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By far, the most widely used subjects in psychological and biological research today are rodents. Although rats and mice comprise the largest group of animals used in research, there are over 2,000 species and 27 families of rodents, living all over the world (except Antarctica) and thriving in many different habitat types. The vast environmental diversity that rodents face has led to numerous adaptations for communication, including vocalizing and hearing in both the sonic and ultrasonic ranges, effectively communicating in the open air and underground, and using vocalizations for coordinating sexual behavior, for mother-pup interactions, and for signaling an alarming situation to the group. Some rodent species have even developed foot drumming behaviors for communication. Comparative studies from around the globe, using both field and laboratory methodologies, reveal the vast differences in acoustic communication behavior across many rodent species. Some rodents are amenable to training and have been domesticated and bred purely for research purposes. Since the early 1900s, rats and mice have been indispensable to research programs around the world. Thus, much of what we know about hearing and vocalizations in rodents come from these two species tested in the laboratory. The sequencing of the mouse genome in 2002, followed by the rat genome in 2004, only increased the utility of these animals as research subjects since genetically engineered strains mimicking human diseases and disorders could be developed more easily. In the laboratory, rats and mice are used as models for human communication and hearing disorders and are involved in studies on hearing loss and prevention, hormones, and auditory plasticity, to name a few. We know that certain strains of mice retain hearing better than others throughout their lifespan, and about the genes involved in those differences. We know about the effects of noise, hormones, sex, aging, and circadian rhythms on hearing in mice and other rodents. We also know about normal hearing in many families of rodents, including the perception of simple and complex stimuli and the anatomy and physiology of hearing and sound localization.The importance of acoustic communication to these animals, as well as the significance of these mammals to biomedical research, are summarized in the chapters.

Vocal signals are central for social communication across a wide range of vertebrate species; consequently, it is critical to understand the mechanisms underlying the learning, control, and evolution of vocal communication. Songbirds are at the forefront of research into such neural mechanisms. Indeed, songbirds provide a particularly important model system for this endeavor because of the many parallels between birdsong and human speech. Specifically, (1) songbirds are one of the few vertebrate species that, like humans, learn their vocal signals during development, (2) the processes of song learning and control in songbirds shares many parallels with the process of speech acquisition in humans, and (3) there exist deep homologies between the circuits for the learning, control, and processing of vocal signals across songbirds and humans. In addition, because of the diversity of songbirds and song learning strategies, songbirds offer a powerful model system to use the comparative method to reveal mechanisms underlying the evolution of song learning and production. Taken together, research on songbirds can not only reveal general principles underlying vertebrate vocal communication but can also provide insight into potential mechanisms underlying the learning, control, and processing of speech. This volume will cover a range of topics in birdsong spanning multiple level of analysis. Chapters will be authored by the world¿s leading experts on birdsong and will provide comprehensive reviews of the processes underlying song learning, of the neural circuits for song learning and control as well as for the extraction and processing of song information, of the selection pressures underlying song evolution, and of genetic and molecular mechanisms underlying the learning and evolution of song. The primary goals of this volume are to provide comprehensive, integrative, and comparative perspectives on birdsong and to underscore the importance of birdsong to biomedical research, evolutionary biology, and behavioral, systems, and computational neuroscience.The target audience of this volume will be graduate students, postdoctoral fellows, and established academics and neuroscientists who are interested in mechanisms of communication from an integrative and comparative perspective. The volume is intended to function as a high-profile and contemporary reference on current work related to the learning, control, processing, and evolution of birdsong. This volume will have broad appeal to comparative and sensory biologists, neurophysiologists, and behavioral, systems, and cognitive neuroscientists who attend meetings such as the Society for Neuroscience, the International Society for Neuroethology, and the Society for Integrative and Comparative Biology. Because of the relevance of birdsong research to understanding human speech, it is likely that the volume will also be of interest to speech researchers and clinicians researching communication, motor, and sensory processing disorders.

A fundamental goal of neuroscience is to understand how the nervous system extracts biologically relevant information from the natural environment and how it uses that information to guide and coordinate behavior necessary for reproduction and survival.

Over the past several years, many investigators interested in the effects of man-made sounds on animals have come to realize that there is much to gain from studying the broader literature on hearing sound and the effects of sound as well as data from the effects on humans.

The auditory system is a complex neural system composed of many types of neurons connected into networks. One feature that sets the auditory system apart from other sensory systems, such as somatosensory or visual systems, is the many stages of neural processing that occur between the ear in the periphery and the cerebral cortex.

Echolocation by bats has proven to be a virtual gold mine for colleagues studying neurobiology, while providing many rich examples of its impact on other areas of bats' lives. This includes an examination of the possible roles of Prestin and FoxP2 genes and various anatomical features affecting bat vocalizations.

This SHAR volume serves to expand, supplement, and update the original "Cochlea" volume in the series. It also provides insights into where cochlear research is going, including new hearing prostheses for the deaf that will most likely soon enter the phase of clinical trials.

Loudness in the laboratory, loudness of steady-state sounds and the loudness of time-varying sounds are also covered, as are hearing loss and models.

The auditory system is a complex neural system composed of many types of neurons connected into networks. One feature that sets the auditory system apart from other sensory systems, such as somatosensory or visual systems, is the many stages of neural processing that occur between the ear in the periphery and the cerebral cortex.

Genetics is fundamental to hearing function, and an understanding of genetics enhances both auditory research and the clinical treatment of the hearing impaired. As a comprehensive review of the genetics of hearing, this book will interest hearing researchers, clinicians and genetic counselors.

This book is a compendium of the latest research on acoustic communication in these highly vocal vertebrates. This integrated approach provides a neuroethologically-driven and evolutionary basis for our understanding of acoustic communication and its underlying mechanisms.

Discusses the main aspects of cochlear compression, including anatomy and physiology; the perceptual consequences of compression in normal hearing; the effects of hearing loss on compression; and its function in hearing aids and cochlear implants.

This volume builds on the information about the anatomy and physiology of the auditory pathway found in volumes 1 and 2 of the SHAR series. While the first two volumes describe the structure and function of auditory pathways, this one explains how these pathways lead to an animal's ability to localize and interpret sounds.

Experimental approaches to auditory research make use of validated animal models to determine what can be generalized from one species to another. To address broader comparative issues, this book treats both fish and amphibians together, to overcome the differing theoretical and experimental paradigms that underlie most work on these groups.

Topics covered include the structure and function of cetacean auditory systems, the unique sound production system of odontocetes, acoustic communication, psychoacoustics, echolocation and models of sound propagation.

The Springer Handbook of Auditory Research presents a series of com prehensive and synthetic reviews of the fundamental topics in modem auditory research. It is aimed at all individuals with interests in hearing research including advanced graduate students, postdoctoral researchers, and clinical investigators.

The function of vertebrate hearing is served by a surprising variety of sensory structures in the different groups of fish, amphibians, reptiles, birds, and mammals.

The nine review chapters, written by internationally distinguished auditory researchers, provide a detailed and unified introduction to sound processing in the cochlea and the steps by which the ensuing signals are prepared for the central nervous system.

This volume covers the higher-level auditory processes that are part of animal perception. The chapters describe how humans and other animals perceive the sounds that they receive from the many sound sources existing in the world.

Discussing the physiological bases of using artificial devices to electrically stimulate the brain to interpret sounds, this book talks about a device used to restore neural function. It discusses auditory prostheses in the context of engineering and psychophysics and its implications for speech, behavior, and long-term effects on people.

This volume covers the higher-level auditory processes that are part of animal perception. The chapters describe how humans and other animals perceive the sounds that they receive from the many sound sources existing in the world.

The Springer Handbook of Auditory Research presents a series of compreh- sive and synthetic reviews of the fundamental topics in modern auditory - search. The volumes are aimed at all individuals with interests in hearing research including advanced graduate students, postdoctoral researchers, and clinical investigators.

Edwin W Rubel is Virginia Merrill Bloedel Professor of Hearing Sciences at the Virginia Merrill Bloedel Hearing Research Center at the University of Washington, Arthur N.

The Springer Handbook of Auditory Research presents a series of compre hensive and synthetic reviews of the fundamental topics in modern auditory research. The volumes are aimed at all individuals with interests in hearing research, including advanced graduate students, postdoctoral researchers, and clinical investigators.

The Springer Handbook of Auditory Research presents a series of com prehensive and synthetic reviews of the fundamental topics in modem auditory research. It is aimed at all individuals with interests in hearing research including advanced graduate students, postdoctoral researchers, and clinical investigators.

The auditory system presents many features of a complex computational environment, as well as providing numerous opportunities for computational analysis. This volume represents an overview of computational approaches to understanding auditory system function.

Birds and reptiles have long fascinated investigators studying hearing and the auditory system. This volume addresses the many similarities in their auditory systems, as well as the known significant differences about hearing in the two groups.

The function of vertebrate hearing is served by a surprising variety of sensory structures in the different groups of fish, amphibians, reptiles, birds, and mammals.

Electroreception has become one of the most revealing areas in the study of the neural basis of behavior, and neurobiologists recognize it as a model sensory system for experimental study.

At present there is no cure for tinnitus, and treatment options are limited. Different from previous tinnitus books, including A. Moller's book [in press at Springer], which typically have a strong clinical flavor, the present volume focuses on neural mechanisms of tinnitus and its behavioral consequences.