About this Research Topic
Animals produce a tremendous diversity of sounds for communication to perform life's basic functions, from courtship and parental care to defense and foraging. Explaining this diversity in sound production is important for understanding the ecology, evolution and behavior of species. This auditory world is rich in temporal features. In the last decades, researchers have been studying the auditory processing of time using different methodologies and animal models ranging from insects to vertebrates including frogs, birds and mammals. The results of these studies has led to rich knowledge on sound reception and perception. We are interested in understanding the mechanisms for processing some basic temporal features of sound, such as sound onset, sound duration, intervals between sounds, direction of frequency sweeps, and rate of modulation of amplitude or frequency. Although these features do not completely describe natural sounds, they represent some of the elements of natural sounds; they are readily produced in the laboratory and can be quantitatively described. Recently, some researcher have presented new data on the behavioral relevance of time processing in the central auditory system. In this research topic we plan to compile recent work that elucidates the role of time processing in the auditory system and the importance of tuning to relevant temporal patterns of sounds in the biology and evolution of animals. We strongly encourage comparative approaches that will deepen our understanding of the processes comprising this auditory processing.
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