Age and Auditory Spatial Perception in Humans: Review of Behavioral Findings and Suggestions for Future Research

Abstract

It has been well documented, and fairly well known, that concomitant with an increase in chronological age is a corresponding increase in sensory impairment. As most people realize, our hearing suffers as we get older; hence, the increased need for hearing aids. The first portion of the present paper is how the change in age apparently affects auditory judgments of sound source position. A summary of the literature evaluating the changes in the perception of sound source location and the perception of sound source motion as a function of chronological age is presented. The review is limited to empirical studies with behavioral findings involving humans. It is the view of the author that we have an immensely limited understanding of how chronological age affects perception of space when based on sound. In the latter part of the paper, discussion is given to how auditory spatial perception is traditionally conducted in the laboratory. Theoretically, beneficial reasons exist for conducting research in the manner it has been. Nonetheless, from an ecological perspective, the vast majority of previous research can be considered unnatural and greatly lacking in ecological validity. Suggestions for an alternative and more ecologically valid approach to the investigation of auditory spatial perception are proposed. It is believed an ecological approach to auditory spatial perception will enhance our understanding of the extent to which individuals perceive sound source location and how those perceptual judgments change with an increase in chronological age.

Benefits of active listening during 3D sound localization

“…The SPHERE approach has been used recently with adult and pediatric populations, on both normal-hearing participants and cochlear implant patients (Coudert et al 2022 ; Valzolgher, et al 2020a , b , 2020a ; Valzolgher et al 2022 ). It offers a highly versatile opportunity to assess normal and pathological sound localization performance in a more ecologically valid approach (for discussion see Russell 2022 ). Finally, our approach paves the way for future research, clinical and industrial applications that will leverage the full potential offered by having embedded a VR HMD in the SPHERE system.…”