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Related Experiment Video

Updated: May 7, 2026

Sound Source Localization Testing in Single-sided Deafness Following Bone Conduction Intervention

Sound Source Localization Testing in Single-sided Deafness Following Bone Conduction Intervention

Published on: December 20, 2024

Vertical-plane sound localization with distorted spectral cues.

Ewan A Macpherson¹, Andrew T Sabin

¹Kresge Hearing Research Institute, University of Michigan Medical School, 1150 W. Medical Center Drive, Ann Arbor, MI 48109-5616, USA; National Centre for Audiology, Western University, 1201 Western Road, London, Ontario, Canada N6G 1H1.

Hearing Research

|October 1, 2013

Summary

This summary is machine-generated.

Sound localization in the vertical plane relies on spectral cues. Distorting these spectral cues, especially at low or high sound levels, impairs elevation perception, impacting auditory spatial awareness.

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Sound Source Localization Testing in Single-sided Deafness Following Bone Conduction Intervention

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A Method to Study Adaptation to Left-Right Reversed Audition

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Published on: October 29, 2018

Area of Science:

Auditory Neuroscience
Psychoacoustics
Human Perception

Background:

Human sound localization in the vertical plane primarily uses direction-dependent filtering by the pinnae, head, and upper body.
Vertical localization accuracy for broadband sounds degrades at near-threshold or high-intensity, short-duration levels, shifting perceived location towards the horizontal plane (reduced elevation gain).

Purpose of the Study:

To investigate if distorted peripheral spectral representations contribute to reduced elevation gain at extreme sound levels.
To understand the role of spectral features in auditory vertical-plane localization.

Main Methods:

Human listeners localized synthesized wideband noise bursts (100 ms, 50-60 dB SPL) in virtual auditory space using head orientation.
Stimuli included faithfully synthesized targets and targets with modified directional transfer functions (filled notches, leveled peaks, altered spectral contrast).

Main Results:

Progressively filling spectral notches or leveling peaks reduced elevation gain in a graded manner, mirroring effects seen at low sensation levels or with brief sounds.
Reduced spectral contrast also decreased gain, particularly at extreme reductions, while spectral contrast expansion had minimal impact.
These findings align with the hypothesis that degraded spectral feature representation impairs elevation gain.

Conclusions:

Loss of spectral feature representation significantly contributes to reduced elevation gain at low and high sound levels.
Perceived sound location appears to rely on a spectral matching process sensitive to the relative, rather than absolute, spectral profile shape.