Effect of long-term training on sound localization performance with spectrally warped and band-limited head-related transfer functions

Abstract

Sound localization in the sagittal planes, including the ability to distinguish front from back, relies on spectral features caused by the filtering effects of the head, pinna, and torso. It is assumed that important spatial cues are encoded in the frequency range between 4 and 16 kHz. In this study, in a double-blind design and using audio-visual training covering the full 3-D space, normal-hearing listeners were trained 2 h per day over three weeks to localize sounds which were either band limited up to 8.5 kHz or spectrally warped from the range between 2.8 and 16 kHz to the range between 2.8 and 8.5 kHz. The training effect for the warped condition exceeded that for procedural task learning, suggesting a stable auditory recalibration due to the training. After the training, performance with band-limited sounds was better than that with warped ones. The results show that training can improve sound localization in cases where spectral cues have been reduced by band-limiting or remapped by warping. This suggests that hearing-impaired listeners, who have limited access to high frequencies, might also improve their localization ability when provided with spectrally warped or band-limited sounds and adequately trained on sound localization.