A deoxyglucose study on auditory responses in the bat Rhinolophus rouxi

Responses in the auditory system of the echolocating bat Rhinolophus rouxi were mapped with [3H]deoxyglucose (DG) autoradiography. After unilateral stimulation with the constant frequency component of the individual bat's echolocation call, stimulus-related DG uptake occurred contralaterally in the dorsolateral and the ventromedial parts of the inferior colliculus, in the ventral medial geniculate body and in the contralateral neocortex. Unilateral 50 kHz-stimulation gave rise to a weakly activated lamina in the dorsolateral contralateral inferior colliculus. The distribution of frequency-evoked DG uptake within the inferior colliculus agrees with electrophysiological findings on an acoustic fovea in the auditory pathway of echolocating bats.