Adults relearn spatial localization within six weeks of altered pinnae

Evidence

Hofman et al. ( 1998 ) and Van Wanrooij and Van Opstal ( 2005 ) reported about experiments where test subjects had their pinnae modified by concha moulds. Results show that while localisation performance was disrupted immediately after mould insertion, subjects regained their localisation ability over the course of weeks. Typically after 6 weeks of learning they had reached an asymptote close to their previous performance. — Dijk, Pim van, Physiology, Psychoacoustics and…, 3052

Categorization

Category: Factual Claims

• XREF: Relates to adult neural plasticity in spatial hearing; connects to the reader’s interest in cognition in hearing.

Related

• Modified pinna cues degrade localization which readapts within about six weeks (similarity 0.87)
• Individual pinnae shapes make spatial hearing uniquely personal and learned (similarity 0.86)
• Listeners re-adapt to modified pinna cues within about six weeks (similarity 0.85)
• The auditory system continually relearns to decode pinna-imposed spectral cues. (similarity 0.85)
• Each person’s directional hearing is calibrated to their own ear shape (similarity 0.83)
• The outer ear’s resonant shapes enable front-back sound localization (similarity 0.82)
• Even enlarged pinna cues leave hearing-impaired localization far below normal (similarity 0.82)
• Hearing aids distort localization cues and often worsen localization (similarity 0.82)
• Hearing-impaired subjects localized via pinna frequency shaping, not level differences (similarity 0.81)
• Pinna shape creates learned, person-specific comb filters that aid sound localization (similarity 0.81)
• The pinna’s folded shape encodes sound direction as spectral echoes (similarity 0.80)
• Individualized HRTFs only improve localization in planes requiring pinnae cues (similarity 0.80)
• Front and back sound localization requires other mechanisms than ITD (similarity 0.79)
• Sensorineural hearing loss causes wide variability in sound localization ability (similarity 0.79)
• Hearing aids fail to restore sound localization in many listeners (similarity 0.79)

Broader Connections

• Adults adapt to altered pinna cues within about six weeks #corroborates (0.98) — Dijk, Pim van, Physiology, Psychoacoustics and…, 3057
• Individual pinnae shapes make spatial hearing uniquely personal and learned #expands (0.90) — David M. Howard, Jamie Angus, Acoustics and Psychoacoustics, 736
• Localization improves as we learn our own ears’ direction cues through experience #expands (0.85) — David Howard, Jamie Angus, coustics and Psychoacoustics, 729
• Sound localization from pinna cues is learned and specific to each person’s ear shape. #expands (0.85) — David M. Howard, Jamie Angus, Acoustics and Psychoacoustics, 732
• Head movement and pinna shape resolve cone-of-confusion ambiguities #expands (0.80) — Jennifer Lentz, Psychoacoustics- Perception of Normal…, 1474
• Individualized HRTFs only improve localization in planes requiring pinnae cues #qualifies (0.80) — Jennifer Lentz, Psychoacoustics- Perception of Normal…, 1538
• Head-related transfer functions encode how the head and pinna shape spatial hearing #expands (0.75) — David M. Howard, Jamie Angus, Acoustics and Psychoacoustics, 737
• Hearing aids distort localization cues and often worsen localization #contradicts (0.75) — Jennifer Lentz, Psychoacoustics- Perception of Normal…, 1707