Bats employ instant compensation strategy when they can't hear, study shows
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When bats can't hear, new research finds that these hearing-dependent animals employ a remarkable compensation strategy. They adapt immediately and robustly, suggesting for the first time that bats' brains are hard-wired with an ability to launch a Plan B in times of diminished hearing.
The Johns Hopkins University work, newly published in Current Biology, raises questions about whether other animals and even humans might be capable of such deft accommodations.
"Bats have this amazing flexible adaptive behavior that they can employ anytime," said senior author Cynthia F. Moss, a Johns Hopkins neuroscientist who studies bats. "Other mammals and humans also have these adaptive circuits that they can use to help make decisions and navigate their environment, but what's striking here is that it's very fast, almost automatic."
All animals adapt in various ways as a response to sensory deprivation. People at a loud bar, might lean in to better hear what someone is saying. A dog might tilt its head toward a muted sound.
