From:	Calvin Hsieh <u2172778@*******.ACSU.UNSW.EDU.AU>
Subject:	Dolphin Sonar
Date:	Thu, 28 Nov 1996 11:28:39 +1100

> Couldn't you use some sort of Hearing amp built for the eyesof course it
>doesn't have to be the eyes, I am trying to design some sort of bioware based
>on the dolphins sonar. ( i am also designing various Electric impulse sensor
>ala shark, biolume type things, toxin strands (possibly hair) ala jelly fish,
>toxin spines ala sea anemone, and a load of other stuff....including a marine
>smartlink, the advanced SL2 with stuff for shooting into the water and out of,
>taking into account stuff like gun range and a load more stuff.)
>

I'm not quite sure if I'm too late to respond to this one, I just got out of
my exams.

Anyway, I believe that the bioware equivalent of dolphin sonar may not be
feasible. A vast majority of the dolphin cerebral surface area is dominated
by their sonar sense. This is just like those animals with sensitive
olfactory sense have a large entorrhinal and olfactory lobes - to such an
extent that their cerebrums are predominantly these lobes.

Hence, to find this amount of space in the cranium would be very difficult.
Not only so, but the nervous connections of such an "extra sense" would be
so great in the brain that the body cost would be horrendously high! (For
eg., It would probably have to connect to the corpora quadrigemina, various
brainstem nuclei (vestibular for one), as well as Broca's areas 17, 18, 19,
20, 5 and 7. Not only this, but huge sections of the internal capsule and
optic radiation would have to be enhanced and increased. Anyway, I think you
get my point.

Sorry, about the anatomical terms, just got out of my exams as I said.

Shaman

PS.I'm reading my mail out of order, so here's an extra bit!
To the person saying our limbs have to be retrained - this is true, to a
limited extent. The body and brain are suprisingly able to adapt to new
circumstances. Also, the corticospinal tracts and various tracts to and from
the cerebellum which tell the limbs what to do (other than simple reflexes)
receive input from the frontal lobes, especially the associative areas 5 and
7. So, by changing and adapting these areas, we shouldn't see any problems.

Oh, and if anyone wants any more detail than this (believe me, this is even
more brief than a synopsis) then do ask.

And another point, can everyone place an empty line before and after their
replies, it makes it so much easier to read.
>