Jove
Visualize
Contact Us
JoVE
x logofacebook logolinkedin logoyoutube logo
ABOUT JoVE
OverviewLeadershipBlogJoVE Help Center
AUTHORS
Publishing ProcessEditorial BoardScope & PoliciesPeer ReviewFAQSubmit
LIBRARIANS
TestimonialsSubscriptionsAccessResourcesLibrary Advisory BoardFAQ
RESEARCH
JoVE JournalMethods CollectionsJoVE Encyclopedia of ExperimentsArchive
EDUCATION
JoVE CoreJoVE BusinessJoVE Science EducationJoVE Lab ManualFaculty Resource CenterFaculty Site
Terms & Conditions of Use
Privacy Policy
Policies

Related Concept Videos

Echo01:06

Echo

The human ear cannot distinguish between two sources of sound if they happen to reach within a specific time interval, typically 0.1 seconds apart. More than this, and they are perceived as separate sources.
Imagine the sound is reflected back to the ears. Assuming that the source is very close to the human, the difference between hearing the two sounds—the emitted sound and the reflected sound—may be more than the minimum time for perceiving distinct sounds. If this is the case, then the...
Bandpass Sampling01:17

Bandpass Sampling

In signal processing, bandpass sampling is an effective technique for sampling signals that have most of their energy concentrated within a narrow frequency band. This type of signal is known as a bandpass signal. The key principle of bandpass sampling involves sampling the signal at a rate that is greater than twice the signal's bandwidth to prevent aliasing.
A bandpass signal has a spectrum with a lower frequency limit, denoted as ω1, and an upper frequency limit, denoted as ω2. The spectrum...

You might also read

Related Articles

Articles linked to this work by shared authors, journal, and citation graph.

Sort by
Same author

The vocal development of the pale spear-nosed bat is dependent on auditory feedback.

Philosophical transactions of the Royal Society of London. Series B, Biological sciences·2021
Same author

Hearing sensitivity: An underlying mechanism for niche differentiation in gleaning bats.

Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America·2021
Same author

Frequency modulation of rattlesnake acoustic display affects acoustic distance perception in humans.

Current biology : CB·2021
Same author

Communication breakdown: Limits of spectro-temporal resolution for the perception of bat communication calls.

Scientific reports·2021
Same author

Hearing sensitivity and amplitude coding in bats are differentially shaped by echolocation calls and social calls.

Proceedings. Biological sciences·2021
Same author

Biosonar spatial resolution along the distance axis: revisiting the clutter interference zone.

The Journal of experimental biology·2020

Related Experiment Video

Updated: Jul 9, 2026

A Stable Phantom Material for Optical and Acoustic Imaging
04:54

A Stable Phantom Material for Optical and Acoustic Imaging

Published on: June 16, 2023

Phase sensitivity in bat sonar revisited.

Sven Schörnich1, Lutz Wiegrebe

  • 1Department Biologie II der Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München, Grosshadernerstr. 2, 82152 Martinsried, Germany. schoernich@bio.lmu.de

Journal of Comparative Physiology. A, Neuroethology, Sensory, Neural, and Behavioral Physiology
|November 24, 2007
PubMed
Summary
This summary is machine-generated.

Bats can extract object information from echoes, but their phase sensitivity varies. This study reveals bats process signal duration and onset differently, challenging broad claims of phase sensitivity in bat sonar.

More Related Videos

Time Multiplexing Super Resolving Technique for Imaging from a Moving Platform
06:25

Time Multiplexing Super Resolving Technique for Imaging from a Moving Platform

Published on: February 12, 2014

Related Experiment Videos

Last Updated: Jul 9, 2026

A Stable Phantom Material for Optical and Acoustic Imaging
04:54

A Stable Phantom Material for Optical and Acoustic Imaging

Published on: June 16, 2023

Time Multiplexing Super Resolving Technique for Imaging from a Moving Platform
06:25

Time Multiplexing Super Resolving Technique for Imaging from a Moving Platform

Published on: February 12, 2014

Area of Science:

  • Bioacoustics
  • Neuroethology
  • Sensory processing in animals

Background:

  • Echolocating bats interpret their environment by analyzing echoes, which are formed by the convolution of echolocation calls and object impulse responses (IR).
  • Extracting the IR from echoes is crucial for detailed object perception, requiring bats to process both magnitude and phase information in the frequency domain.
  • Prior research using a jitter paradigm suggested high temporal acuity (down to 10 ns) in bats, implying precise sonar phase representation.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To investigate the perceptual phase sensitivity of the bat Phyllostomus discolor using a novel phantom-target playback approach.
  • To differentiate phase sensitivity related to signal duration versus signal onset, moving beyond the limitations of the jitter paradigm.

Main Methods:

  • A phantom-target playback experiment was conducted with Phyllostomus discolor.
  • The impulse response (IR) phase was randomized, lengthening the IR over time while keeping the magnitude spectrum constant.
  • This contrasts with the jitter paradigm, which manipulates IR delay.

Main Results:

  • Perceptual phase sensitivity, when analyzed through signal duration, was found to be significantly lower than when analyzed through signal onset.
  • The magnitude spectrum of the echoes remained unchanged despite the phase randomization.

Conclusions:

  • Different temporal aspects of sonar processing in bats are encoded with distinct temporal resolutions.
  • The findings indicate that a generalized claim of 'phase sensitivity' in bat sonar cannot be universally maintained.
  • This suggests a more nuanced understanding of how bats process complex auditory information for navigation and foraging.