Brief training can reduce spatial hearing deficits when wearing hearing protection

Area of Science:

• Auditory Neuroscience
• Human Factors Engineering
• Perceptual Psychology

Background:

• Hearing protection devices (HPDs) can impair spatial hearing by disrupting auditory cues.
• Spatial hearing deficits caused by HPDs may improve with extended periods of training.
• The efficacy of brief training interventions on HPD-induced spatial hearing impairment is not well understood.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate if three training sessions can improve spatial hearing while wearing HPDs.
• To examine the correlation between training, listening effort, auditory cortical processing, and spatial attention.
• To determine the time course and characteristics of spatial hearing improvement with brief training.

Main Methods:

• Young adults were randomly assigned to a training group or a control group.
• Spatial hearing and spatial attention tasks were performed with electroencephalography (EEG) recordings.
• Training involved performance feedback over three days; assessments were conducted at baseline and post-training.

Main Results:

• Training significantly reduced front-back confusions and improved sound localization accuracy with HPDs.
• The training group showed a significant increase in P3b amplitude, indicating enhanced cognitive processing.
• No significant changes were observed in sensory potentials (N100, P200) or listening effort measures.

Conclusions:

• Brief training, even with only three sessions, can substantially mitigate the negative effects of HPDs on spatial hearing.
• Training appears to enhance both perceptual learning and spatial attention capabilities.
• These findings have implications for optimizing HPD use in environments requiring spatial awareness.