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For more information, visit the Mini-Symposia in Systems Neuroscience 1998 home page.
Also have a look at the June 10th Binaural Meeting.
The College Park campus is located about two miles inside the Washington Capital Beltway (Route 495/95) in College Park, Maryland.
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From points north of Washington, DC, take I 95 south to the Capital Beltway (Route 495/95). Exit onto the Beltway (495/95) toward College Park. Stay in the right hand lane, and exit on to Route 1 South toward College Park. Continue on Route 1 about two miles. At the main gate to the University of Maryland campus, turn right on Campus Drive. |
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From points south of Washington, DC, take I 95 to the Capital Beltway (Route 495/95). Take the Beltway around to the Maryland side (you may go in either direction: Route 1 is virtually equi-distant from I 95) to Route 1. Exit onto Route 1 South toward College Park. Continue on Route 1 about two miles. At the main gate to the University of Maryland campus, turn right on Campus Drive. |
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To get to Plant Sciences : Get in the left hand lane of Campus Drive. At the round about with a large M in flowers, turn off to the right onto Regents Drive. Plant Sciences is the second building on the left, next to Geology and across the road from Physics. There is a large parking garage on the other side of Plant Sciences. Enter the building through the main door (which faces the garage). Room 1140 is to the left. |
Need other directions (metro, train, some other starting point)?
Call (301-405-6576) or email
(pwhite@isr.umd.edu) for specifics.
The dorsal cochlear nucleus (DCN) has a complex neuropil with a at least three sources of excitatory input and three sources of inhibitory input to the principal cells. DCN output neurons convey both auditory and somatosensory information. Their responses are non-linear and present a considerable challenge to traditional methods of analyzing neural systems. In this seminar, the nature of the DCN's nonlinearities will be discussed and related to their responses to sound and to their input/output properties.
The perceptual organization of acoustic space permits complex spatially-guided behaviors. The echolocating bat, for example, computes the location of a target from the acoustic information contained in sonar echoes, and it uses this spatial information to actively guide its behavior. The bat determines the azimuth and elevation of a sonar target from the intensity, timing and spectrum of sonar echoes at the two ears. It estimates distance from the time delay between each sound transmission and returning echo. Together, this acoustic information provides the bat with a 3-D representation of a target's position in space. Echo-derived spatial information is ultimately integrated with neural circuitry involved in generating adaptive motor responses. Behavioral data from laboratory insect capture experiments demonstrate that spatial information carried by sonar echoes is used to guide and coordinate complex sequences of adaptive behaviors, including adjustments in the flight path, wingbeat pattern, head aim and timing of sonar vocalizations. Here, we will present data on the response latencies of perceptually-guided behaviors in a dynamic acoustic environment. In addition, we will describe behavioral stereotypies that suggest motor planning several hundreds of milliseconds before insect capture. Echolocation requires a sensorimotor interface, where spatial information from echoes is integrated with neural circuitry that generates motor responses for target tracking and for controlling vocal output. Here, we will also describe functional specializations in the bat superior colliculus, a neural structure believed to play a role in sensorimotor integration and orienting behavior. These specializations may play a role in coordinating acoustic information about the 3-D position of a sonar target with appropriate motor circuitry for adaptive behaviors in echolocation.
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