Fast sensory–motor reactions in echolocating bats to sudden changes during the final buzz and prey intercept

• Published in: Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences
• Main Authors: Geberl, Cornelia, Brinkløv, Signe, Wiegrebe, Lutz, Surlykke, Annemarie
• Format: Text
• Language: English
• Published: National Academy of Sciences 2015
• Subjects: Biological Sciences; toothed whales
• Online Access: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4386384/; http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/25775538; https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1424457112

Echolocating bats and toothed whales emit a terminal buzz right before capture. The high call rate (≥180 Hz) and short duration should preclude informed reactions, leaving the ubiquitous buzz an enigma. By removing prey from bats right before capture, we showed that the buzz is not inflexible but adaptable and that bats react on a very fast time scale to sudden changes in perceptual feedback. Acoustic and behavioral reactions differed, indicating separate central control of echolocation and capture movements, as well as importance of somatosensory feedback. These results in a naturally behaving animal relying on multimodal integration of actively controlled senses are significant for a central problem in neurobiology: fast decision making.