The new study showed that bats using echo -golocation to create sound “cards” and orientation in space can quickly adapt to the environment even with a temporary hearing loss.
Scientists from the University of Jones Hopkins studied how bats relying on the right to determine the location and direction are adapted to the lack of this critical feeling.
During the experiment of bats, they trained to fly from one platform to another using echolocation. Then the researchers temporarily blocked an important auditory area of the brain in animals with the help of a drug and repeated the experiment.
The results showed that bats with a temporary hearing loss successfully completed the track at the first attempt. Animals quickly and effectively adjusted their mistakes, even if they came across obstacles or could not maneuver quite quickly.
The study also revealed that bats adapted to a new situation, flying lower or closer to the walls to strengthen the echo and improve orientation.
Neurobiologist Cynthia Moss, one of the authors of the study, noted that bats differ from other mammals and people with incredible speed and almost automatic activation of this adaptive ability.
The co -author of the study Claris Dibold added that the results are very interesting, since these methods are usually used by bats to adapt to external noises. “However, we found that they are also used to adapt to the internal problem of information processing,” she said ..
The details of the study are published in the journal Current Biology.