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The effect of blindness on horizontal plane sound source identification
Sharon M Abel1, Jane C Figueiredo, Angela Consoli
1Department of Otolaryngology, Mount Sinai Hospital, Sunnybrook and Women's College Health Sciences Center, Toronto, Ontario, Canada. sharon.abel@drdc-rddc.gc.ca
International Journal of Audiology
|August 9, 2002
Summary
Early vision benefits adult spatial hearing. Blindness impacts sound localization, with late-onset blindness performing better than early blindness or blindfolded sighted individuals.
Area of Science:
- Auditory perception
- Neuroscience
- Sensory substitution
Background:
- Sound source identification is crucial for spatial awareness.
- The role of early visual experience in developing auditory spatial processing remains an area of investigation.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the impact of blindness on sound source identification abilities in normally-hearing adults.
- To compare the performance of early blind, late-onset blind, and sighted individuals in localizing sound sources.
Main Methods:
- Four groups of normally-hearing adults (two sighted, two blind) participated.
- Subjects localized various sound stimuli (noise bands at 0.5 kHz and 4 kHz, broadband noise) using 4 and 8 loudspeaker arrays in quiet and noisy conditions.
- Localization accuracy was assessed by the percentage of correct identifications.
Main Results:
- Broadband noise was easiest to localize, while 0.5 kHz noise band was most difficult, indicating reliance on different auditory cues.
- Localization accuracy decreased with an increased number of speakers, irrespective of background noise.
- Subjects with late-onset blindness outperformed early blind and blindfolded sighted subjects, suggesting a critical period for visual input in spatial hearing development.
Conclusions:
- Early visual experience is beneficial for mature spatial hearing abilities.
- Sudden loss of sight negatively impacts sound source identification capabilities.
- The findings highlight the interplay between visual and auditory systems in spatial perception.