Jove
Visualize
Contact Us
JoVE
x logofacebook logolinkedin logoyoutube logo
ABOUT JoVE
OverviewLeadershipBlogJoVE Help Center
AUTHORS
Publishing ProcessEditorial BoardScope & PoliciesPeer ReviewFAQSubmit
LIBRARIANS
TestimonialsSubscriptionsAccessResourcesLibrary Advisory BoardFAQ
RESEARCH
JoVE JournalMethods CollectionsJoVE Encyclopedia of ExperimentsArchive
EDUCATION
JoVE CoreJoVE BusinessJoVE Science EducationJoVE Lab ManualFaculty Resource CenterFaculty Site
Terms & Conditions of Use
Privacy Policy
Policies

Related Concept Videos

Perceiving Loudness, Pitch, and Location01:21

Perceiving Loudness, Pitch, and Location

297
The human brain perceives pitch through two primary mechanisms reflected in place theory and frequency theory. Each mechanism describes how sound waves are interpreted as specific pitches by the brain, offering insights into the intricate processes of auditory perception.
Place theory, or place coding, suggests that different pitches are heard because various sound waves activate specific locations along the cochlea's basilar membrane. The brain determines the pitch of a sound by...
297
Equilibrium and Balance01:15

Equilibrium and Balance

4.9K
The inner ear assumes dual functionalities of auditory perception and equilibrium maintenance. The vestibule is the organ responsible for balance. This organ contains mechanoreceptors, specifically hair cells, endowed with stereocilia, which aid in deciphering information regarding the position and motion of our heads. Two intrinsic components, the utricle and saccule, help perceive head position, while the semicircular canals track head movement. Neurological messages initiated in the...
4.9K
The Vestibular System01:29

The Vestibular System

39.9K
The vestibular system is a set of inner ear structures that provide a sense of balance and spatial orientation. This system is comprised of structures within the labyrinth of the inner ear, including the cochlea and two otolith organs—the utricle and saccule. The labyrinth also contains three semicircular canals—superior, posterior, and horizontal—that are oriented on different planes.
39.9K
Perception of Sound Waves01:01

Perception of Sound Waves

4.5K
The human ear is not equally sensitive to all frequencies in the audible range. It may perceive sound waves with the same pressure but different frequencies as having different loudness. Moreover, the perception of sound waves depends on the health of an individual's ears, which decays with age. The health of one's ears may also be affected by regular exposure to loud noises.
The pitch of a sound depends on the frequency and the pressure amplitude of the source. Two sounds of the same...
4.5K
The Cochlea01:13

The Cochlea

45.5K
The cochlea is a coiled structure in the inner ear that contains hair cells—the sensory receptors of the auditory system. Sound waves are transmitted to the cochlea by small bones attached to the eardrum called the ossicles, which vibrate the oval window that leads to the inner ear. This causes fluid in the chambers of the cochlea to move, vibrating the basilar membrane.
45.5K
Doppler Effect - II01:05

Doppler Effect - II

3.5K
The Doppler effect has several practical, real-world applications. For instance, meteorologists use Doppler radars to interpret weather events based on the Doppler effect. Typically, a transmitter emits radio waves at a specific frequency toward the sky from a weather station. The radio waves bounce off the clouds and precipitation and travel back to the weather station. The radio frequency of the waves reflected back to the station appears to decrease if the clouds or precipitation are moving...
3.5K

You might also read

Related Articles

Articles linked to this work by shared authors, journal, and citation graph.

Sort by
Same author

Short-Term Statistical Learning Mitigates the Ill-Posed Problem of Sound Localization.

Trends in hearing·2026
Same author

Prediction of parameters of a pinna model from synthetic geometries using a vision transformera).

The Journal of the Acoustical Society of America·2026
Same author

A robotic model of efficient prey finding in the gleaning bat Micronycteris microtis.

The Journal of experimental biology·2026
Same author

Effects of Dual-Electrode Asynchrony on Temporal Pitch Discrimination With Amplitude Modulation and Short Inter-Pulse Intervals in Cochlear Implant Listeners.

Trends in hearing·2026
Same author

Unsupervised post-training learning in spiking neural networks.

Scientific reports·2025
Same author

How swarming bats can use the collective soundscape for obstacle avoidance.

PLoS computational biology·2025

Related Experiment Video

Updated: Aug 9, 2025

Sound Source Localization Testing in Single-sided Deafness Following Bone Conduction Intervention
04:32

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

Published on: December 20, 2024

366

Dynamic spectral cues do not affect human sound localization during small head movements.

Glen McLachlan1, Piotr Majdak2, Jonas Reijniers1

  • 1Department of Engineering Management, University of Antwerp, Antwerp, Belgium.

Frontiers in Neuroscience
|February 23, 2023
PubMed
Summary

Small head movements, especially yaw rotations, significantly improve sound localization by reducing front-back confusion. Listeners utilize head-related transfer function (HRTF) cues before movement, not during, for enhanced spatial hearing.

Keywords:
active localizationbinaural audiodynamic cuesfront-back confusionhead rotationspectral cues

More Related Videos

A Method to Study Adaptation to Left-Right Reversed Audition
07:14

A Method to Study Adaptation to Left-Right Reversed Audition

Published on: October 29, 2018

6.6K
Measuring the Influence of Magnetic Vestibular Stimulation on Nystagmus, Self-Motion Perception, and Cognitive Performance in a 7T MRT
08:57

Measuring the Influence of Magnetic Vestibular Stimulation on Nystagmus, Self-Motion Perception, and Cognitive Performance in a 7T MRT

Published on: March 3, 2023

2.0K

Related Experiment Videos

Last Updated: Aug 9, 2025

Sound Source Localization Testing in Single-sided Deafness Following Bone Conduction Intervention
04:32

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

Published on: December 20, 2024

366
A Method to Study Adaptation to Left-Right Reversed Audition
07:14

A Method to Study Adaptation to Left-Right Reversed Audition

Published on: October 29, 2018

6.6K
Measuring the Influence of Magnetic Vestibular Stimulation on Nystagmus, Self-Motion Perception, and Cognitive Performance in a 7T MRT
08:57

Measuring the Influence of Magnetic Vestibular Stimulation on Nystagmus, Self-Motion Perception, and Cognitive Performance in a 7T MRT

Published on: March 3, 2023

2.0K

Area of Science:

  • Auditory neuroscience
  • Human psychophysics
  • Acoustic signal processing

Background:

  • Natural listening relies on continuous small head movements for effective spatial perception.
  • Head movements are crucial for resolving front-back sound localization ambiguities, common in static listening conditions.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To investigate the acoustic cues used by humans for sound localization with small head movements (±10°).
  • To determine the impact of yaw and pitch head rotations on sound localization performance and front-back confusion.

Main Methods:

  • A sound localization experiment was conducted in a virtual reality environment with seven normal-hearing subjects.
  • Stimuli included four acoustic conditions (full, flattened, frozen, free-field spectrum) under three movement conditions (none, yaw, pitch).
  • Localization performance was measured by lateral/polar precision error and front-back confusion rate, analyzed using mixed-effects models.

Main Results:

  • Small yaw rotations significantly reduced front-back confusion, while pitch rotations had minimal effect.
  • Monongahela Sound Shadow (MSS) cues enhanced localization even with binaural level difference (dITD) cues present.
  • Localization performance was comparable with and without dynamic MSS (dMSS) cues.

Conclusions:

  • Human listeners leverage pre-existing MSS cues for sound localization before initiating head movements.
  • Dynamic spectral cues (dMSS) are not relied upon for sound localization during small head movements.