James Simmons

About

James A. Simmons is a Professor of Biology whose laboratory specializes in the study of biological sonar systems in bats. His research primarily focuses on the big brown bat, Eptesicus fuscus, which emits ultrasonic, frequency-modulated echolocation sounds and demonstrates sophisticated real-time signal-processing techniques for auditory representation of echoes. The principal goal of his work is to understand how natural images are created in perception through neural reconstruction of the target scene by the bat's brain. His research areas include the auditory system, biosonar, echolocation, and hearing. Professor Simmons's contributions include advancing the understanding of how bats modulate pulse intervals to overcome range ambiguity in cluttered environments, modeling biosonar echo processing, and investigating neural responses related to target shape perception and clutter rejection. His work also explores the effects of environmental factors on echolocation behavior, the neural mechanisms underlying spatial memory, and the development of bio-inspired sonar models for high-resolution imaging. Through these efforts, he has significantly contributed to the fields of neurobiology, animal bioacoustics, and sensory processing, providing insights into the neural and behavioral mechanisms that enable bats to navigate and hunt with remarkable precision.

Research topics

• Computer Science
• Physics
• Optics
• Artificial Intelligence
• Acoustics
• Speech recognition
• Biology
• Biomedical engineering
• Telecommunications
• Materials science

Selected publications

• A comprehensive computational model of animal biosonar signal processing

  PLoS Computational Biology · 2021 · 29 citations

  Senior authorCorresponding

  Computational models of animal biosonar seek to identify critical aspects of echo processing responsible for the superior, real-time performance of echolocating bats and dolphins in target tracking and clutter rejection. The Spectrogram Correlation and Transformation (SCAT) model replicates aspects of biosonar imaging in both species by processing wideband biosonar sounds and echoes with auditory mechanisms identified from experiments with bats. The model acquires broadband biosonar broadcasts a…

  DOI

• Left atrial strain, embolic stroke of undetermined source, and atrial fibrillation detection

  Echocardiography · 2024-01-01 · 10 citations

  article

  BACKGROUND: Atrial cardiopathy is a proposed mechanism of embolic stroke of undetermined source (ESUS). Left atrial (LA) strain may identify early atrial cardiopathy prior to structural changes. We aim to study the associations between LA strain, ESUS, and atrial fibrillation (AF) detection in ESUS. METHODS: The study population included patients with ESUS and noncardioembolic (NCE) stroke presenting to the Rhode Island Hospital Stroke Center between January 2016 and June 2017 who underwent tran…

  PublisherDOI

• Echolocating Bats Have Evolved Decreased Susceptibility to Noise-Induced Temporary Hearing Losses

  Journal of the Association for Research in Otolaryngology · 2024-04-02 · 4 citations

  reviewOpen accessSenior author
  PublisherOA PDFDOI

• Manipulating Environmental Clutter Reveals Dynamic Active Sensing Strategies in Big Brown Bats

  Animal Behavior and Cognition · 2024-02-01 · 2 citations

  articleOpen access

  Vocalizing animals confront acoustically challenging conditions in which background noise (clutter) can mask or shift attention away from biologically relevant signals. Echolocating big brown bats (Eptesicus fuscus) are excellent comparative models for studying how animals differentiate between multiple sound sources in complex acoustic scenes. We trained four big brown bats to fly down an asymmetrical corridor producing distinct clutter echoes from the two sides. While in flight, they were pres…

  PublisherDOI

• Left Ventricular Diastolic Dysfunction with Elevated Filling Pressures Is Associated with Embolic Stroke of Undetermined Source and Atrial Fibrillation

  Tomography · 2024-10-14 · 2 citations

  articleOpen access

  Background/Objectives: Left ventricular diastolic dysfunction (LVDD) and elevated left ventricular filling pressure (LVFP) are strong predictors of clinical outcomes across various populations. However, their diagnostic utility in embolic stroke of undetermined source (ESUS) remains unclear. We hypothesized that LVDD with elevated LVFP (based on echocardiography) was more likely to be prevalent in ESUS compared to non-cardioembolic stroke (NCE) and to be associated with atrial fibrillation (AF)…

  PublisherOA PDFDOI

Recent grants

• Broadcast-echo recognition for clutter rejection in bat sonar

  NSF · $448k · 2009–2013

• NIH Grant R01DC000511

  NIH · $293k · 1992

• NIH Grant R01MH069633

  NIH · $1.7M · 2009

Frequent coauthors

• Andrea Megela Simmons

  Providence College

  256 shared

• Michael J. Ferragamo

  79 shared

• Mary Ellen Bates

  75 shared

• Cynthia F. Moss

  72 shared

• Jason E. Gaudette

  RTX (United States)

  70 shared

• Laura N. Kloepper

  University of New Hampshire

  62 shared

• Chen Ming

  Sichuan University

  61 shared

• Caroline M. DeLong

  Rochester Institute of Technology

  59 shared

Similar researchers at Brown University

• Karen Furieh-148
• Rena Wingh-146
• Lawrence Priceh-132