Latencies of conditioned vocal responses to hearing test tones in killer whales (Orcinus orca)
IntroductionPerceived loudness is challenging to study in non-human animals. However, reaction time to an acoustic stimulus is a useful behavioral proxy for the assessment of perceived loudness. Understanding the effect of sound frequency and level on perceived loudness would improve prediction and...
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Frontiers Media S.A.
2025-01-01
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| Series: | Frontiers in Behavioral Neuroscience |
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| Online Access: | https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fnbeh.2024.1495579/full |
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| author | Jared Stephens Alyssa W. Accomando Alyssa W. Accomando Kayla Nease Kayla Nease Brian K. Branstetter Brian K. Branstetter Todd R. Robeck |
| author_facet | Jared Stephens Alyssa W. Accomando Alyssa W. Accomando Kayla Nease Kayla Nease Brian K. Branstetter Brian K. Branstetter Todd R. Robeck |
| author_sort | Jared Stephens |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | IntroductionPerceived loudness is challenging to study in non-human animals. However, reaction time to an acoustic stimulus is a useful behavioral proxy for the assessment of perceived loudness. Understanding the effect of sound frequency and level on perceived loudness would improve prediction and modeling of anthropogenic noise impacts on marine mammals.MethodsIn this study, behavioral hearing tests conducted with two killer whales were analyzed to capture conditioned vocal response latency, which is the time between the onset of the acoustic signal and the onset of the response (i.e., reaction time).ResultsThe results showed that vocal reaction times decreased with increasing sensation level (i.e., sound pressure level above the baseline hearing threshold), while the effect of frequency on reaction time varied between the subjects. Reaction time as a function of sound duration is described, and equal-latency contours are presented.DiscussionThe data suggest that vocal reaction time decreases with increasing sensation level, therefore supporting the use of reaction time as a proxy for loudness perception in killer whales. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-f916efb990254b859ff2a8859a582ef7 |
| institution | Kabale University |
| issn | 1662-5153 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2025-01-01 |
| publisher | Frontiers Media S.A. |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Frontiers in Behavioral Neuroscience |
| spelling | doaj-art-f916efb990254b859ff2a8859a582ef72025-02-05T13:35:56ZengFrontiers Media S.A.Frontiers in Behavioral Neuroscience1662-51532025-01-011810.3389/fnbeh.2024.14955791495579Latencies of conditioned vocal responses to hearing test tones in killer whales (Orcinus orca)Jared Stephens0Alyssa W. Accomando1Alyssa W. Accomando2Kayla Nease3Kayla Nease4Brian K. Branstetter5Brian K. Branstetter6Todd R. Robeck7National Marine Mammal Foundation, San Diego, CA, United StatesNational Marine Mammal Foundation, San Diego, CA, United StatesNaval Information Warfare Center Pacific, San Diego, CA, United StatesNational Marine Mammal Foundation, San Diego, CA, United StatesSeaWorld San Diego, San Diego, CA, United StatesNational Marine Mammal Foundation, San Diego, CA, United StatesNaval Facilities Engineering Systems Command Pacific, Honolulu, HI, United StatesSeaWorld Parks, Orlando, FL, United StatesIntroductionPerceived loudness is challenging to study in non-human animals. However, reaction time to an acoustic stimulus is a useful behavioral proxy for the assessment of perceived loudness. Understanding the effect of sound frequency and level on perceived loudness would improve prediction and modeling of anthropogenic noise impacts on marine mammals.MethodsIn this study, behavioral hearing tests conducted with two killer whales were analyzed to capture conditioned vocal response latency, which is the time between the onset of the acoustic signal and the onset of the response (i.e., reaction time).ResultsThe results showed that vocal reaction times decreased with increasing sensation level (i.e., sound pressure level above the baseline hearing threshold), while the effect of frequency on reaction time varied between the subjects. Reaction time as a function of sound duration is described, and equal-latency contours are presented.DiscussionThe data suggest that vocal reaction time decreases with increasing sensation level, therefore supporting the use of reaction time as a proxy for loudness perception in killer whales.https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fnbeh.2024.1495579/fullmarine mammalreaction timeequal latencyloudnesssensation level |
| spellingShingle | Jared Stephens Alyssa W. Accomando Alyssa W. Accomando Kayla Nease Kayla Nease Brian K. Branstetter Brian K. Branstetter Todd R. Robeck Latencies of conditioned vocal responses to hearing test tones in killer whales (Orcinus orca) Frontiers in Behavioral Neuroscience marine mammal reaction time equal latency loudness sensation level |
| title | Latencies of conditioned vocal responses to hearing test tones in killer whales (Orcinus orca) |
| title_full | Latencies of conditioned vocal responses to hearing test tones in killer whales (Orcinus orca) |
| title_fullStr | Latencies of conditioned vocal responses to hearing test tones in killer whales (Orcinus orca) |
| title_full_unstemmed | Latencies of conditioned vocal responses to hearing test tones in killer whales (Orcinus orca) |
| title_short | Latencies of conditioned vocal responses to hearing test tones in killer whales (Orcinus orca) |
| title_sort | latencies of conditioned vocal responses to hearing test tones in killer whales orcinus orca |
| topic | marine mammal reaction time equal latency loudness sensation level |
| url | https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fnbeh.2024.1495579/full |
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