Hermann Wagner

Bio: Hermann Wagner is an academic researcher from RWTH Aachen University. The author has contributed to research in topics: Interaural time difference & Sound localization. The author has an hindex of 41, co-authored 189 publications receiving 6733 citations. Previous affiliations of Hermann Wagner include California Institute of Technology & Queen's University.

The barn owl wing: an inspiration for silent flight in the aviation industry?

Abstract: Barn owls are specialists in prey detection using acoustic information. The flight apparatus of this bird of prey is most efficiently adapted to the hunting behavior by reducing flight noise. An understanding of the underlying mechanisms owls make use of could help minimize the noise disturbances in airport or wind power plant neighborhood. Here, we characterize wings of barn owls in terms of an airfoil as a role model for studying silent flight. This characterization includes surface and edge specialization (serrations, fringes) evolved by the owl. Furthermore, we point towards possible adaptations of either noise suppression or air flow control that might be an inspiration for the construction of modern aircraft. Three-dimensional imaging techniques such as surface digitizing, computed tomography and confocal laser scanning microscopy were used to investigate the wings and feathers in high spatial resolution. We show that wings of barn owls are huge in relation to their body mass resulting in a very low wing loading which in turn enables a slow flight and an increased maneuverability. Profiles of the wing are highly cambered and anteriorly thickened, especially at the proximal wing, leading to high lift production during flight. However, wind tunnel experiments showed that the air flow tends to separate at such wing configurations, especially at low-speed flight. Barn owls compensated this problem by evolving surface and edge modifications that stabilize the air flow. A quantitative three-dimensionally characterization of some of these structures is presented.

Adaptation in the auditory midbrain of the barn owl (Tyto alba) induced by tonal double stimulation.

Abstract: During hunting, the barn owl typically listens to several successive sounds as generated, for example, by rustling mice. As auditory cells exhibit adaptive coding, the earlier stimuli may influence the detection of the later stimuli. This situation was mimicked with two double-stimulus paradigms, and adaptation was investigated in neurons of the barn owl’s central nucleus of the inferior colliculus. Each double-stimulus paradigm consisted of a first or reference stimulus and a second stimulus (probe). In one paradigm (second level tuning), the probe level was varied, whereas in the other paradigm (inter-stimulus interval tuning), the stimulus interval between the first and second stimulus was changed systematically. Neurons were stimulated with monaural pure tones at the best frequency, while the response was recorded extracellularly. The responses to the probe were significantly reduced when the reference stimulus and probe had the same level and the inter-stimulus interval was short. This indicated response adaptation, which could be compensated for by an increase of the probe level of 5–7 dB over the reference level, if the latter was in the lower half of the dynamic range of a neuron’s rate-level function. Recovery from adaptation could be best fitted with a double exponential showing a fast (1.25 ms) and a slow (800 ms) component. These results suggest that neurons in the auditory system show dynamic coding properties to tonal double stimulation that might be relevant for faithful upstream signal propagation. Furthermore, the overall stimulus level of the masker also seems to affect the recovery capabilities of auditory neurons.

Estimated cochlear delays in low best-frequency neurons in the barn owl cannot explain coding of interaural time difference.

Abstract: The functional role of the low-frequency range (<3 kHz) in barn owl hearing is not well understood. Here, it was tested whether cochlear delays could explain the representation of interaural time difference (ITD) in this frequency range. Recordings were obtained from neurons in the core of the central nucleus of the inferior colliculus. The response of these neurons varied with the ITD of the stimulus. The response peak shared by all neurons in a dorsoventral penetration was called the array-specific ITD and served as criterion for the representation of a given ITD in a neuron. Array-specific ITDs were widely distributed. Isolevel frequency response functions obtained with binaural, contralateral, and ispilateral stimulation exhibited a clear response peak and the accompanying frequency was called the best frequency. The data were tested with respect to predictions of a model, the stereausis model, assuming cochlear delays as source for the best ITD of a neuron. According to this model, different cochlear delays determined by mismatches between the ipsilateral and contralateral best frequencies are the source for the ITD in a binaural neuron. The mismatch should depend on the best frequency and the best ITD. The predictions of the stereausis model were not fulfilled in the low best-frequency neurons analyzed here. It is concluded that cochlear delays are not responsible for the representation of best ITD in the barn owl.

Visual-auditory integration for visual search: a behavioral study in barn owls.

Abstract: Barn owls are nocturnal predators that rely on both vision and hearing for survival. The optic tectum of barn owls, a midbrain structure involved in selective attention, has been used as a model for studying visual-auditory integration at the neuronal level. However, behavioral data on visual-auditory integration in barn owls are lacking. The goal of this study was to examine if the integration of visual and auditory signals contributes to the process of guiding attention toward salient stimuli. We attached miniature wireless video cameras on barn owls’ heads (OwlCam) to track their target of gaze. We first provide evidence that the area centralis (a retinal area with a maximal density of photoreceptors) is used as a functional fovea in barn owls. Thus, by mapping the projection of the area centralis on the OwlCam’s video frame, it is possible to extract the target of gaze. For the experiment, owls were positioned on a high perch and four food items were scattered in a large arena on the floor. In addition, a hidden loudspeaker was positioned in the arena. The positions of the food items and speaker were changed every session. Video sequences from the OwlCam were saved for offline analysis while the owls spontaneously scanned the room and the food items with abrupt gaze shifts (head saccades). From time to time during the experiment, a brief sound was emitted from the speaker. The fixation points immediately following the sounds were extracted and the distances between the gaze position and the nearest items and loudspeaker were measured. The head saccades were rarely toward the location of the sound source but to salient visual features in the room, such as the door knob or the food items. However, among the food items, the one closest to the loudspeaker had the highest probability of attracting a gaze shift. This result supports the notion that auditory signals are integrated with visual information for the selection of the next visual search target.

Target-approaching behavior of barn owls (Tyto alba): influence of sound frequency

Abstract: We studied the influence of frequency on sound localization in free-flying barn owls by quantifying aspects of their target-approaching behavior to a distant sound source during ongoing auditory stimulation. In the baseline condition with a stimulus covering most of the owls hearing range (1-10 kHz), all owls landed within a radius of 20 cm from the loudspeaker in more than 80% of the cases and localization along the azimuth was more accurate than localization in elevation. When the stimulus contained only high frequencies (>5 kHz) no changes in striking behavior were observed. But when only frequencies from 1 to 5 kHz were presented, localization accuracy and precision decreased. In a second step we tested whether a further border exists at 2.5 kHz as suggested by optimality models. When we compared striking behavior for a stimulus having energy from 2.5 to 5 kHz with a stimulus having energy between 1 and 2.5 kHz, no consistent differences in striking behavior were observed. It was further found that pre-takeoff latency was longer for the latter stimulus than for baseline and that center frequency was a better predictor for landing precision than stimulus bandwidth. These data fit well with what is known from head-turning studies and from neurophysiology.

SPAdes, a new genome assembly algorithm and its applications to single-cell sequencing ( 7th Annual SFAF Meeting, 2012)

Abstract: The lion's share of bacteria in various environments cannot be cloned in the laboratory and thus cannot be sequenced using existing technologies. A major goal of single-cell genomics is to complement gene-centric metagenomic data with whole-genome assemblies of uncultivated organisms. Assembly of single-cell data is challenging because of highly non-uniform read coverage as well as elevated levels of sequencing errors and chimeric reads. We describe SPAdes, a new assembler for both single-cell and standard (multicell) assembly, and demonstrate that it improves on the recently released E+V-SC assembler (specialized for single-cell data) and on popular assemblers Velvet and SoapDeNovo (for multicell data). SPAdes generates single-cell assemblies, providing information about genomes of uncultivatable bacteria that vastly exceeds what may be obtained via traditional metagenomics studies. SPAdes is available online ( http://bioinf.spbau.ru/spades ). It is distributed as open source software.

Principles of Neural Science

Abstract: I have developed "tennis elbow" from lugging this book around the past four weeks, but it is worth the pain, the effort, and the aspirin. It is also worth the (relatively speaking) bargain price. Including appendixes, this book contains 894 pages of text. The entire panorama of the neural sciences is surveyed and examined, and it is comprehensive in its scope, from genomes to social behaviors. The editors explicitly state that the book is designed as "an introductory text for students of biology, behavior, and medicine," but it is hard to imagine any audience, interested in any fragment of neuroscience at any level of sophistication, that would not enjoy this book. The editors have done a masterful job of weaving together the biologic, the behavioral, and the clinical sciences into a single tapestry in which everyone from the molecular biologist to the practicing psychiatrist can find and appreciate his or

Spiking Neuron Models: Single Neurons, Populations, Plasticity

Abstract: Neurons in the brain communicate by short electrical pulses, the so-called action potentials or spikes. How can we understand the process of spike generation? How can we understand information transmission by neurons? What happens if thousands of neurons are coupled together in a seemingly random network? How does the network connectivity determine the activity patterns? And, vice versa, how does the spike activity influence the connectivity pattern? These questions are addressed in this 2002 introduction to spiking neurons aimed at those taking courses in computational neuroscience, theoretical biology, biophysics, or neural networks. The approach will suit students of physics, mathematics, or computer science; it will also be useful for biologists who are interested in mathematical modelling. The text is enhanced by many worked examples and illustrations. There are no mathematical prerequisites beyond what the audience would meet as undergraduates: more advanced techniques are introduced in an elementary, concrete fashion when needed.

Neuroscience 細胞死：最近の知見

Abstract: 中枢神経系疾患の治療は正常細胞（ニューロン）の機能維持を目的とするが，脳血管障害のように機能障害の原因が細胞の死滅に基づくことは多い．一方，脳腫瘍の治療においては薬物療法や放射線療法といった腫瘍細胞の死滅を目標とするものが大きな位置を占める．いずれの場合にも，細胞死の機序を理解することは各種病態や治療法の理解のうえで重要である．現在のところ最も研究の進んでいる細胞死の型はアポトーシスである．そのなかで重要な位置を占めるミトコンドリアにおける反応および抗アポトーシス因子について概要を紹介する．

Competitive Hebbian learning through spike-timing-dependent synaptic plasticity

Abstract: Hebbian models of development and learning require both activity-dependent synaptic plasticity and a mechanism that induces competition between different synapses. One form of experimentally observed long-term synaptic plasticity, which we call spike-timing-dependent plasticity (STDP), depends on the relative timing of pre- and postsynaptic action potentials. In modeling studies, we find that this form of synaptic modification can automatically balance synaptic strengths to make postsynaptic firing irregular but more sensitive to presynaptic spike timing. It has been argued that neurons in vivo operate in such a balanced regime. Synapses modifiable by STDP compete for control of the timing of postsynaptic action potentials. Inputs that fire the postsynaptic neuron with short latency or that act in correlated groups are able to compete most successfully and develop strong synapses, while synapses of longer-latency or less-effective inputs are weakened.