Evidence map›Paper›PMID 29379866›Full record

ArticleeNeuro

Combination of Interaural Level and Time Difference in Azimuthal Sound Localization in Owls.

Lutz Kettler, Hannah Griebel, Roland Ferger, Hermann Wagner

Open access · goldAbstract read
In one paragraph

Article in eNeuro. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 7 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
7citing papers in PubMed
0.9field-weighted citation impact, top 23% of its field
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

7 citing papers in PubMed, 18 citations in OpenAlex.

  1. Neural Responses Underlying Interaural Time Difference Discrimination as a Function of Sensory Reliability in the Barn Owl.The Journal of neuroscience : the official journal of the Society for Neuroscience · 2025
    Article
  2. Development of the horizontal optocollic reflex in juvenile barn owls (Tyto furcata pratincola).Journal of comparative physiology. A, Neuroethology, sensory, neural, and behavioral physiology · 2022
    Article
  3. Article
  4. Barn Owl's Auditory Space Map Activity Matching Conditions for a Population Vector Readout to Drive Adaptive Sound-Localizing Behavior.The Journal of neuroscience : the official journal of the Society for Neuroscience · 2021
    Article
  5. Sound localization in barn owls studied with manipulated head-related transfer functions: beyond broadband interaural time and level differences.Journal of comparative physiology. A, Neuroethology, sensory, neural, and behavioral physiology · 2020
    Article
  6. Article
  7. Interaction of interaural cues and their contribution to the lateralisation of Mongolian gerbils (Meriones unguiculatus).Journal of comparative physiology. A, Neuroethology, sensory, neural, and behavioral physiology · 2018
    Article
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

4 authors at 2 institutions in 2 countries.

Lutz KettlerDepartment of Zoology and Animal Physiology, Aachen University, Aachen D-52074, Germany.
Hannah GriebelDepartment of Zoology and Animal Physiology, Aachen University, Aachen D-52074, Germany.
Roland FergerDepartment of Zoology and Animal Physiology, Aachen University, Aachen D-52074, Germany.ORCID 0000-0003-4994-3846
Hermann WagnerDepartment of Zoology and Animal Physiology, Aachen University, Aachen D-52074, Germany.ORCID 0000-0002-8191-7595
FH Aachen · DEUniversity of Maryland, College Park · US

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

A function of the auditory system is to accurately determine the location of a sound source. The main cues for sound location are interaural time (ITD) and level (ILD) differences. Humans use both ITD and ILD to determine the azimuth. Thus far, the conception of sound localization in barn owls was that their facial ruff and asymmetrical ears generate a two-dimensional grid of ITD for azimuth and ILD for elevation. We show that barn owls also use ILD for azimuthal sound localization when ITDs are ambiguous. For high-frequency narrowband sounds, midbrain neurons can signal multiple locations, leading to the perception of an auditory illusion called a phantom source. Owls respond to such an illusory percept by orienting toward it instead of the true source. Acoustical measurements close to the eardrum reveal a small ILD component that changes with azimuth, suggesting that ITD and ILD information could be combined to eliminate the illusion. Our behavioral data confirm that perception was robust against ambiguities if ITD and ILD information was combined. Electrophysiological recordings of ILD sensitivity in the owl's midbrain support the behavioral findings indicating that rival brain hemispheres drive the decision to orient to either true or phantom sources. Thus, the basis for disambiguation, and reliable detection of sound source azimuth, relies on similar cues across species as similar response to combinations of ILD and narrowband ITD has been observed in humans.

Indexed as

Acoustic StimulationAnimalsFemaleFunctional LateralityIllusionsMesencephalonNeuronsSound LocalizationStrigiformesTime Factorsbarn owlcue combinationhead-related transfer functioninteraural level differenceinteraural time differencesound localization

Identifiers

PMID29379866
PMCPMC5779116
OpenAlexW2772769829

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
LicenceCC BY
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.