The long-term objective of this project is a thorough understanding of the behavioral and neural mechanisms of sound localization in the auditory brainstem nuclei. The present application proposes to develop a behavioral preparation for testing sound localization in cats by training them to look at sound sources and to study the physiological responses of cells during this behavior. Previous studies of sound localization have chiefly centered on two areas: human or animal psychophysical work has established the important cues for sound localization and animal physiological work has shown that the nervous system is sensitive to these cues. This application is an effort to link these two approaches by combining animal psychophysics with physiology. There are five general aims. One is to study the psychophysics of sound localization in the cat using normal and spectrally shaped stimuli delivered in free field. Two is to develop a technique for delivering both free field and dichotic stimuli at the same time to determine how the cat hears the """"""""virtual space"""""""" stimuli. Three is to determine whether cats exhibit the precedence effect and summing localization, two important psychophysical illusions that enable us to localize sounds in a reverberant environment. Four is to study the role of the cat's external ears, or pinna, in sound localization by measuring pinna movements during localization behavior and by studying the effects of paralyzing the pinna on the ability to localize sounds. Five uses this preparation for physiological studies of single cells in the superior and inferior colliculus in awake, behaving cats. Spatial hearing and sound localization are important basic functions of the auditory system: defects in binaural function in human patients can lead to considerable difficulty in detecting signals embedded in noise, such as understanding conversation in a noisy room, which is perhaps the most common complaint of the hearing-impaired and can lead to severe social withdrawal.

Agency
National Institute of Health (NIH)
Institute
National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders (NIDCD)
Type
Research Project (R01)
Project #
5R01DC002840-03
Application #
2668225
Study Section
Special Emphasis Panel (ZRG1-CMS (01))
Project Start
1996-03-01
Project End
2001-02-28
Budget Start
1998-03-01
Budget End
1999-02-28
Support Year
3
Fiscal Year
1998
Total Cost
Indirect Cost
Name
University of Wisconsin Madison
Department
Physiology
Type
Schools of Medicine
DUNS #
161202122
City
Madison
State
WI
Country
United States
Zip Code
53715
Gai, Yan; Ruhland, Janet L; Yin, Tom C T et al. (2013) Behavioral and modeling studies of sound localization in cats: effects of stimulus level and duration. J Neurophysiol 110:607-20
Tollin, Daniel J; Ruhland, Janet L; Yin, Tom C T (2013) The role of spectral composition of sounds on the localization of sound sources by cats. J Neurophysiol 109:1658-68
Ruhland, Janet L; Yin, Tom C T; Tollin, Daniel J (2013) Gaze shifts to auditory and visual stimuli in cats. J Assoc Res Otolaryngol 14:731-55
Tollin, Daniel J; McClaine, Elizabeth M; Yin, Tom C T (2010) Short-latency, goal-directed movements of the pinnae to sounds that produce auditory spatial illusions. J Neurophysiol 103:446-57
Dent, Micheal L; Tollin, Daniel J; Yin, Tom C T (2009) Influence of sound source location on the behavior and physiology of the precedence effect in cats. J Neurophysiol 102:724-34
Tollin, Daniel J; Ruhland, Janet L; Yin, Tom C T (2009) The vestibulo-auricular reflex. J Neurophysiol 101:1258-66
Moore, Jordan M; Tollin, Daniel J; Yin, Tom C T (2008) Can measures of sound localization acuity be related to the precision of absolute location estimates? Hear Res 238:94-109
Tollin, Daniel J; Koka, Kanthaiah; Tsai, Jeffrey J (2008) Interaural level difference discrimination thresholds for single neurons in the lateral superior olive. J Neurosci 28:4848-60
Joris, Philip; Yin, Tom C T (2007) A matter of time: internal delays in binaural processing. Trends Neurosci 30:70-8
Tollin, Daniel J; Yin, Tom C T (2005) Interaural phase and level difference sensitivity in low-frequency neurons in the lateral superior olive. J Neurosci 25:10648-57

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