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Related Experiment Video

Updated: Jul 10, 2026

An Automated System for Sound Localization Testing in Hearing-Impaired Listeners

An Automated System for Sound Localization Testing in Hearing-Impaired Listeners

Published on: March 13, 2026

Spectral integration time of the auditory localisation system.

Russell L Martin¹, Ken I McAnally

¹Air Operations Division, Defence Science and Technology Organisation, P.O. Box 4331, Melbourne 3001, Australia. russell.martin@dsto.defence.gov.au

Hearing Research

|November 13, 2007

Summary

The auditory localization system

Area of Science:

Auditory perception
Psychoacoustics
Acoustic signal processing

Background:

Accurate sound source localization requires broad-frequency sound.
The auditory system integrates spectral information over time.

Purpose of the Study:

To determine the spectral integration time of the human auditory localization system.
To investigate how frequency modulation (FM) tone modulation period affects localization accuracy.

Main Methods:

Experiment 1: Measured localization accuracy (elevation, front-back) using FM tones with varying modulation periods (0.5–200 ms).
Experiment 2: Localized noise stimuli with spectra matched to 5 ms FM tones to validate findings.

Main Results:

Localization accuracy peaked at a 5 ms modulation period for FM tones, approaching pink noise performance.

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Spectral matching in Experiment 2 confirmed the 5 ms integration time for both FM tones and noise.

Conclusions:

The spectral integration time of the auditory localization system is approximately 5 ms.
This integration time is crucial for accurate sound source elevation and front-back discrimination.