Keeping returns optimal: gain control exerted through sensitivity adjustments in the harbour porpoise auditory system
Animals that use echolocation (biosonar) listen to acoustic signals with a large range of intensities, because echo levels vary with the fourth power of the animal's distance to the target. In man-made sonar, engineers apply automatic gain control to stabilize the echo energy levels, thereby re...
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crroyalsociety:10.1098/rspb.2011.2465 2024-06-02T08:07:47+00:00 Keeping returns optimal: gain control exerted through sensitivity adjustments in the harbour porpoise auditory system Linnenschmidt, Meike Beedholm, Kristian Wahlberg, Magnus Højer-Kristensen, Jakob Nachtigall, Paul E. 2012 http://dx.doi.org/10.1098/rspb.2011.2465 https://royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/pdf/10.1098/rspb.2011.2465 https://royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/full-xml/10.1098/rspb.2011.2465 en eng The Royal Society https://royalsociety.org/journals/ethics-policies/data-sharing-mining/ Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences volume 279, issue 1736, page 2237-2245 ISSN 0962-8452 1471-2954 journal-article 2012 crroyalsociety https://doi.org/10.1098/rspb.2011.2465 2024-05-07T14:16:42Z Animals that use echolocation (biosonar) listen to acoustic signals with a large range of intensities, because echo levels vary with the fourth power of the animal's distance to the target. In man-made sonar, engineers apply automatic gain control to stabilize the echo energy levels, thereby rendering them independent of distance to the target. Both toothed whales and bats vary the level of their echolocation clicks to compensate for the distance-related energy loss. By monitoring the auditory brainstem response (ABR) during a psychophysical task, we found that a harbour porpoise ( Phocoena phocoena ), in addition to adjusting the sound level of the outgoing signals up to 5.4 dB, also reduces its ABR threshold by 6 dB when the target distance doubles. This self-induced threshold shift increases the dynamic range of the biosonar system and compensates for half of the variation of energy that is caused by changes in the distance to the target. In combination with an increased source level as a function of target range, this helps the porpoise to maintain a stable echo-evoked ABR amplitude irrespective of target range, and is therefore probably an important tool enabling porpoises to efficiently analyse and classify received echoes. Article in Journal/Newspaper Harbour porpoise Phocoena phocoena toothed whales The Royal Society Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences 279 1736 2237 2245 |
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Open Polar |
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The Royal Society |
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crroyalsociety |
language |
English |
description |
Animals that use echolocation (biosonar) listen to acoustic signals with a large range of intensities, because echo levels vary with the fourth power of the animal's distance to the target. In man-made sonar, engineers apply automatic gain control to stabilize the echo energy levels, thereby rendering them independent of distance to the target. Both toothed whales and bats vary the level of their echolocation clicks to compensate for the distance-related energy loss. By monitoring the auditory brainstem response (ABR) during a psychophysical task, we found that a harbour porpoise ( Phocoena phocoena ), in addition to adjusting the sound level of the outgoing signals up to 5.4 dB, also reduces its ABR threshold by 6 dB when the target distance doubles. This self-induced threshold shift increases the dynamic range of the biosonar system and compensates for half of the variation of energy that is caused by changes in the distance to the target. In combination with an increased source level as a function of target range, this helps the porpoise to maintain a stable echo-evoked ABR amplitude irrespective of target range, and is therefore probably an important tool enabling porpoises to efficiently analyse and classify received echoes. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Linnenschmidt, Meike Beedholm, Kristian Wahlberg, Magnus Højer-Kristensen, Jakob Nachtigall, Paul E. |
spellingShingle |
Linnenschmidt, Meike Beedholm, Kristian Wahlberg, Magnus Højer-Kristensen, Jakob Nachtigall, Paul E. Keeping returns optimal: gain control exerted through sensitivity adjustments in the harbour porpoise auditory system |
author_facet |
Linnenschmidt, Meike Beedholm, Kristian Wahlberg, Magnus Højer-Kristensen, Jakob Nachtigall, Paul E. |
author_sort |
Linnenschmidt, Meike |
title |
Keeping returns optimal: gain control exerted through sensitivity adjustments in the harbour porpoise auditory system |
title_short |
Keeping returns optimal: gain control exerted through sensitivity adjustments in the harbour porpoise auditory system |
title_full |
Keeping returns optimal: gain control exerted through sensitivity adjustments in the harbour porpoise auditory system |
title_fullStr |
Keeping returns optimal: gain control exerted through sensitivity adjustments in the harbour porpoise auditory system |
title_full_unstemmed |
Keeping returns optimal: gain control exerted through sensitivity adjustments in the harbour porpoise auditory system |
title_sort |
keeping returns optimal: gain control exerted through sensitivity adjustments in the harbour porpoise auditory system |
publisher |
The Royal Society |
publishDate |
2012 |
url |
http://dx.doi.org/10.1098/rspb.2011.2465 https://royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/pdf/10.1098/rspb.2011.2465 https://royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/full-xml/10.1098/rspb.2011.2465 |
genre |
Harbour porpoise Phocoena phocoena toothed whales |
genre_facet |
Harbour porpoise Phocoena phocoena toothed whales |
op_source |
Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences volume 279, issue 1736, page 2237-2245 ISSN 0962-8452 1471-2954 |
op_rights |
https://royalsociety.org/journals/ethics-policies/data-sharing-mining/ |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.1098/rspb.2011.2465 |
container_title |
Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences |
container_volume |
279 |
container_issue |
1736 |
container_start_page |
2237 |
op_container_end_page |
2245 |
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1800752903501119488 |