Walter Metzner
metzner@ucla.edu
(310) 206-2023
Office Address:
LSB 4365
Los Angeles, CA 90095
Fax Number:
(310) 825-3679
Lab Number:
(310) 825-3679
Work Address:
LSB 4357, 4353, 4347
Los Angeles, CA 90095
Affiliations
Professor, Integrative Biology and Physiology
Member, Brain Research Institute, Molecular, Cellular & Integrative Physiology GPB Home Area, Neuroengineering Training Program, Neuroscience GPB Home Area
Member, Brain Research Institute, Molecular, Cellular & Integrative Physiology GPB Home Area, Neuroengineering Training Program, Neuroscience GPB Home Area
Research Interests
Sensory processing/motor control, especially auditory feedback control of vocalization; Behavioral Neuroscience (Neuroethology) We aim at understanding how the central nervous system transforms sensory signals into motor commands that control adaptive behavior. Specific topics include a) Mechanisms of auditory feedback control of mammalian vocalization. Although hearing one’s own voice is essential for the production of correct vocalization patterns in many birds and mammals, including humans, neuronal substrates and mechanisms for auditory feedback control of vocalizations are still largely unknown in any vertebrate. We study how hearing affects voice in echolocating horseshoe bats. These bats accurately control the frequency of their echolocation calls through auditory feedback, which becomes especially apparent when they are flying and compensating for frequency shifts in the echo signal that are caused by Doppler-effects. Similar to visual fixation, where eye movements keep an image of interest centered on the visual fovea, this “Doppler-shift compensation behavior” in horseshoe bats ensures that the echo of interest remains within a so called “auditory fovea”. b) Electrosensory processing and synaptic modulation of a neuronal oscillator: My research in weakly electric gymnotiform fish concentrates on the segregation of behaviors on both the sensory and motor side of the central nervous system. This includes studying the synaptic modulation of one of the most precise neuronal oscillators, the pacemaker nucleus, as well as determining the behavioral significance of multiple sensory and premotor pathways.
Publications
A selected list of publications:
- Hage Steffen R, Jiang Tinglei, Berquist Sean W, Feng Jiang, Metzner Walter Ambient noise induces independent shifts in call frequency and amplitude within the Lombard effect in echolocating bats Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, 2013; 110(10): 4063-8.
- Liu Ying, Feng Jiang, Metzner Walter Different auditory feedback control for echolocation and communication in horseshoe bats PloS one, 2013; 8(4): e62710.
- Hage Steffen R, Metzner Walter Potential effects of anthropogenic noise on echolocation behavior in horseshoe bats Communicative & integrative biology, 2013; 6(4): e24753.
- Kobayasi Kohta I, Hage Steffen R, Berquist Sean, Feng Jiang, Zhang Shuyi, Metzner Walter Behavioural and neurobiological implications of linear and non-linear features in larynx phonations of horseshoe bats Nature communications, 2012; 3(18): 1184.
- Yamase Hiroyuki, Metzner Walter Fermi-surface truncation from thermal nematic fluctuations Physical review letters, 2012; 108(18): 186405.
- Jiang Tinglei, Metzner Walter, You Yuyan, Liu Sen, Lu Guanjun, Li Shi, Wang Lei, Feng Jiang Variation in the resting frequency of Rhinolophus pusillus in Mainland China: effect of climate and implications for conservation The Journal of the Acoustical Society of America, 2010; 128(4): 2204-11.
- Luo Feng, Metzner Walter, Wu Feijian, Wu Feijian J, Zhang Shuyi, Zhang Shuyi Y, Chen Qicai, Chen Qicai C Duration-sensitive neurons in the inferior colliculus of horseshoe bats: adaptations for using CF-FM echolocation pulses Journal of neurophysiology, 2008; 99(1): 284-96.
- Ma, J. Liang, B. Zhang, S. Metzner, W. Dietary composition and echolocation call design of three sympatric insectivorous bat species from China, Ecological Research, 2007; DOI 10.1007/s11284-007-0344-5: .
- Dell’Anna Luca, Metzner Walter Electrical resistivity near Pomeranchuk instability in two dimensions Physical review letters, 2007; 98(13): 136402.
- Smotherman Michael, Kobayasi Kohta, Ma Jie, Zhang Shuyi, Metzner Walter A mechanism for vocal-respiratory coupling in the mammalian parabrachial nucleus The Journal of neuroscience : the official journal of the Society for Neuroscience, 2006; 26(18): 4860-9.
- Ma, J. Zhang, J. Liang, B. Zhang, L. Zhang, S. Metzner, W. Dietary characteristics of Myotis ricketti in Beijing, North China, Journal of Mammalogy, 2006; 87: 339-344.
- Ma Jie, Kobayasi Kohta, Zhang Shuyi, Metzner Walter Vocal communication in adult greater horseshoe bats, Rhinolophus ferrumequinum Journal of comparative physiology. A, Neuroethology, sensory, neural, and behavioral physiology, 2006; 192(5): 535-50.
- Smotherman Michael, Metzner Walter Auditory-feedback control of temporal call patterns in echolocating horseshoe bats Journal of neurophysiology, 2005; 93(3): 1295-303.
- Gozalo Alfonso S, Schwiebert Rebecca S, Metzner Walter, Lawson Gregory W Spontaneous, generalized lipidosis in captive greater horseshoe bats (Rhinolophus ferrumequinum) Contemporary topics in laboratory animal science / American Association for Laboratory Animal Science, 2005; 44(6): 49-52.
- Ma, Jie Metzner, W. Liang, B. Zhang, L. Zhang, J. Zhang, S. Shen, J.. Differences in diet and echolocation in four sympatric bat species and their respective ecological niches, Acta Zoologica Sinica, 2004; 50(2): 145-150.
- Tian, L. Liang, B. Maeda, K. Metzner, W. Zhang, S. Molecular studies on the classification of Miniopterus schreibersii (Chiroptera: Vespertilionidae) inferred from mitochondrial cytochrome b sequences, Folia Zoologica, 2004; 53(3): .
- Smotherman Michael, Zhang Shuyi, Metzner Walter A neural basis for auditory feedback control of vocal pitch The Journal of neuroscience : the official journal of the Society for Neuroscience, 2003; 23(4): 1464-77.
- Ma, Jie Jones, G. Zhang, S. Shen, J. Metzner, W. Zhang, L. Liang, B. Dietary analysis confirms that Rickett’s big-footed bat (Myotis ricketti) is a piscivore, Journal of Zoology (London), 2003; 261(3): 245-248.
- Smotherman Michael, Metzner Walter Effects of echo intensity on Doppler-shift compensation behavior in horseshoe bats Journal of neurophysiology, 2003; 89(2): 814-21.
- Smotherman, M. Metzner, W. Fine control of call frequency by horseshoe bats, Journal of Comparative Physiology A, 2003; 189: 435-446.
- Metzner Walter, Zhang Shuyi, Smotherman Michael Doppler-shift compensation behavior in horseshoe bats revisited: auditory feedback controls both a decrease and an increase in call frequency The Journal of experimental biology, 2002; 205(Pt 11): 1607-16.
- Krahe Rüdiger, Kreiman Gabriel, Gabbiani Fabrizio, Koch Christof, Metzner Walter Stimulus encoding and feature extraction by multiple sensory neurons The Journal of neuroscience : the official journal of the Society for Neuroscience, 2002; 22(6): 2374-82.
- Kreiman, G. Krahe, R. Metzner, W. Koch, C. Gabbiani, F. Robustness and variability of neuronal coding by amplitude-sensitive afferents in the weakly electric fish eigenmannia J Neurophysiol, 2000; 84(1): 189-204.
- Gabbiani, F. Metzner, W. Encoding and processing of sensory information in neuronal spike trains J Exp Biol, 1999; 202(# (Pt 10)): 1267-79.
- Metzner, W. Neural circuitry for communication and jamming avoidance in gymnotiform electric fish J Exp Biol, 1999; 202: 1365-75.
- Metzner, W. Why are there so many sensory brain maps? Cell Mol Life Sci, 1999; 56(1-2): 1-4.
- Metzner, W. Koch, C. Wessel, R. Gabbiani, F. Feature extraction by burst-like spike patterns in multiple sensory maps J Neurosci, 1998; 18(6): 2283-300.
- Metzner, W. Measuring distance in two dimensions Nature, 1998; 395(6705): 838-9.
- Juranek, J. Metzner, W. Segregation of behavior-specific synaptic inputs to a vertebrate neuronal oscillator J Neurosci, 1998; 18(21): 9010-9.
- Metzner, W. Juranek, J. A method to biotinylate and histochemically visualize ibotenic acid for pharmacological inactivation studies J Neurosci Methods, 1997; 76(2): 143-50.
- Metzner, W. Juranek, J. A sensory brain map for each behavior? Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A, 1997; 94(26): 14798-803.
- Juranek, J. Metzner, W. Cellular characterization of synaptic modulations of a neuronal oscillator in electric fish, J Comp Physiol A, 1997; 181(4): 393-414.
- Metzner, W. Anatomical basis for audio-vocal integration in echolocating horseshoe bats, Journal of Comparative Neurology, 1996; 368(2): 252-69.
- Gabbiani, F. Metzner, W. Wessel, R. Koch, C. From stimulus encoding to feature extraction in weakly electric fish Nature, 1996; 384(6609): 564-7.
- Heiligenberg, W. Metzner, W. Wong, C. J. Keller, C. H. Motor control of the jamming avoidance response of Apteronotus leptorhynchus: evolutionary changes of a behavior and its neuronal substrates J Comp Physiol A, 1996; 179(5): 653-74.
- Metzner, W. An audio-vocal interface in echolocating horseshoe bats, Journal of Neuroscience, 1993; 13(5): 1899-915.
- Metzner, W. The jamming avoidance response in Eigenmannia is controlled by two separate motor pathways Journnal of Neuroscience, 1993; 13(5): 1862-78.
- Metzner, W. Echolocation behaviour in bats, Science Progress, 1991; 75(298): 453-465.
- Krull, D. Schumm, A. Metzner, W. Neuweiler, G. Foraging areas and foraging behavior in the notch-eared bat Myotis emarginatus, Behavioral Ecology and Sociobiology, 1991; 28(4): 247-254.
- Heiligenberg, W. Keller, C. H. Metzner, W. Kawasaki, M. Structure and function of neurons in the complex of the nucleus electrosensorius of the gymnotiform fish Eigenmannia: detection and processing of electric signals in social communication J Comp Physiol [A], 1991; 169(2): 151-64.
- Metzner, W. Heiligenberg, W. The coding of signals in the electric communication of the gymnotiform fish Eigenmannia: from electroreceptors to neurons in the torus semicircularis of the midbrain J Comp Physiol [A], 1991; 169(2): 135-50.
- Metzner, W. A possible neuronal basis for Doppler-shift compensation in echo-locating horseshoe bats, Nature, 1989; 341(6242): 529-32.
- Neuweiler, G. Metzner, W. Heilmann, U. Rubsamen, R. Eckrich, M. Costa, H.H. Foraging behaviour and echolocation in the rufous horseshoe bats, Rhinolophus rouxi, of Sri Lanka, Behavioral Ecology and Sociobiology, 1987; 20: 53-67.
- Metzner, W. Radtke-Schuller, S. The nuclei of the lateral lemniscus in the rufous horseshoe bat, Rhinolophus rouxi. A neurophysiological approach, Journal of Comparative Physiology. a, Sensory, Neural, and Behavioral Physiology, 1987; 160(3): 395-411.