Published on Feb 24, 2016
With so many sounds in the world, how does the brain decide which ones get your attention?
Researchers at Johns Hopkins think a bat's brain could hold some answers.
Bats listen to the echoes of their own chirps to find food and know where to go.
In this experiment, researchers played those chirps, plus other sounds, to see how the bat's brain would react.
The study showed the bats could "hear" all the noises...
But certain neurons in their brains screened out everything except the chirp echoes.
By excluding all that extra noise, bats can ignore distractions nd fly in the right direction.
And, of course, find food.
Since all mammals share a basic brain organization, it's likely our brains work this way, too.
Video by: JHU Office of Communications
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