PRESS-NEWS.org - Press Release Distribution
PRESS RELEASES DISTRIBUTION

Do bats know voices of friends they hang out with?

Study finds bats may recognize the voices of other bats belonging to their social group

2013-05-07
(Press-News.org) VIDEO: A bat reacts to contact call stimulus with a turning to the loudspeaker, placed on the right side.
Click here for more information.

Is it possible that mammals have the ability to recognize individuals of the same species, whom they know well, by their voice? A new study has found that even in nocturnal, fast-moving animals such as bats, there is an ability to recognize certain vocal aspects of other bats from their social groups. The study by Hanna Kastein from the University of Veterinary Medicine in Hannover, Germany, and her colleagues is published in the Springer journal Animal Cognition.

The authors chose bats for their study as they are social mammals whose aerial lifestyle favors the use of acoustic cues for both orientation and communication. Body contacts among the social groups in the False Vampire bat, Megaderma lyra, suggest individualized relationships. The authors suggest that the ability to recognize individuals by sound may govern the reunion of groups at night roosts. When isolated bats are observed, they emit calls which result in the bat being joined by members of its usual night roosting group, giving weight to the belief that others must recognize his call.

The researchers used two groups of bats for their study. The groups were kept in separate flight rooms and observed over a minimum of two months. The researchers observed the established body-contact partners and separated bats from their respective groups to evoke the emission of contact calls which they recorded. These calls were then played back to bats which were either body-contact partners, no body-contact partners or unknown bats from another group. The behavior of the experimental bat was measured using the turning reaction of the bat's body towards the loudspeaker emitting the call.

The researchers found that the bats reacted to all single contact calls by turning towards the loudspeaker whether it was from a body-contact, no body-contact or unknown bat. This shows that they did not have a clear preference for calls from body-contact partners under these circumstances. The strong response to all the calls could be caused by the high attractiveness of any contact call to temporarily isolated bats.

However, in the set of experiments where bats were repeatedly presented with a call from a known bat until they gave no reaction to the sound and then presented with a different call, they showed a stronger turning response to other partners from their social group compared to a different call from the previously presented bat. This would suggest that the bats make an individual evaluation of the voice.

The researchers conclude: "The experiments provide evidence for identity discrimination based on voice dissimilarity, and may indicate recognition of conspecifics by voice."

### Reference Kastein, H.B. et al.(2013). Perception of individuality in bat vocal communication: discrimination between, or recognition of, interaction partners? Animal Cognition DOI 10.1007/s10071-013-0628-9

The full-text article, a photo and video and audio clips are available to journalists on request.


ELSE PRESS RELEASES FROM THIS DATE:

All hospitals should require drug, alcohol tests for physicians

2013-05-07
To improve patient safety, hospitals should randomly test physicians for drug and alcohol use in much the same way other major industries in the United States do to protect their customers. The recommendation comes from two Johns Hopkins physicians and patient safety experts in a commentary published online April 29 in The Journal of the American Medical Association. In addition, the experts say, medical institutions should take a cue from other high-risk industries, like airlines, railways and nuclear power plants, and mandate that doctors be tested for drug or alcohol ...

Spinal 'spacer' procedure has fewer complications, but higher risk of repeat surgery

2013-05-07
Philadelphia, Pa. (May 7, 2013) - Interspinous spacer implantation—a less-invasive alternative surgical option for spinal stenosis—has a lower complication rate than spinal fusion, reports a study in the May 1 issue of Spine The journal is published by Lippincott Williams & Wilkins, a part of Wolters Kluwer Health. However, patients receiving interspinous spacers are more likely to require repeated back surgery, according to the report by Dr Ricard A. Deyo and colleagues of Oregon Health & Science University, Portland. They conclude, "Use of interspinous spacers poses ...

Another 'trophy' for the chemistry cabinet

2013-05-07
The search for cleaner, low temperature nuclear fuels has produced a shock result for a team of experts at The University of Nottingham. First they created a stable version of a 'trophy molecule' that has eluded scientists for decades. Now they have discovered that the bonding within this molecule is far different than expected. Remarkably their findings have shown that it behaves in much the same way as its counterparts in the well-known transitional metals such as chromium, molybdenum and tungsten. The research, done by PhD student David King, which could help in ...

New technique can help nanoparticles deliver drug treatments

2013-05-07
DETROIT — A Wayne State University researcher has successfully tested a technique that can lead to more effective use of nanoparticles as a drug delivery system. Joshua Reineke, Ph.D., assistant professor of pharmaceutical sciences in the Eugene Applebaum College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences, examined how a biodegradable polymer particle called polylactic-co-glycolic acid (PLGA) breaks down in live tissue. He believes the potential impact of his work is broad, as nanoparticles increasingly have been developed as carriers of drug treatments for numerous diseases ...

AGU journal highlights -- May 7, 2013

2013-05-07
The following highlights summarize research papers that have been recently published in Journal of Geophysical Research-Solid Earth (JGR-B), Journal of Geophysical Research-Oceans (JGR-C), Journal of Geophysical Research-Earth Surface (JGR-F) and Tectonics. In this release: Graphite lubricates fault zones Sediment processes can be significant source of ambient noise Evolution of the Qin Mountains as part of the supercontinent Rodinia Studying how flocculation affects acoustic reflection How do braided river dynamics affect sediment storage? Charting the ...

Restless legs syndrome, insomnia and brain chemistry: A tangled mystery solved?

2013-05-07
Johns Hopkins researchers believe they may have discovered an explanation for the sleepless nights associated with restless legs syndrome (RLS), a symptom that persists even when the disruptive, overwhelming nocturnal urge to move the legs is treated successfully with medication. Neurologists have long believed RLS is related to a dysfunction in the way the brain uses the neurotransmitter dopamine, a chemical used by brain cells to communicate and produce smooth, purposeful muscle activity and movement. Disruption of these neurochemical signals, characteristic of Parkinson's ...

Older adults' memory lapses linked to problems processing everyday events

2013-05-07
Some memory problems common to older adults may stem from an inability to segment daily life into discrete experiences, according to a new study published in Psychological Science, a journal of the Association for Psychological Science. The study suggests that problems processing everyday events may be the result of age-related atrophy to a part of the brain called the medial temporal lobe (MTL). "When you think back on what you did yesterday, you don't just press 'play' and watch a continuous stream of 24 hours," says psychological scientist Heather Bailey of Washington ...

When women sell themselves short on team projects

2013-05-07
May 7, 2013 - Working on a team is always a challenge, but a new study highlights a particular challenge to women: how much they credit themselves in a joint success. Women will devalue their contributions when working with men but not with other women, according to the new research. The study suggests yet another reason why women still tend to be under-represented at the highest echelons of many organizations. Michelle Haynes of the University of Massachusetts, Lowell, had examined how other people evaluate men and women working together. She decided to build on that ...

Nerve stimulation for severe depression changes brain function

2013-05-07
For nearly a decade, doctors have used an implanted electronic stimulator to treat severe depression in people who don't respond to standard antidepressant therapy. Now, preliminary brain scan studies conducted by researchers at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis are beginning to reveal the processes occurring in the brain during stimulation and may provide some clues about how the device improves depression. They found that vagus nerve stimulation brings about changes in brain metabolism weeks or even months before patients begin to feel better. The ...

Initiation of breast cancer treatment varies by race; patient-doctor communication is key

2013-05-07
WASHINGTON — Black women with breast cancer were found to be three times more likely than their white counterparts to delay treatment for more than 90 days — a time delay associated with increased deaths from the disease, according to a new study led by researchers at Georgetown Lombardi Comprehensive Cancer Center. But many women chose to forgo treatment altogether, and the study, published online in the May issue of Breast Cancer Research and Treatment, suggests that low satisfaction regarding communication between black women and their doctors is a significant reason ...

LAST 30 PRESS RELEASES:

Breathable yet protective: Next-gen medical textiles with micro/nano networks

Frequency-engineered MXene supercapacitors enable efficient pulse charging in TENG–SC hybrid systems

Developed an AI-based classification system for facial pigmented lesions

Achieving 20% efficiency in halogen-free organic solar cells via isomeric additive-mediated sequential processing

New book Terraglossia reclaims language, Country and culture

The most effective diabetes drugs don't reach enough patients yet

Breast cancer risk in younger women may be influenced by hormone therapy

Strategies for staying smoke-free after rehab

Commentary questions the potential benefit of levothyroxine treatment of mild hypothyroidism during pregnancy

Study projects over 14 million preventable deaths by 2030 if USAID defunding continues

New study reveals 33% gap in transplant access for UK’s poorest children

Dysregulated epigenetic memory in early embryos offers new clues to the inheritance of polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS)

IVF and IUI pregnancy rates remain stable across Europe, despite an increasing uptake of single embryo transfer

It takes a village: Chimpanzee babies do better when their moms have social connections

From lab to market: how renewable polymers could transform medicine

Striking increase in obesity observed among youth between 2011 and 2023

No evidence that medications trigger microscopic colitis in older adults

NYUAD researchers find link between brain growth and mental health disorders

Aging-related inflammation is not universal across human populations, new study finds

University of Oregon to create national children’s mental health center with $11 million federal grant

Rare achievement: UTA undergrad publishes research

Fact or fiction? The ADHD info dilemma

Genetic ancestry linked to risk of severe dengue

Genomes reveal the Norwegian lemming as one of the youngest mammal species

Early birds get the burn: Monash study finds early bedtimes associated with more physical activity

Groundbreaking analysis provides day-by-day insight into prehistoric plankton’s capacity for change

Southern Ocean saltier, hotter and losing ice fast as decades-long trend unexpectedly reverses

Human fishing reshaped Caribbean reef food webs, 7000-year old exposed fossilized reefs reveal

Killer whales, kind gestures: Orcas offer food to humans in the wild

Hurricane ecology research reveals critical vulnerabilities of coastal ecosystems

[Press-News.org] Do bats know voices of friends they hang out with?
Study finds bats may recognize the voices of other bats belonging to their social group