Contribution of Head Shadow and Pinna Cues to Chronic Monaural Sound Localization

Wanrooij, Marc M. Van; Opstal, A. John Van

doi:10.1523/jneurosci.0048-04.2004

Cited by 163 publications

(212 citation statements)

References 35 publications

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“…While several auditory cues play a role in localizing monaurally in the horizontal plane, including head shadow cues (Van Wanrooij and Van Opstal, 2004), subsequent findings have strongly suggested that it is specifically pinna spectral cues that play a key role in the monaural localization abilities of those EB persons who show the enhancement. For instance, Doucet et al (2005) showed that the supranormal monaural localization performance of EB persons was significantly decreased by the occlusion of the pinna.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Trade-Off in the Sound Localization Abilities of Early Blind Individuals between the Horizontal and Vertical Planes

2015

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There is substantial evidence that sensory deprivation leads to important cross-modal brain reorganization that is paralleled by enhanced perceptual abilities. However, it remains unclear how widespread these enhancements are, and whether they are intercorrelated or arise at the expense of other perceptual abilities. One specific area where such a trade-off might arise is that of spatial hearing, where blind individuals have been shown to possess superior monaural localization abilities in the horizontal plane, but inferior localization abilities in the vertical plane. While both of these tasks likely involve the use of monaural cues due to the absence of any relevant binaural signal, there is currently no proper explanation for this discrepancy, nor has any study investigated both sets of abilities in the same sample of blind individuals. Here, we assess whether the enhancements observed in the horizontal plane are related to the deficits observed in the vertical plane by testing sound localization in both planes in groups of blind and sighted persons. Our results show that the blind individuals who displayed the highest accuracy at localizing sounds monaurally in the horizontal plane are also the ones who exhibited the greater deficit when localizing in the vertical plane. These findings appear to argue against the idea of generalized perceptual enhancements in the early blind, and instead suggest the possibility of a trade-off in the localization proficiency between the two auditory spatial planes, such that learning to use monaural cues for the horizontal plane comes at the expense of using those cues to localize in the vertical plane.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Trade-Off in the Sound Localization Abilities of Early Blind Individuals between the Horizontal and Vertical Planes

2015

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“…Data suggest that correct azimuth localization can only be achieved through binaural hearing, because the unilaterally deaf (Van Wanrooij and Van Opstal, 2004), listeners exposed to ear plugging (Oldfield and Parker, 1984b), or dichotically simulated monaural hearing (Wightman and Kistler, 1997) are very poor in azimuthal localization. Some monaurally deaf listeners, however, can localize elevation with their normal ear (Slattery and Middlebrooks, 1994;Van Wanrooij and Van Opstal, 2004).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Some monaurally deaf listeners, however, can localize elevation with their normal ear (Slattery and Middlebrooks, 1994;Van Wanrooij and Van Opstal, 2004). Although spectral shape constitutes a monaural localization cue, studies have shown that perceived elevation is partly attributable to binaural interactions, in which the contribution of each ear is weighted by stimulus laterality (Fig.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Relearning Sound Localization with a New Ear

Wanrooij¹,

Opstal²

2005

J. Neurosci.

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119

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Human sound localization results primarily from the processing of binaural differences in sound level and arrival time for locations in the horizontal plane (azimuth) and of spectral shape cues generated by the head and pinnae for positions in the vertical plane (elevation). The latter mechanism incorporates two processing stages: a spectral-to-spatial mapping stage and a binaural weighting stage that determines the contribution of each ear to perceived elevation as function of sound azimuth. We demonstrated recently that binaural pinna molds virtually abolish the ability to localize sound-source elevation, but, after several weeks, subjects regained normal localization performance. It is not clear which processing stage underlies this remarkable plasticity, because the auditory system could have learned the new spectral cues separately for each ear (spatial-mapping adaptation) or for one ear only, while extending its contribution into the contralateral hemifield (binaural-weighting adaptation). To dissociate these possibilities, we applied a long-term monaural spectral perturbation in 13 subjects. Our results show that, in eight experiments, listeners learned to localize accurately with new spectral cues that differed substantially from those provided by their own ears. Interestingly, five subjects, whose spectral cues were not sufficiently perturbed, never yielded stable localization performance. Our findings indicate that the analysis of spectral cues may involve a correlation process between the sensory input and a stored spectral representation of the subject's ears and that learning acts predominantly at a spectralto-spatial mapping level rather than at the level of binaural weighting.

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“…Binaural disparity cues in terms of time (interaural time difference -ITD) and level (interaural level difference -ILD) aids in determining sound source in the horizontal plane. On the other hand, the spectral cues generated by the external ear provide the basis for localization in the front-back and vertical plane [2][3][4] . Errors in localization not only occur in individuals with hearing impairment but also in normal-hearing listeners as well.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Virtual Auditory Space Training-Induced Changes of Auditory Spatial Processing in Listeners with Normal Hearing

Nisha

Kumar²

2017

Int Adv Otol

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OBJECTIVE:Localization involves processing of subtle yet highly enriched monaural and binaural spatial cues. Remediation programs aimed at resolving spatial deficits are surprisingly scanty in literature. The present study is designed to explore the changes that occur in the spatial performance of normal-hearing listeners before and after subjecting them to virtual acoustic space (VAS) training paradigm using behavioral and electrophysiological measures. MATERIALS and METHODS:Ten normal-hearing listeners participated in the study, which was conducted in three phases, including a pre-training, training, and post-training phase. At the pre-and post-training phases both behavioral measures of spatial acuity and electrophysiological P300 were administered. The spatial acuity of the participants in the free field and closed field were measured apart from quantifying their binaural processing abilities. The training phase consisted of 5-8 sessions (20 min each) carried out using a hierarchy of graded VAS stimuli. RESULTS:The results obtained from descriptive statistics were indicative of an improvement in all the spatial acuity measures in the post-training phase. Statistically, significant changes were noted in interaural time difference (ITD) and virtual acoustic space identification scores measured in the post-training phase. Effect sizes (r) for all of these measures were substantially large, indicating the clinical relevance of these measures in documenting the impact of training. However, the same was not reflected in P300. CONCLUSION:The training protocol used in the present study on a preliminary basis proves to be effective in normal-hearing listeners, and its implications can be extended to other clinical population as well.

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Contribution of Head Shadow and Pinna Cues to Chronic Monaural Sound Localization

Cited by 163 publications

References 35 publications

Trade-Off in the Sound Localization Abilities of Early Blind Individuals between the Horizontal and Vertical Planes

Trade-Off in the Sound Localization Abilities of Early Blind Individuals between the Horizontal and Vertical Planes

Relearning Sound Localization with a New Ear

Virtual Auditory Space Training-Induced Changes of Auditory Spatial Processing in Listeners with Normal Hearing

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