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Published on: October 29, 2018
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Intense low-frequency sound transiently biases human sound lateralisation
Carlos Jurado1, Benedikt Grothe2, Markus Drexl1
1Audiology Group, Department of Neuromedicine and Movement Sciences, Norwegian University of Science and Technology, Trondheim, Norway.
Plos One
|June 30, 2025
Summary
Intense low-frequency sound exposure temporarily disrupts hearing, causing the "Bounce phenomenon" (BP). This BP can significantly alter how we perceive sound direction, biasing auditory lateralization.
Area of Science:
- Auditory Neuroscience
- Psychoacoustics
Background:
- Intense low-frequency (LF) sound exposure causes temporary hearing threshold shifts, known as the "Bounce phenomenon" (BP).
- The BP involves oscillations in hearing sensitivity (hyper- and hyposensitivity) for several minutes post-exposure.
- Auditory lateralization, the ability to localize sound, relies on processing interaural level differences (ILDs) and interaural time differences (ITDs).
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the impact of the BP on auditory lateralization in healthy human subjects.
- To determine if LF sound-induced BP affects the perception of sound source location.
Main Methods:
- Participants underwent auditory lateralization tests measuring the interaural level difference (ILD) required for perceived midline localization.
- An intense LF sound was presented to one ear to induce the BP.
- ILD measurements were taken before and after LF sound exposure.
Main Results:
- In 65% of recordings, significant deviations in perceived sound midline were observed after LF sound exposure.
- A binaural stimulus perceived as centered was perceptually shifted laterally after LF sound exposure.
- These shifts demonstrated time-variant changes in auditory lateralization.
Conclusions:
- Intense LF sound exposure, inducing the BP, can lead to a temporary bias in ILD-based sound localization.
- The BP transiently disrupts the brain's ability to accurately determine sound source position.
- This finding highlights the impact of temporary cochlear changes on complex auditory processing like lateralization.
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