The Precedence Effect in Sound Localization

1949 ◽  
Vol 62 (3) ◽  
pp. 315 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hans Wallach ◽  
Edwin B. Newman ◽  
Mark R. Rosenzweig
Keyword(s):  
Sound Localization ◽  
Precedence Effect

scholarly journals A Precedence Effect in Sound Localization

1949 ◽  
Vol 21 (4) ◽  
pp. 468-468 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hans Wallach ◽  
E. B. Newman ◽  
M. R. Rosenzweig
Keyword(s):  
Sound Localization ◽  
Precedence Effect

Sound Localization by Barn Owls in a Simulated Echoic Environment

2006 ◽  
Vol 95 (6) ◽  
pp. 3571-3584 ◽  
Author(s):  
Matthew W. Spitzer ◽  
Terry T. Takahashi
Keyword(s):  
Sound Localization ◽  
The Other ◽  
Precedence Effect ◽  
Tyto Alba ◽  
Sound Sources ◽  
Response Latencies ◽  
Accuracy And Precision ◽  
Barn Owls ◽  
Neurophysiological Data ◽  
Temporal Overlap

We examined the accuracy and precision with which the barn owl ( Tyto alba) turns its head toward sound sources under conditions that evoke the precedence effect (PE) in humans. Stimuli consisted of 25-ms noise bursts emitted from two sources, separated horizontally by 40°, and temporally by 3–50 ms. At delays from 3 to 10 ms, head turns were always directed at the leading source, and were nearly as accurate and precise as turns toward single sources, indicating that the leading source dominates perception. This lead dominance is particularly remarkable, first, because on some trials, the lagging source was significantly higher in amplitude than the lead, arising from the directionality of the owl's ears, and second, because the temporal overlap of the two sounds can degrade the binaural cues with which the owl localizes sounds. With increasing delays, the influence of the lagging source became apparent as the head saccades became increasingly biased toward the lagging source. Furthermore, on some of the trials at delays ≥20 ms, the owl turned its head, first, in the direction of one source, and then the other, suggesting that it was able to resolve two separately localizable sources. At all delays <50 ms, response latencies were longer for paired sources than for single sources. With the possible exception of response latency, these findings demonstrate that the owl exhibits precedence phenomena in sound localization similar to those in humans and cats, and provide a basis for comparison with neurophysiological data.

Neural Correlates of the Precedence Effect in the Inferior Colliculus of Behaving Cats

2004 ◽  
Vol 92 (6) ◽  
pp. 3286-3297 ◽  
Author(s):  
Daniel J. Tollin ◽  
Luis C. Populin ◽  
Tom C. T. Yin
Keyword(s):  
Inferior Colliculus ◽  
Sound Localization ◽  
Species Differences ◽  
Behavioral Responses ◽  
Neural Correlates ◽  
Precedence Effect ◽  
Single Neurons ◽  
Localization Dominance ◽  
Echo Threshold ◽  
Spatial Locations

Several auditory spatial illusions, collectively called the precedence effect (PE), occur when transient sounds are presented from two different spatial locations but separated in time by an interstimulus delay (ISD). For ISDs in the range of localization dominance (<10 ms), a single fused sound is typically located near the leading source location only, as if the location of the lagging source were suppressed. For longer ISDs, both the leading and lagging sources can be heard and localized, and the shortest ISD where this occurs is called the echo threshold. Previous physiological studies of the extracellular responses of single neurons in the inferior colliculus (IC) of anesthetized cats and unanesthetized rabbits with sounds known to elicit the PE have shown correlates of these phenomena though there were differences in the physiologically measured echo thresholds. Here we recorded in the IC of awake, behaving cats using stimuli that we have shown to evoke behavioral responses that are consistent with the precedence effect. For small ISDs, responses to the lag were reduced or eliminated consistent with psychophysical data showing that sound localization is based on the leading source. At longer ISDs, the responses to the lagging source recovered at ISDs comparable to psychophysically measured echo thresholds. Thus it appears that anesthesia, and not species differences, accounts for the discrepancies in the earlier studies.

scholarly journals The role of envelope shape in the localization of multiple sound sources and echoes in the barn owl

2013 ◽  
Vol 109 (4) ◽  
pp. 924-931 ◽  
Author(s):  
Caitlin S. Baxter ◽  
Brian S. Nelson ◽  
Terry T. Takahashi
Keyword(s):  
Sound Localization ◽  
Precedence Effect ◽  
Tyto Alba ◽  
Topographic Map ◽  
Sound Sources ◽  
Auditory Space ◽  
Amplitude Spectra ◽  
Barn Owls ◽  
The One

Echoes and sounds of independent origin often obscure sounds of interest, but echoes can go undetected under natural listening conditions, a perception called the precedence effect. How does the auditory system distinguish between echoes and independent sources? To investigate, we presented two broadband noises to barn owls ( Tyto alba) while varying the similarity of the sounds' envelopes. The carriers of the noises were identical except for a 2- or 3-ms delay. Their onsets and offsets were also synchronized. In owls, sound localization is guided by neural activity on a topographic map of auditory space. When there are two sources concomitantly emitting sounds with overlapping amplitude spectra, space map neurons discharge when the stimulus in their receptive field is louder than the one outside it and when the averaged amplitudes of both sounds are rising. A model incorporating these features calculated the strengths of the two sources' representations on the map (B. S. Nelson and T. T. Takahashi; Neuron 67: 643–655, 2010). The target localized by the owls could be predicted from the model's output. The model also explained why the echo is not localized at short delays: when envelopes are similar, peaks in the leading sound mask corresponding peaks in the echo, weakening the echo's space map representation. When the envelopes are dissimilar, there are few or no corresponding peaks, and the owl localizes whichever source is predicted by the model to be less masked. Thus the precedence effect in the owl is a by-product of a mechanism for representing multiple sound sources on its map.

Influences of Age and Hearing Loss on the Precedence Effect in Sound Localization

1993 ◽  
Vol 36 (2) ◽  
pp. 437-441 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jerry L. Cranford ◽  
Marci A. Andres ◽  
Kristi K. Piatz ◽  
Kay L. Reissig
Keyword(s):  
Hearing Loss ◽  
Sound Localization ◽  
Detrimental Effect ◽  
Precedence Effect ◽  
Elderly Subjects ◽  
Elderly Persons ◽  
Hearing Sensitivity ◽  
Two Factors ◽  
Tentative Evidence ◽  
Young And Elderly Subjects

Cranford, Boose, & Moore (1990a) reported that many elderly persons exhibit problems in perceiving the apparent location of fused auditory images in a sound localization task involving the Precedence Effect (PE). In the earlier study, differences in peripheral hearing sensitivity between young and elderly subjects were not controlled. In the present study, four groups of young and elderly subjects, matched with respect to age and the presence or absence of sensorineural hearing loss, were examined to determine the effects of these two factors on performance with the PE task. Although significantly poorer performances on the PE task were found to be associated with both increased age and hearing loss, additional tentative evidence was obtained that the presence of hearing loss may have a relatively greater detrimental effect on the performance of at least some elderly subjects than it does on younger persons.

Tracking of a “Moving” Fused Auditory Image Under Conditions that Elicit the Precedence Effect

1990 ◽  
Vol 33 (1) ◽  
pp. 141-148 ◽  
Author(s):  
Christopher A. Moore ◽  
Jerry L. Cranford ◽  
Angela E. Rahn
Keyword(s):  
Multiple Sclerosis ◽  
Sound Localization ◽  
Daily Life ◽  
Normal Subjects ◽  
Great Accuracy ◽  
Precedence Effect ◽  
Neural Function ◽  
Auditory Image ◽  
Conventional Tests ◽  
Temporal Lobe Lesions

Pursuit auditory tracking of a fused auditory image (FAI), based on stimulus conditions known to elicit the precedence effect phenomenon in sound localization, was investigated in 36 normal subjects and in a small group of subjects with known neuropathology. Movement of the FAI was simulated by incrementally varying the delay between two clicks presented, one each, from two loudspeakers placed on opposite sides of the listener. The group of normal listeners tracked the movement of the FAI without difficulty and with great accuracy; the perceived location of the FAI varied linearly with the interspeaker delay. The sensitivity of the task in detecting neural timing or integration deficits was investigated in 5 subjects with neuropathology, including subjects with unilateral temporal lobe lesions, multiple sclerosis, or dyslexia. These disorders, previously shown to disrupt neural timing, yielded characteristic patterns of tracking inaccuracy for this task. These subjects had no difficulty localizing either a moving unitary click source or sounds in daily life. These data support the suggestion that sound localization using stimulus conditions known to elicit the precedence effect places greater demands on neural timing and integration than conventional tests of localization, and may provide a more sensitive index of neural function.

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