Cynthia F. Moss Professor Director of the Neuroscience and Cognitive Science Program Department of Psychology the Institute for Systems Research Affiliate: Department of Biology Neuroscience & Cognitive Science Program University of Maryland College Park, MD 20742 Contact  Information Degrees,  Positions Current  Research Recent   Publications

Contact Information

E-mail:       cmoss@psyc.umd.edu

Degrees, Positions

Ph. D.	Brown University	1986
Postdoctoral Fellow	University of Tuebingen	1985 - 1987
Postdoctoral Research Associate	Brown University	1987 - 1989
Assistant Professor	Harvard University	1989 - 1994
Morris Kahn Associate Professor	Harvard University	1994 - 1995
Associate Professor	University of Maryland	1995 - 1999
Professor	University of Maryland	1999 - present

Current Research

Our research program is directed at understanding auditory information processing and sensorimotor integration in vertebrates. In our lab, the echolocating bat serves as a model system for a neuroethologically-based study of hearing and perceptually-guided behavior. Our work combines acoustical, psychophysical, perceptual, computational and neurophysiological studies, with the goal of developing integrative theories on brain-behavior relations in animal systems.

Current behavioral studies focus on the processing of dynamic acoustic signals for the perception of auditory scenes. The aims of this work are to develop a broad understanding of complex signal processing in biological systems and to establish an empirical foundation for integrative models of spatial information processing, the perceptual organization of sound, and adaptive motor behaviors.

Neurophysiological studies examine how the brain processes sensory information and how this information is integrated with motor programs to permit perceptually-guided behavior. Current experiments focus on the functional organization of the bat's superior colliculus, a midbrain structure implicated in the coordination of multimodal sensory inputs and goal-directed motor behaviors. Recent results in the lab reveal distinct functional specializations in the superior colliculus that are important for the bat's acoustic orientation by sonar, and these data are used to develop a theoretical framework on the functional role of the mammalian midbrain.

Recent Publications

BOOKS

• Moss, C.F., and Shettleworth, S. (Editors), Neuroethological studies of cognitive and perceptual processes. Westview Press, 1996.
• Thomas, J.T., Moss, C.F., and Vater, M. (Editors), Advances in the study of echolocation in bats and dolphins. University of Chicago Press, Chicago, 2004.

ARTICLES AND CHAPTERS

• Chiu, C., Xian, W. and Moss, C.F., Flying in silence: Echolocating bats cease vocalizing to avoid sonar jamming. Proceedings of the National Academy of Science, 2008, 105: NO.35, 13115-13120 (pdf), (supplemental pdf).
• Ulanovsky, N. and Moss, C.F., What the bat’s voice tells the bat’s brain. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, invited perspective, 105: 8491-8498 (pdf).
• Aytekin, M., Moss, C.F., and Simon, J.Z., A sensory-motor approach to sound localization. Neural Computation, 2008, 20: 603-635 (pdf), (supplemental pdf).
• Triblehorn, J. D., Ghose, K., Bohn, K., Moss, C.F. and Yager, D.D., Free-flight encounters between praying mantids (Parasphendale agrionina) and bats (Eptesicus fuscus). Journal of Experimental Biology, 2008, 211: 555-562 (pdf).
• Ghose, K., Horiuchi, T.K, Moss, C.F., Flying big brown bats emit a beam with two lobes in the dorso-ventral plane. Journal of the Acoustical Society of America, 2007, 122 (6): 3717-3724 (pdf).
• Chen Chiu and Cynthia F. Moss, The role of the external ear in vertical sound localization in the free flying bat, Eptesicus fuscus. The Journal of the Acoustical Society of America, April 2007, Volume 121, Issue 4, pp. 2227-2235 (pdf).
• Shiva R. Sinha and Cynthia F. Moss, Vocal Premotor Activity in the Superior Colliculus. The Journal of Neuroscience, January 3, 2007, 27(1):98-110; doi:10.1523/JNEUROSCI.2683-06.2007 (pdf).
• Kirsten M. Bohn, Gerald S. Wilkinson & Cynthia F. Moss, Discrimination of infant isolation calls by female greater spear-nosed bats, Phyllostomus hastatus. ANIMAL BEHAVIOUR, 2007, 73, 423e432 (pdf).
• Ulanovsky, N and Moss, C.F., Hippocampal cellular and network activity in freely-moving echolocating bats. Nature Neuroscience, 2007, 10(2): 224-233 (pdf).
• Bohn, K.M., Moss, C.F. and Wilkinson, G.S., Correlated evolution between hearing sensitivity and socal calls in bats. Biology Letters, Royal Society, in press (pdf).
• Ghose, K. Horiuchi, T.K., Krishnaprasad, P.S. and Moss, C.F., Echolocating bats use a prey intercept strategy that is time-optimal in a local, piece-wise linear sense. Public Library of Science Biology, 2006, 4 (5): e108 (pdf).
• Moss, C.F., Bohn, K and Gilkenson, H. and Surlykke, A, Active listening for spatial orientation in a complex auditory scene. Public Library of Science Biology, 2006,4 (4): 615-626 (pdf).
• Ghose, K. and Moss, C.F., Steering by hearing: An adaptive linear relationship links a bat's acoustic gaze to its flight motor planning. Journal of Neuroscience, 2006, 26: 1704-1710 (pdf).
• Jensen, M.E, Moss, C.F., and Surlykke, A, Echolocating bats can use acoustic landmarks for spatial orientation. Journal of Experimental Biology, 2005, 208: 4399-4410 (pdf).
• Aytekin, M., Grassi, E., Sahota, M., and Moss, C.F., The bat head-related transfer function reveals binaural cues for sound localization in azimuth and elevation. Journal of The acoustical society of America, 2004 (pdf).
• Bohn, K.M., Boughman, J.W., Wilkinson, G.S., and Moss, C.F., Auditory sensitivity and frequency selectivity in greater spear-nosed bats suggest specializations for acoustic communication. Journal of Comparative Psysiology, A., 2004, Vol. 190 (3), 185-192 (pdf).
• Schuller, G., and Moss, C.F., Vocal Control and acoustically guided behavior in bats. In J.Thomas, C.F. Moss and M.Vater (Eds.). Echolocation in bats and dolphins, University of Chicago Press, Chicago, 2004, 3-16 (pdf).
• Moss, C.F., and Sinha, S.R., Neurobiology of echolocation in bats. Current Opinion in Neurobiology, Vol. 13 (6), Invited contribution, 2003: 755-762 (pdf).
• Schnitzler, H.-U., Moss, C.F., and Denzinger, A., From spatial orientation to food acquisition in echolocating bats. Trends in Ecology and Evolution, 2003, Vol. 18 (8): 386-394 (pdf). (pdf).
• Ghose, K., and Moss, C.F., The sonar beam pattern of a flying bat as it tracks tethered insects. Journal of the Acoustical society of America, 114 (2), 1120-1131 (August) (pdf).
• Simmons, J.A., Wotton, J.M., Ferragamo, M.J., and Moss, C.F., Transformation of external-ear spectral cues into perceived delays by the big brown bat, Eptesicus fuscus. Journal of the Acoustical Society of America, 2002, 111(6): 2771-2782 (pdf).
• Moss, C.F., and Surlykke, A., Auditory scene analysis by echolocation in bats. Journal of the Acoustical Society of America, 2001, 110: 2207-2226 (pdf).
• Moss, C.F., and Carr, C.E., Comparative psychology of audition. In R. Nelson and M. Gallagher (Eds) Comprehensive Handbook of Psychology, Wiley, 2002 (pdf).
• Erwin, H., Wilson, W.W., and Moss, C.F., A computational sensorimotor model of bat echolocation. Journal of the Acoustical Society of America, 2001, 110: 1176-1187 (pdf).
• Ghose, K., Zotkin, D, Duraiswami, R., and Moss, C.F., Multimodal localization of a flying bat. Proceedings of the International Conference on Acoustics, Speech and Signal Processing, Salt Lake City, 2001, SAM-P7.10 (pdf).
• Wilson, W.W., and Moss, C.F., Sensory-motor behavior of free-flying FM bats during target capture. In J. Thomas, C.F. Moss and M. Vater (Eds.) Advances in the study of echolocation in bats and dolphins, University of Chicago Press, Chicago, 2004, 22-27 (pdf).
• Valentine, D. E., Sinha, S., and Moss, C.F., Orienting responses and vocalizations produced by microstimulation in the superior colliculus of the echolocating bat, Eptesicus fuscus. Journal of Comparative Physiology, 2002, 188: 89-108 (pdf).
• Boughman, J., and Moss, C.F., Vocal learning and development of mammal and bird calls. In A. Simmons, A. Popper and R. Fay (Eds.) Animal Communication (pdf).
• Wadsworth, J., and Moss, C.F., Vocal control of acoustic information for sonar discriminations by the echolocating bat, Eptesicus fuscus. Journal of the Acoustical Society of America, 2000, 107: 2265-2271 (pdf).
• Surlykke, A., and Moss, C.F., Echolocation behavior of big brown bats, Eptesicus fuscus, in the field and the laboratory. Journal of the Acoustical Society of America, 2000, 108 (5) 2419-2429 (pdf).
• Moss, C.F., Echolocation. In R. Wilson and F. Keil (Eds.) MIT Encyclopedia of the Cognitive Sciences, 1999, MIT Press, Cambridge, MA, 253-255.
• Moss, C.F., Echolocation. In Mc-Graw-Hill Yearbook of Science and Technology, New York, 1999, 127-129.
• Grossetête, A., and Moss, C.F., Target flutter rate discrimination by bats using frequencymodulated sonar sounds: Behavior and signal processing models. Journal of the Acoustical Society of America, 1998, 103: 2167-2176 (pdf).
• Simmons, J.A., Ferragamo, M., and Moss, C.F., Echo-delay resolution in sonar images of the big brown bat, Eptesicus fuscus. In T.H. Kunz and P.A. Racey (Editors) Bat Biology and Conservation, 1998, Smithsonian Institution Press, Washington, D.C., 1998, 220-230 (pdf).
• Valentine, D.E. and Moss, C.F., Sensorimotor integration in bat sonar. In T.H. Kunz and P.A. Racey (Editors) Bats: Phylogeny, Morphology, Echolocation and Conservation Biology. Smithsonian Institution Press, Washington, D.C., 1998, 220-230 (pdf).
• Schnitzler, H.-U., and Moss, C.F., Echolocation. In T.H. Kunz and P.A. Racey (Editors) Bat Biology and Conservation, Smithsonian Institution Press, Washington, D.C., 1998, 181-182 (pdf).
• Moss, C.F., Redish, D., Gounden, C., and Kunz, T.H., Ontogeny of vocal signals in the little brown bat, Myotis lucifugus. Animal Behaviour, 1997, 54: 131-141 (pdf).
• Valentine, D.E., and Moss, C.F., Spatially Selective Auditory Responses in the Superior Colliculus of the Echolocating Bat. Journal of Neuroscience, 1997, 17: 1720-1733 (pdf).
• Dror, I.E., Zagaeski, M., and Moss, C.F., Neural network sonar as a perceptual modality for robotics. In O. Omidvar and P. van der Smagt (Editors) Neural systems for robotics. Ablex: Norwood, NJ, 1997, pp. 1-15 (pdf).
• Moss, C.F., and Simmons, J.A., Perception along the axis of target range in the echolocating bat. In Neuroethological studies of cognitive and perceptual processes, (C. Moss and S. Shettleworth, Eds.), Westview Press, 1996, pp. 253-279 (pdf).
• Moss, C.F., and Schnitzler, H.-U., Behavioral studies of auditory information processing. In R. Fay and A. Popper (Editors) Springer Handbook of Auditory Research. Hearing by bats Springer-Verlag: Berlin, 1995, pp. 87-145 (pdf).
• Simmons, A.M., and Moss, C.F., Reflex modification: a tool for assessing basic auditory function in anuran amphibians. In R. Dooling, R. Fay, G. Klump, and W. Stebbins (Editors.) Methods in comparative acoustics. Birkhauser, 1995, pp. 197-208 (pdf).
• Dror, I.E., Zagaeski, M., and Moss, C.F., Three-dimensional target recognition via sonar: A neural network model. Neural Networks. 1995, 8: 143-154 (pdf).
• Simmons, J.A., Saillant, P.A., Wotton, J.M., Haresign, T., Ferragamo, M., And Moss, C.F., Composition of biosonar images for target recognition by echolocating bats. Neural Networks, 1995, 1239-1261 (pdf).
• Moss, C.F., and Zagaeski, M., Acoustic information available to bats using frequency modulated sonar sounds for the perception of insect prey. Journal of the Acoustical Society of America. 1994, 95: 2745-2756 (pdf).
• Burkard, R., and Moss, C.F., The brain-stem auditory-evoked response in the big brown bat (Eptesicus fuscus) to clicks and frequency modulated sweeps. Journal of the Acoustical Society of America, 1994, 96: 801-810 (pdf).
• Moss, C.F. and Simmons, J.A., Acoustic image representation of a point target in the bat Eptesicus fuscus: Evidence for sensitivity to echo phase in bat sonar. Journal of the Acoustical Society of America. 1993, 93: 1553-1562 (pdf).
• Simmons, J.A., Moss, C.F., and Ferragamo, M., Convergence of temporal and spectral information into acoustic images of complex sonar targets perceived by the echolocating bat, Eptesicus fuscus. Journal of Comparative Physiology A, 1990, 166: 449-470 (pdf).
• Simmons, J.A., Ferragamo, M., Moss, C.F., Stevenson, S., and Altes, R.A., Discrimination of jittered sonar echoes by the echolocating bat, Eptesicus fuscus: The shape of target images in echolocation. Journal of Comparative Physiology A, 1990, 167: 589-616 (pdf).
• Moss, C.F., and Schnitzler, H.-U., Accuracy of target ranging in echolocating bats: Acoustic information processing. Journal of Comparative Physiology A, 1989, 165: 383-393 (pdf).
• Moss, C. F., Ontogeny of vocal signals in the big brown bat, Eptesicus fuscus. In P.E. Nachtigall & P.W.B. Moore (Eds.), Animal Sonar: Processes and Performance. New York: Plenum Press, 1988, 115-120 (pdf).
• Moss, C.F., and Dethier, V.G., Central nervous system regulation of finicky feeding in the blowfly. Behavioral Neuroscience, 1983, 97:541-548 (pdf).