Abstract
We investigated the effects of listeners' head movements and proprioceptive feedback during sound localization practice on the subsequent accuracy of sound localization performance. The effects were examined under both restricted and unrestricted head movement conditions in the practice stage. In both cases, the participants were divided into two groups: a feedback group performed a sound localization drill with accurate proprioceptive feedback; a control group conducted it without the feedback. Results showed that (1) sound localization practice, while allowing for free head movement, led to improvement in sound localization performance and decreased actual angular errors along the horizontal plane, and that (2) proprioceptive feedback during practice decreased actual angular errors in the vertical plane. Our findings suggest that unrestricted head movement and proprioceptive feedback during sound localization training enhance perceptual motor learning by enabling listeners to use variable auditory cues and proprioceptive information.
Highlights
Human sound localization in the horizontal plane is based mainly on the evaluation of interaural differences in the sound level and time of arrival (Blauert, 1997; Middlebrooks & Green, 1991)
To obtain an insight into the overall effects of head movement and proprioceptive feedback during training, we analyzed the proportion of correct sound localization and the actual angular errors in the vertical and horizontal planes
4 Discussion This study investigated the effects of head movement and proprioceptive feedback during training in the improvement of sound localization
Summary
Human sound localization in the horizontal plane (azimuth) is based mainly on the evaluation of interaural differences in the sound level and time of arrival (Blauert, 1997; Middlebrooks & Green, 1991). Aytekin, Moss, and Simon (2008) pointed out in a review article that sound localization is a purely acoustic phenomenon. It is a combination of multisensory information processing, experience-dependent plasticity, and movement. Results of sound localization experiments using an acoustical telepresence robot demonstrated that head movement improves horizontal-plane sound localization performance even when the shape of the dummy head differs from that of the user’s head (Toshima, Aoki, & Hirahara, 2008)
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