Spatial Hearing in Children with Visual Disabilities

Perception ◽  
1998 ◽  
Vol 27 (1) ◽  
pp. 105-122 ◽  
Author(s):  
Daniel H Ashmead ◽  
Robert S Wall ◽  
Kiara A Ebinger ◽  
Susan B Eaton ◽  
Mary-M Snook-Hill ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Visual Experience ◽  
Space Perception ◽  
Spatial Hearing ◽  
Sound Sources ◽  
Visual Disabilities ◽  
Auditory Space ◽  
Hearing Ability ◽  
History Of ◽  
Total Blindness ◽  
Self Motion

A study is reported of the effect of early visual experience on the development of auditory space perception. The spatial hearing of thirty-five children with visual disabilities (twenty-two with congenital total blindness) was compared with that of eighteen sighted children and seventeen sighted adults. The tests provided a comprehensive assessment of spatial-hearing ability, including psychophysical estimates of spatial resolution in the horizontal, vertical, and distance dimensions, as well as measures of reaching and walking to the locations of sound sources. The spatial hearing of the children with visual disabilities was comparable to or some-what better than that of the sighted children and adults. This pattern held even when the group with visual disabilities was restricted to those children with congenital total blindness; in fact, some of those children had exceptionally good spatial hearing. These findings imply that the developmental calibration of human spatial hearing is not dependent on a history of visual experience. It seems likely that this calibration arises from the experience of changes in sound-localization cues arising from self-motion, such as turning the head or walking. As a practical matter, orientation and mobility instructors may reasonably assume that individuals with visual disabilities can use their hearing effectively in day-to-day travel situations.

scholarly journals The Role of Visual Experience in Auditory Space Perception around the Legs

2019 ◽  
Vol 9 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Elena Aggius-Vella ◽  
Claudio Campus ◽  
Andrew Joseph Kolarik ◽  
Monica Gori
Keyword(s):  
Visual Experience ◽  
Space Perception ◽  
Auditory Space

scholarly journals Effect of Active Self-Motion on Auditory Space Perception

2015 ◽  
Vol 21 (2) ◽  
pp. 167-172 ◽  
Author(s):  
Shuichi SAKAMOTO ◽  
Wataru TERAMOTO ◽  
Hideaki TERASHIMA ◽  
Jiro GYOBA
Keyword(s):  
Space Perception ◽  
Auditory Space ◽  
Self Motion

scholarly journals Listening Through Different Ears Alters Spatial Response Fields in Ferret Primary Auditory Cortex

2001 ◽  
Vol 86 (2) ◽  
pp. 1043-1046 ◽  
Author(s):  
Thomas D. Mrsic-Flogel ◽  
Andrew J. King ◽  
Rick L. Jenison ◽  
Jan W. H. Schnupp
Keyword(s):  
Individual Differences ◽  
Auditory Cortex ◽  
Space Perception ◽  
Primary Auditory Cortex ◽  
Spatial Cues ◽  
Sound Sources ◽  
Auditory Space ◽  
Acoustical Properties ◽  
Spatial Response ◽  
The Individual

The localization of sounds in space is based on spatial cues that arise from the acoustical properties of the head and external ears. Individual differences in localization cue values result from variability in the shape and dimensions of these structures. We have mapped spatial response fields of high-frequency neurons in ferret primary auditory cortex using virtual sound sources based either on the animal's own ears or on the ears of other subjects. For 73% of units, the response fields measured using the animals' own ears differed significantly in shape and/or position from those obtained using spatial cues from another ferret. The observed changes correlated with individual differences in the acoustics. These data are consistent with previous reports showing that humans localize less accurately when listening to virtual sounds from other individuals. Together these findings support the notion that neural mechanisms underlying auditory space perception are calibrated by experience to the properties of the individual.

scholarly journals Effects of Visually Induced Self-Motion on Sound Localization Accuracy

2021 ◽  
Vol 12 (1) ◽  
pp. 173
Author(s):  
Akio Honda ◽  
Kei Maeda ◽  
Shuichi Sakamoto ◽  
Yôiti Suzuki
Keyword(s):  
Sound Localization ◽  
Acoustic Stimulus ◽  
Space Perception ◽  
Rotation Velocity ◽  
Noise Burst ◽  
Auditory Space ◽  
Localization Accuracy ◽  
Perception Of Self ◽  
Computational Resources ◽  
Self Motion

The deterioration of sound localization accuracy during a listener’s head/body rotation is independent of the listener’s rotation velocity (Honda et al., 2016). However, whether this deterioration occurs only during physical movement in a real environment remains unclear. In this study, we addressed this question by subjecting physically stationary listeners to visually induced self-motion, i.e., vection. Two conditions—one with a visually induced perception of self-motion (vection) and the other without vection (control)—were adopted. Under both conditions, a short noise burst (30 ms) was presented via a loudspeaker in a circular array placed horizontally in front of a listener. The listeners were asked to determine whether the acoustic stimulus was localized relative to their subjective midline. The results showed that in terms of detection thresholds based on the subjective midline, the sound localization accuracy was lower under the vection condition than under the control condition. This indicates that sound localization can be compromised under visually induced self-motion perception. These findings support the idea that self-motion information is crucial for auditory space perception and can potentially enable the design of dynamic binaural displays requiring fewer computational resources.

scholarly journals Ubiquitous enhancement of spatial hearing in congenitally blind people

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ceren Battal ◽  
Valeria Occelli ◽  
Giorgia Bertonati ◽  
Federica Falagiarda ◽  
Olivier Collignon
Keyword(s):  
Visual Experience ◽  
Spatial Hearing ◽  
Spatial Abilities ◽  
The Other ◽  
Blind People ◽  
Spatial Skills ◽  
Sound Sources ◽  
Congenitally Blind ◽  
Hearing Abilities ◽  
Striking Contrast

Vision is thought to scaffold the development of spatial abilities in the other senses. How does spatial hearing therefore develop in people lacking visual experience? We comprehensively addressed this question by investigating auditory localization abilities in 17 congenitally blind and 17 sighted individuals using a psychophysical minimum audible angle task exempt of sensori-motor confounds. Participants were asked to compare the relative position of two sound sources located in central and peripheral, horizontal and vertical, frontal and rear spaces. We observed unequivocal enhancement of spatial hearing abilities in congenitally blind people, irrespective of the field of space that is assessed. Our results are conclusive in demonstrating that visual experience is not a mandatory prerequisite for developing optimal spatial hearing abilities and that, in striking contrast, the lack of vision leads to ubiquitous enhancement of auditory spatial skills.

Auditory space perception during self-motion

2016 ◽  
Vol 140 (4) ◽  
pp. 2998-2998 ◽  
Author(s):  
Shuichi Sakamoto ◽  
Wataru Teramoto ◽  
Akio Honda ◽  
Yôiti Suzuki ◽  
Jiro Gyoba
Keyword(s):  
Space Perception ◽  
Auditory Space ◽  
Self Motion

General Enhancement of Spatial Hearing in Congenitally Blind People

2020 ◽  
Vol 31 (9) ◽  
pp. 1129-1139
Author(s):  
Ceren Battal ◽  
Valeria Occelli ◽  
Giorgia Bertonati ◽  
Federica Falagiarda ◽  
Olivier Collignon
Keyword(s):  
Visual Experience ◽  
Spatial Hearing ◽  
Spatial Abilities ◽  
The Other ◽  
Blind People ◽  
Spatial Skills ◽  
Sound Sources ◽  
Congenitally Blind ◽  
Hearing Abilities ◽  
Striking Contrast

Vision is thought to support the development of spatial abilities in the other senses. If this is true, how does spatial hearing develop in people lacking visual experience? We comprehensively addressed this question by investigating auditory-localization abilities in 17 congenitally blind and 17 sighted individuals using a psychophysical minimum-audible-angle task that lacked sensorimotor confounds. Participants were asked to compare the relative position of two sound sources located in central and peripheral, horizontal and vertical, or frontal and rear spaces. We observed unequivocal enhancement of spatial-hearing abilities in congenitally blind people, irrespective of the field of space that was assessed. Our results conclusively demonstrate that visual experience is not a prerequisite for developing optimal spatial-hearing abilities and that, in striking contrast, the lack of vision leads to a general enhancement of auditory-spatial skills.

Vestibular Influence on Human Auditory Space Perception

2000 ◽  
Vol 84 (2) ◽  
pp. 1107-1111 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jörg Lewald ◽  
Hans-Otto Karnath
Keyword(s):  
Cold Water ◽  
Human Subjects ◽  
Space Perception ◽  
Median Plane ◽  
Vestibular Stimulation ◽  
Whole Body ◽  
Interaural Level Difference ◽  
Auditory Periphery ◽  
Auditory Space ◽  
Sound Image

We investigated the effect of vestibular stimulation on the lateralization of dichotic sound by cold-water irrigation of the external auditory canal in human subjects. Subjects adjusted the interaural level difference of the auditory stimulus to the subjective median plane of the head. In those subjects in whom dizziness and nystagmus indicated sufficient vestibular stimulation, these adjustments were significantly shifted toward the cooled ear compared with the control condition (irrigation with water at body temperature); i.e., vestibular stimulation induced a shift of the sound image toward the nonstimulated side. The mean magnitude of the shift was 7.3 dB immediately after vestibular stimulation and decreased to 2.5 dB after 5 min. As shown by an additional control experiment, this effect cannot be attributed to a unilateral hearing loss induced by cooling of the auditory periphery. The results indicate the involvement of vestibular afferent information in the perception of sound location during movements of the head and/or the whole body. We thus hypothesize that vestibular information is used by central-nervous mechanisms generating a world-centered representation of auditory space.

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document