HOME HELP FEEDBACK SUBSCRIPTIONS ARCHIVE SEARCH TABLE OF CONTENTS		QUICK SEARCH:   [advanced] Author: Keyword(s): Year:  Vol:  Page:

This Article Full Text Full Text (PDF) All Versions of this Article: 93/3/1223    most recent 00747.2004v1 Alert me when this article is cited Alert me if a correction is posted Citation Map Services Email this article to a friend Similar articles in this journal Similar articles in Web of Science Similar articles in PubMed Alert me to new issues of the journal Download to citation manager Citing Articles Citing Articles via HighWire Citing Articles via Web of Science (7) Citing Articles via Google Scholar Google Scholar Articles by Tollin, D. J. Articles by Yin, T. C. T. Search for Related Content PubMed PubMed Citation Articles by Tollin, D. J. Articles by Yin, T. C. T.

Sound-Localization Performance in the Cat: The Effect of Restraining the Head

¹Departments of Physiology and ²Anatomy, University of Wisconsin, Madison, Wisconsin

Submitted 21 July 2004; accepted in final form 10 October 2004

In oculomotor research, there are two common methods by which the apparent location of visual and/or auditory targets are measured, saccadic eye movements with the head restrained and gaze shifts (combined saccades and head movements) with the head unrestrained. Because cats have a small oculomotor range (approximately ±25°), head movements are necessary when orienting to targets at the extremes of or outside this range. Here we tested the hypothesis that the accuracy of localizing auditory and visual targets using more ethologically natural head-unrestrained gaze shifts would be superior to head-restrained eye saccades. The effect of stimulus duration on localization accuracy was also investigated. Three cats were trained using operant conditioning with their heads initially restrained to indicate the location of auditory and visual targets via eye position. Long-duration visual targets were localized accurately with little error, but the locations of short-duration visual and both long- and short-duration auditory targets were markedly underestimated. With the head unrestrained, localization accuracy improved substantially for all stimuli and all durations. While the improvement for long-duration stimuli with the head unrestrained might be expected given that dynamic sensory cues were available during the gaze shifts and the lack of a memory component, surprisingly, the improvement was greatest for the auditory and visual stimuli with the shortest durations, where the stimuli were extinguished prior to the onset of the eye or head movement. The underestimation of auditory targets with the head restrained is explained in terms of the unnatural sensorimotor conditions that likely result during head restraint.

This article has been cited by other articles:

				D. J. Tollin, J. L. Ruhland, and T. C. T. Yin The Vestibulo-Auricular Reflex J Neurophysiol, March 1, 2009; 101(3): 1258 - 1266. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				L. Hausmann, D. T. T. Plachta, M. Singheiser, S. Brill, and H. Wagner In-flight corrections in free-flying barn owls (Tyto alba) during sound localization tasks J. Exp. Biol., September 15, 2008; 211(18): 2976 - 2988. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				N. J. Gandhi and D. L. Sparks Dissociation of Eye and Head Components of Gaze Shifts by Stimulation of the Omnipause Neuron Region J Neurophysiol, July 1, 2007; 98(1): 360 - 373. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				L. C. Populin Monkey sound localization: head-restrained versus head-unrestrained orienting. J. Neurosci., September 20, 2006; 26(38): 9820 - 9832. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				H. E. Heffner, R. S. Heffner, D. J. Tollin, L. C. Populin, J. M. Moore, J. L. Ruhland, and T.C.T. Yin The sound-localization ability of cats J Neurophysiol, November 1, 2005; 94(5): 3653 - 3655. [Full Text] [PDF]