Institute of Neuroscience Faculty
Professor, Department of Biology
B.S., 1975, University of California, Irvine
Ph.D., 1981, State University of New York, Downstate Medical Center
Research Interests
Coding and integration of sensory information; neuroethology
The goal of my research program is to understand how we get perception from physical stimuli. To address this broad question, my laboratory uses electrophysiological, anatomical, behavioral, and computational modeling methods to study spatial hearing in the barn owl, a nocturnal predator that can hunt solely by means of auditory cues. Not only is the barn owl a good auditory predator, but its midbrain contains a retina-like map of auditory space. The neurons that compose this map have spatial receptive fields, like visual neurons, and are arrayed topographically so that each neuron represents some point in auditory space. Using this auditory space map, my lab has been analyzing the auditory system's ability to resolve and image the sounds from a particular source in the presence of echoes and other competing sounds.
Representative Publications
- Spitzer MW, Takahashi TT (2006) Sound Localization by Barn Owls in a Simulated Echoic Environment. J Neurophysiology 95: 3571–3584.
Baxter CS, Nelson BS, Takahashi TT 2013 The role of envelope shape in the localization of multiple sound sources and echoes in the barn owl J Neurophysiol 109: 924–931, 2013.
Donovan JM, Nelson BS, Takahashi TT 2012 The contributions of onset and offset echo delays to auditory spatial perception in human listeners. J. Acoust. Soc. Am. 132: 3912-3924
Nelson BS, Takahashi TT 2010 Spatial hearing in echoic environments: The role of the envelope in owls. Neuron 67:643–655 (Neuron featured article)
Takahashi, TT 2010How the owl tracks its prey II. (invited Commentary) J. Exp. Biol. 213:3399-3408
Nelson BS, Takahashi TT (2008) "Independence of echo-threshold and echo-delay in the barn owl" PLoS ONE 3(10): e3598. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0003598
- Whitchurch EA, Takahashi TT (2006) Combined Auditory and Visual Stimuli Facilitate Head Saccades in the Barn Owl (Tyto alba) J Neurophysiology 96: 730–745.
- Keller CH, Takahashi TT (2005) Localization and Identification of Concurrent Sounds in the Owl's Auditory Space Map. Jrnl. Neuroscience 25: 10446-10461.
- Bala ADS, Takahashi TT (2005) Adaptive Learning and Facilitation of the Nictitating Membrane Reflex in the Barn Owl. Jrnl.Comp Physiol A 191: 627-637.
- Spitzer MW, Bala AD, Takahashi TT. (2004) A Neuronal Correlate of the Precedence Effect Is Associated With Spatial Selectivity in the Barn Owl's Auditory Midbrain. J Neurophysiology . 92 (4): 2051-70.
- Takahashi TT, Bala AD, Spitzer MW, Euston DR, Spezio ML, Keller CH. (2003) The Synthesis and Use of the Owl's Auditory Space Map. Biol Cybern . 89 (5): 378-87.
- Bala AD, Spitzer MW, Takahashi TT. (2003) Prediction of Auditory Spatial Acuity from Neural Images on the Owl's Auditory Space Map. Nature, 424(6950): 771-4.
- Spezio, M.L. and T.T. Takahashi (2003) Frequency-specific interaural level difference tuning predicts spatial response patterns of space-specific neurons in the barn owl inferior colliculus. J. Neuroscience 23: 4677-4688.
- Spitzer, M.W., A.D. Bala, and T.T. Takahashi (2003) Auditory spatial discrimination by barn owls in simulated echoic conditions. J. Acoust. Soc. Am. 113: 1631-1645.
- Euston, D.R. and T.T. Takahashi (2002) From spectrum to space: the contribution of level difference cues to spatial receptive fields in the barn owl inferior colliculus. J. Neuroscience 22(1):284-293.
- Bala, A.D.S. and T.T. Takahashi (2000) Pupillary dilation response as an indicator of auditory discrimination in the barn owl. J. Comp. Physiol A 186:425-434.
- Keller, C.H. and T.T. Takahashi (2000) Representation of temporal features of complex sounds by the discharge patterns of neurons in the owl's inferior colliculus. J. Neurophysiology 84:2638-2650.
- Spezio, M.L., C.H. Keller, R.T. Marrocco, and T.T. Takahashi (2000) Head-related transfer functions of the Rhesus monkey. Hear. Res. 144:73-88.
- Keller, C.H., K. Hartung, and T.T. Takahashi (1998) Head-related transfer functions of the barn owl: measurement and neural responses. Hear. Res. 118:13-34.
- Keller, C.H. and T.T. Takahashi (1996) Binaural cross-correlation predicts the responses of neurons in the owl's auditory space map under conditions simulating summing localization. J. Neuroscience . 16:4300-4309.
- Keller, C.H. and T.T. Takahashi (1996) Responses to simulated echoes by neurons in the barn owl's auditory space map. J. Comp. Physiol. A 178:499-512.
- Takahashi, T.T., C.L. Barberini, and C.H. Keller (1995) An anatomical substrate for the inhibitory gradient in the VLVp of the owl. J. Comp. Neurol. 358:294-304.
- Takahashi, T. and C. H. Keller (1994) Representation of multiple sound-sources in the owl's auditory space map. J. Neuroscience 14: 4780-4793.
- Takahashi, T. and C. H. Keller (1992) Simulated motion enhances neuronal selectivity for a sound-localization cue. J. Neuroscieince 12: 4381-4390.
- Takahashi, T. and M. Konishi (1986) Selectivity for interaural time difference in the owl's midbrain. J. Neuroscience 6: 3414-3422.
- Takahashi, T., A. Moiseff, and M. Konishi (1984) Time and intensity cues are processed independently in the auditory system of the owl. J. Neurosci. 4:1781-1786.