisms in echolocating bats, utilizing them as a model to understand neural circuitry related to processing temporal information.

2. **Seasonal Variations and Hormonal Influences**: The study identifies that variations in auditory processing in bats are affected by hormonal changes, particularly in female bats throughout their mating cycles and dormancy periods, affecting their behavioral needs at different times of the year.

3. **Auditory Sensitivity Changes**: The findings suggest that changes in auditory sensitivity, rather than structural changes in the auditory system, occur in bats with respect to the season. The temporal properties of neuron responses are significant, with different neurons integrating auditory information in adaptive ways.

4. **Development of Juvenile Bats**: The author discusses the developmental stages of infant bats, noting their progression from isolation calls to more complex babbling and adult-like sounds, which showcases the rapid maturation of their communication abilities and auditory system adaptations.

5. **Behavioral Convideo of Auditory Processing**: The research suggests that seasonal auditory processing changes are likely related to both communication sounds and echolocation, highlighting a complex interaction of factors that influence how bats perceive and respond to sounds, particularly during crucial periods such as mating and nurturing offspring.

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Here are some key quotes extracted from the video on auditory processing mechanisms in echolocating bats:

1. **Research Focus**: "My research has been on auditory processing mechanisms, focusing mostly on echolocating bats because they're such a good model."

2. **Breeding and Hormonal Influence**: "The thing that precipitates those differences is differences in hormonal state of the bats... they give birth, and after that they're feeding tremendously. So they have different needs, behavioral needs at different times."

3. **Neural Plasticity**: "It's obviously not as dramatic as what occurs in songbirds... plasticity... not plasticity necessarily in developing new neurons... synapsis can be strengthened or weakened."

4. **Auditory Processing Changes**: "What I mean is in our studies, we would present... different neurons will respond to that in different ways."

5. **Seasonal Experiments**: "We would conduct our normal physiologic electrophysiological experiments all year round, and that means across different seasons."

6. **Sound Communication**: "One of our ideas was that these seasonal changes are probably as much related to communication sounds as they are to echolocation sounds."

7. **Infant Development**: "We found that they go through a babbling stage... start producing adult-like sounds."

8. **Sensitivity of the Auditory System**: "The auditory system of the females becomes more sensitive to long duration sounds... If it's too short, they don't respond. If it's too long, they don't respond, they respond, it's gotta be just right."

9. **Seasonal Adjustments**: "In bats, they play adjustments... to the sequence of echolocation calls coming back from an insect that they're pursuing."

These quotes encapsulate the main themes of the research discussed, including the focus on hormonal and seasonal influences on auditory processing in bats, the distinction between echolocation and social communication sounds, and the developmental stages of bat vocalizations.

X-TIMESTAMP-MAP=LOCAL:00:00:00.000,MPEGTS:90000

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Many years, my research has been on auditory pro,

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processing mechanisms, focusing mostly on echolocating bats

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because they're such a good model.

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The research on bats has mostly been on

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mechanisms, so neural circuitry for processing patterns

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of information distributed over time.

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We got into the seasonal variations

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because we have for many years had we

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for many years had a breeding colony

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of bats, and it's kind of unusual for bats

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of this species to be able to breed in captivity

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because they have to have a natural light cycle

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and they have to have a natural temperature cycle.

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And because we had a facility on the roof of the building,

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we were able to provide that.

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And bats br bred for many generations on the roof

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of the psychology building.

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And occasionally we would bring in new blood

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because we didn't want the colony to become too inbred.

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But they're basically all descendants of bats

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that were brought from North Carolina when we were,

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when I was at Duke University.

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The thing that preci precipitates those differences is

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differences in hormonal state of the bats.

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So female bats undergoing a cycle of mating,

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waiting through the winter

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because they store the sperm

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through the winter while they're dormant or, or orpi.

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And then gestation actually starts in the spring when the

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right light and temperature signals come along.

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And then of course they give birth, and

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after that they're feeding tremendously.

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So they have different needs,

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behavioral needs at different times.

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So I think this is what's signaling changes,

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and it's obviously not as dramatic as

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what occurs in songbirds,

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which is they have certain brain areas that are

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more or less present in mating times.

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And that regress

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and regrow with the seasons plasticity in

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how neural circuits are working,

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not plasticity necessarily in developing new neurons

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of, as you know, there's some evidence

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that this can happen in other brain areas

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to some extent in mammals, in the hippocampus, for example.

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Uh, but in the auditory system it's not clear

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that anything like that is happening.

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But new synapses can be formed,

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synapsis can be strengthened or weakened.

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And the temporal properties of

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how neurons respond are changing.

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And it's those temporal properties

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Rather than sensitivity.

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And, narrowness of tuning that is changing I think

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because it is probably occurring in every mammal,

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and it's gonna discu, it's gonna

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disclose general principles of

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how auditory systems change subtly with the seasons,

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including in humans, they're affected by hormones.

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They're probably also affected by other very subtle changes

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that occur in terms of neuromodulation, which would be

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neurotransmitters that aren't necessarily involved in,

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synaptic processing,

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but they're making neurons more or less sensitive to things.

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So like serotonin for example,

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because there is evidence that serotonin levels are

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connected with estrogen levels

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and they are also connected with, circadian rhythms,

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which would also be like seasonal rhythms.

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So it's a complicated system.

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It's not as simple as saying, let's pour some estrogen in.

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And, auditory processing is gonna change

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by auditory processing.

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What I mean is in our, in our studies, we would present

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sounds to the animal and record from neurons in the brain.

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And for any given

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auditory signal, the different neurons will respond to

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that in different ways.

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And then in some of our other studies, we've shown

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that a lot of

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what happens is in single neurons are integrating

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information and making decisions about whether

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to fire or not.

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So a lot of the processing

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that's going on in the brain is actually analog, not digital

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as a lot of people would like

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to believe across different seasons.

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We would, we've conducted our normal

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physiologic electrophysiological experiments all year round,

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and that means across different seasons.

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So the bats were living in their quarters exposed to the

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outside conditions more or less, except

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because we're in the Pacific Northwest, we had

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to heat it in the summer.

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So we had heaters going in the summer to keep it warm enough

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for the maternity colonies to be successful.

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Um, so they had all of this exposure

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and then we would, for the seasonal experiments,

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bring the bats inside

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and they were exposed to the natural light cycle,

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but they were kept at a constant temperature.

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So temperature was ruled out as being a factor.

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And of course, temperature

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Would affect neural responses

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because a bat during hibernation can cool its body down

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to just above freezing.

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And in that case, we wouldn't be recording anything

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because the, the higher levels

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of the auditory system basically shut off.

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What we recorded was, responses of single neurons

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to sounds, and there are many different classes

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of neurons in the inferior curriculums,

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which is where we were recording.

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This is the Midbrain Integrative Center where many,

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many different pathways come together from the

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lower brainstem.

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And it does also get some feedback from higher levels.

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So it's a big integrative center.

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And we would record the responses to pure tones,

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to frequency sweeps, to sinusoidally

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amplitude and frequency modulated sounds

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and various different sounds that might be of interest

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to an animal that not only uses sound for hunting

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and echo location, but also for communication.

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And I'm think, and what one of our ideas was

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that these seasonal changes are probably as much related

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to communication sounds as they are to echolocation sounds.

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We also did studies where we recorded sounds of infant bats

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from birth through, through the time

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that they were independent creatures.

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And we found that they go through a babbling stage.

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They first emit isolation calls, which are long kind

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of constant frequency sounds.

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So they would be something like, come and get me.

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So if the mother's away,

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the infant will emit these isolation calls.

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And then when they stop doing that, they start babbling.

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So they produce a lot of kind of random sounds that then,

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eventually with,

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and this all happens within a matter of weeks.

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So it, they have a, a fairly fast development cycle,

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and eventually they start producing

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adult-like sounds.

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So more and more close to the sounds of adults.

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And one of the things that we found

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actually is that in the spring, female bats spring

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and summer, this is around the time

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early summer when the babies would be born.

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They're all born around the, all mothers give birth

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around the same time, about the last week of May,

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first week of June.

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Uh, so this would,

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and at that time, around that time,

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The auditory system of the females becomes more sensitive

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to long duration sounds, feature detectors in the inferior

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ulus for sounds of a specific duration.

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So if it's too short, they don't respond.

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If it's too long, they don't respond, they respond,

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it's gotta be just right.

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But there are also ones that only respond

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to very short sounds or to very long sounds.

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And we find more of those very long sound

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neurons in the females around the time

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that the babies might be getting ready

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to emit the isolation calls.

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I think in, certainly in bats, they play adjustments

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to sensitivity to certain patterns of sound,

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which would be infant cries

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or in the fall, possibly mating sounds.

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And during hunting to the sequence

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of echolocation calls coming back from an, from a,

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an insect that they're pursuing.

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And during the summer,

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this auditory sensitive sensitivity would be more geared

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toward that, towards short sounds

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or sounds that are, frequency modulated

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by the wing beats of an, of an insect.

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Um, and certainly in other species it could be,

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conducive to, promoting

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or suppressing certain types

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of social react social interactions.

Auditory Processing Mechanisms in Echolocating Bats

00:00:00 - Many years, my research has been on auditory pro, processing mechanisms, focusing mostly on echolocating bats because they're such a good model. The research on bats has mostly been on mechanisms, so neural circuitry for processing patterns of information distributed over time. We got into the seasonal variations because we have for many years had we for many years had a breeding colony

00:00:38 - of this species to be able to breed in captivity because they have to have a natural light cycle and they have to have a natural temperature cycle. And because we had a facility on the roof of the building, we were able to provide that. And bats br bred for many generations on the roof of the psychology building. And occasionally we would bring in new blood because we didn't want the colony to become too inbred.

00:01:11 - that were brought from North Carolina when we were, when I was at Duke University. The thing that preci precipitates those differences is differences in hormonal state of the bats. So female bats undergoing a cycle of mating, waiting through the winter because they store the sperm through the winter while they're dormant or, or orpi.

Seasonal Behavioral Changes in Bat Auditory Processing

00:01:42 - right light and temperature signals come along. And then of course they give birth, and after that they're feeding tremendously. So they have different needs, behavioral needs at different times. So I think this is what's signaling changes, and it's obviously not as dramatic as what occurs in songbirds, which is they have certain brain areas that are

00:02:16 - And that regress and regrow with the seasons plasticity in how neural circuits are working, not plasticity necessarily in developing new neurons of, as you know, there's some evidence that this can happen in other brain areas to some extent in mammals, in the hippocampus, for example. but in the auditory system it's not clear that anything like that is happening.

00:02:49 - synapsis can be strengthened or weakened. And the temporal properties of how neurons respond are changing. And it's those temporal properties Rather than sensitivity. And, narrowness of tuning that is changing I think because it is probably occurring in every mammal, and it's gonna discu, it's gonna disclose general principles of

Hormonal Influence on Auditory Processing: Complexity and Integration

00:03:20 - including in humans, they're affected by hormones. They're probably also affected by other very subtle changes that occur in terms of neuromodulation, which would be neurotransmitters that aren't necessarily involved in, synaptic processing, but they're making neurons more or less sensitive to things.

00:03:49 - because there is evidence that serotonin levels are connected with estrogen levels and they are also connected with, circadian rhythms, which would also be like seasonal rhythms. So it's a complicated system. It's not as simple as saying, let's pour some estrogen in. And, auditory processing is gonna change by auditory processing. What I mean is in our, in our studies, we would present

00:04:26 - And for any given auditory signal, the different neurons will respond to that in different ways. And then in some of our other studies, we've shown that a lot of what happens is in single neurons are integrating information and making decisions about whether to fire or not. So a lot of the processing

Seasonal Adaptations in Bat Auditory Research

00:04:57 - as a lot of people would like to believe across different seasons. We would, we've conducted our normal physiologic electrophysiological experiments all year round, and that means across different seasons. So the bats were living in their quarters exposed to the outside conditions more or less, except because we're in the Pacific Northwest, we had

00:05:26 - So we had heaters going in the summer to keep it warm enough for the maternity colonies to be successful. so they had all of this exposure and then we would, for the seasonal experiments, bring the bats inside and they were exposed to the natural light cycle, but they were kept at a constant temperature. So temperature was ruled out as being a factor.

00:05:57 - Would affect neural responses because a bat during hibernation can cool its body down to just above freezing. And in that case, we wouldn't be recording anything because the, the higher levels of the auditory system basically shut off. What we recorded was, responses of single neurons to sounds, and there are many different classes

Exploring Bat Communication and Auditory Processing

00:06:28 - which is where we were recording. This is the Midbrain Integrative Center where many, many different pathways come together from the lower brainstem. And it does also get some feedback from higher levels. So it's a big integrative center. And we would record the responses to pure tones, to frequency sweeps, to sinusoidally

00:06:59 - and various different sounds that might be of interest to an animal that not only uses sound for hunting and echo location, but also for communication. And I'm think, and what one of our ideas was that these seasonal changes are probably as much related to communication sounds as they are to echolocation sounds. We also did studies where we recorded sounds of infant bats

00:07:33 - that they were independent creatures. And we found that they go through a babbling stage. They first emit isolation calls, which are long kind of constant frequency sounds. So they would be something like, come and get me. So if the mother's away, the infant will emit these isolation calls. And then when they stop doing that, they start babbling.

Auditory Development and Sensitivity in Baby Bats

00:08:04 - eventually with, and this all happens within a matter of weeks. So it, they have a, a fairly fast development cycle, and eventually they start producing adult-like sounds. So more and more close to the sounds of adults. And one of the things that we found

00:08:34 - and summer, this is around the time early summer when the babies would be born. They're all born around the, all mothers give birth around the same time, about the last week of May, first week of June. so this would, and at that time, around that time, The auditory system of the females becomes more sensitive to long duration sounds, feature detectors in the inferior

00:09:07 - So if it's too short, they don't respond. If it's too long, they don't respond, they respond, it's gotta be just right. But there are also ones that only respond to very short sounds or to very long sounds. And we find more of those very long sound neurons in the females around the time that the babies might be getting ready to emit the isolation calls. I think in, certainly in bats, they play adjustments

Seasonal Auditory Sensitivity in Bats

00:09:41 - which would be infant cries or in the fall, possibly mating sounds. And during hunting to the sequence of echolocation calls coming back from an, from a, an insect that they're pursuing. And during the summer, this auditory sensitive sensitivity would be more geared toward that, towards short sounds or sounds that are, frequency modulated

00:10:27 - and certainly in other species it could be, conducive to, promoting or suppressing certain types of social react social interactions.

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Seasonal variations in auditory processing in the inferior colliculus of Eptesicus fuscus

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