Adulthood Adaptive Plasticity of the Barn-Owl Auditory Localization System

Abstract

Studies of the neural system mediating auditory localization in the barn owl provide insight as to how sensory information is processed across and within multiple brain structures. The current study investigates the ability of the adult barn owl to adapt its auditory orienting behavior in reaction to imposed displacement of its vision. The specific aim is to test the hypothesis that adulthood plasticity that compensates for the discordance between vision and audition is enhanced when the owl engages in active prey capture - a behavior that makes use of combined auditory and visual information. Our observation supports the hypothesis. Behavioral evidence of plasticity is interpreted using a computational model of the neural mechanisms associated with the adaptive response