Search research articles

ABOUT JoVE

Overview Leadership Blog JoVE Help Center

AUTHORS

Publishing Process Editorial Board Scope & Policies Peer Review FAQ Submit

LIBRARIANS

Testimonials Subscriptions Access Resources Library Advisory Board FAQ

RESEARCH

JoVE Journal Methods Collections JoVE Encyclopedia of Experiments Archive

EDUCATION

JoVE Core JoVE Business JoVE Science Education JoVE Lab Manual Faculty Resource Center Faculty Site

Terms & Conditions of Use

Related Concept Videos

Auditory Pathway

Auditory Pathway

Auditory pathways constitute the complex neural circuits responsible for transmitting and interpreting auditory information from the peripheral auditory system to the brain. Sound waves are initially captured by the outer ear, funneled through the ear canal, and reach the tympanic membrane (eardrum). These vibrations are transmitted via the middle ear's ossicles to the inner ear's cochlea.
When viewed cross-sectionally, the cochlea reveals the scala vestibuli and scala tympani flanking...

Interference: Path Lengths

Interference: Path Lengths

Consider two sources of sound, that may or may not be in phase, emitting waves at a single frequency, and consider the frequencies to be the same.
Two special sources may be considered when they are in phase. This can be easily achieved by feeding the two sources from the same source. An example would be synchronizing the two speakers by feeding them with the same source, such as the sound waves produced by a tuning fork. This setup ensures that the two sources have the same frequency and are...

Lateralization

Lateralization

Brain lateralization refers to the division of mental processes and functions between the two hemispheres of the brain, a phenomenon that optimizes neural efficiency and underpins complex abilities in humans. This specialization allows each hemisphere to perform tasks where it has a comparative advantage, facilitating more refined cognitive capabilities across different domains.

The Cochlea

The Cochlea

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.

Perceiving Loudness, Pitch, and Location

Perceiving Loudness, Pitch, and Location

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...

Sound Waves: Interference

Sound Waves: Interference

Sound waves can be modeled either as longitudinal waves, wherein the molecules of the medium oscillate around an equilibrium position, or as pressure waves. When two identical waves from the same source superimpose on each other, the combination of two crests or two troughs results in amplitude reinforcement known as constructive interference. If two identical waves, that are initially in phase, become out of phase because of different path lengths, the combination of crests with troughs...

You might also read

Related Articles

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

Sort by

Same author

Classification performance of Spanish and English word recognition testing to identify cochlear implant candidates.

International journal of audiology·2024

Same author

Prevalence of Hearing Loss and Perceptions of Hearing Health and Protection among Florida Firefighters.

International journal of environmental research and public health·2023

Same author

Monitoring Occupational Noise Exposure in Firefighters Using the Apple Watch.

International journal of environmental research and public health·2023

Same author

The effects of hearing protection devices on spatial awareness in complex listening environments.

PloS one·2023

Same author

Subclinical Hearing Deficits in Noise-Exposed Firefighters.

International journal of environmental research and public health·2022

Same author

Lateralization of interaural level differences in children with bilateral cochlear implants.

Cochlear implants international·2021

Search research articles

Related Experiment Video

Updated: Jul 18, 2025

A Method to Study Adaptation to Left-Right Reversed Audition

A Method to Study Adaptation to Left-Right Reversed Audition

Published on: October 29, 2018

Contralateral Routing of Signal Disrupts Monaural Sound Localization.

Sebastian A Ausili^1,2, Hillary A Snapp²

¹Department of Biophysics, Donders Institute for Brain, Cognition and Behaviour, Radboud University, 6525 Nijmegen, The Netherlands.

Audiology Research

|August 25, 2023

Summary

Contralateral routing of signal (CROS) hearing aids disrupt spatial hearing for single-sided deafness by impairing monaural cues. This leads to reduced localization accuracy and increased effort in both horizontal and vertical planes.

Keywords:

contralateral routing of signal localization monaural listening single-sided deafness spatial hearing

More Related Videos

Stereotactically-guided Ablation of the Rat Auditory Cortex, and Localization of the Lesion in the Brain

Stereotactically-guided Ablation of the Rat Auditory Cortex, and Localization of the Lesion in the Brain

Published on: October 11, 2017

Evaluation of Hemisphere Lateralization with Bilateral Local Field Potential Recording in Secondary Motor Cortex of Mice

Evaluation of Hemisphere Lateralization with Bilateral Local Field Potential Recording in Secondary Motor Cortex of Mice

Published on: July 31, 2019

Related Experiment Videos

Last Updated: Jul 18, 2025

A Method to Study Adaptation to Left-Right Reversed Audition

A Method to Study Adaptation to Left-Right Reversed Audition

Published on: October 29, 2018

Stereotactically-guided Ablation of the Rat Auditory Cortex, and Localization of the Lesion in the Brain

Stereotactically-guided Ablation of the Rat Auditory Cortex, and Localization of the Lesion in the Brain

Published on: October 11, 2017

Evaluation of Hemisphere Lateralization with Bilateral Local Field Potential Recording in Secondary Motor Cortex of Mice

Evaluation of Hemisphere Lateralization with Bilateral Local Field Potential Recording in Secondary Motor Cortex of Mice

Published on: July 31, 2019

Area of Science:

Auditory Neuroscience
Audiology
Human Perception

Background:

Individuals with single-sided deafness often adapt using monaural cues for spatial hearing.
Contralateral routing of signal (CROS) is a common rehabilitation strategy for single-sided deafness.
The impact of CROS devices on crucial monaural localization cues remains poorly understood.

Purpose of the Study:

To investigate how CROS hearing aids affect spatial localization in azimuth and elevation.
To assess the disruption of monaural localization cues by CROS devices.

Main Methods:

Localization was tested in 10 normal-hearing adults under three conditions: normal hearing, unilateral earplugged, and unilateral earplugged with CROS aid.
Monaural hearing was simulated using foam earplugs.
Stimuli included high-pass noise bursts presented from various locations in the horizontal and vertical planes.

Main Results:

Unilateral earplugging resulted in good elevation localization but an azimuthal bias.
CROS device use significantly decreased elevation localization performance (reduced gain, low r²).
Azimuth localization worsened with CROS, alongside increased response time and variability.

Conclusions:

CROS hearing aids disrupt essential monaural spectral and level cues.
This disruption leads to significant detriments in both horizontal and vertical sound localization.
Localization becomes more effortful with CROS device use, indicated by longer reaction times and increased response variability.