Effect of auditory deprivation on threshold of sound lateralization

Abstract

Objective This study aimed to investigate the relationship between auditory deprivation and sound lateralisation. Methods This study consisted of a control group (6 female, 4 male) and four study groups (17 female, 19 male) classified according to the participant’s speech discrimination scores (Group 1, above 80%; Group 2, 60–80%; Group 3, 40-60%; and Group 4, below 40%). The lateralisation acuity of the participants was evaluated in a sound-booth room using two loudspeakers. First, the sounds were given equally from both loudspeakers. Later, the point where participants noticed the sound asymmetry between the two speakers was investigated for 250–8000 Hz. Results There was no significant difference in lateralisation thresholds of the participants between groups 1 and group 2 compared to the control group while there was in groups 3 and 4 (p < 0.001). In addition, only the difference between group 4 and the control group was statistically significant (p < 0.05) in the effect of the mental state on test performance. Pearson’s correlation test results showed a medium correlation between the mental test and lateralisation thresholds with speech stimuli and at all frequencies (min-max:44.6 − 51.3%). Conlusions A strong correlation was observed between the auditory discrimination scores and lateralisation thresholds at all frequencies.