Neural refractory periods after strong onsets disable directional hearing for delayed sounds

Evidence

Evidently, our hearing responds strongly to onsets and transients, and the binaural cues decoded from the short response with a length of only about 1 ms have, correspondingly, a strong emphasis. After a strong response from most neurons, the refractory period makes the directional hearing mechanisms non-functional. Thus, the direction of the delayed sound does not affect the perception. — Ville Pulkki, Matti Karjalainen, Communication Acoustics- An…, 1502

Categorization

• XREF: Links to general neural adaptation/refractory mechanisms in sensory systems; also explains why transient-rich sounds localize best.