Peripheral monaural coding efficiency partly predicts binaural lateralization ability
Evidence
Lateralization performance based on ITDs and ILDs should reflect not only the listener’s ability to compare time and level information, respectively, between ears but also the efficiency of encoding information about the temporal structure and intensity of stimuli at stages below binaural interactions in auditory processing. … Our earlier study attempted to evaluate the relative contributions of these processing stages to the inter-listener variability in lateralization performance, by comparing individual listeners’ monaural sensitivities to the temporal structure and intensity of a sound stimulus with their ITD and ILD sensitivities (Ochi et al. 2014 ). The results showed significant correlation of ILD discrimination thresholds with thresholds for monaural level-increment detection task. This could be interpreted as indicating that the inter-individual differences in ILD sensitivity could be (partially) accounted for by the level coding efficiency at stages before binaural interaction. Similarly, ITD discrimination thresholds were found to correlate with the listeners’ sensitivities to the temporal structure of monaural stimuli, when the stimuli were in high frequency range (around 4000 Hz). However, we failed to find a positive correlation for stimuli in low-frequency range (around 1100 Hz). — Dijk, Pim van, Physiology, Psychoacoustics and…, 1026
Interaural time and level differences (ITDs and ILDs) are the major cues for horizontal sound localization. Sensitivities to ITDs and ILDs, evaluated by lateralization tasks, often vary markedly among listeners. Lateralization performance based on ITDs and ILDs should reflect not only the listener’s ability to compare time and level information, respectively, between ears but also the efficiency of encoding information about the temporal structure and intensity of stimuli at stages below binaural interactions in auditory processing. — Dijk, Pim van, Physiology, Psychoacoustics and…, 1028
Categorization
- XREF: Connects to peripheral vs central auditory processing debates and the question of where inter-listener variability originates. — connects to: Lateral sounds drive spatial perception more than frontal or rear sounds; Binaural localization accuracy depends on monaural coding efficiency before interaural comparison; Interaural level sensitivity reflects peripheral level-coding efficiency, not central processing.
- DEFINE: Defines ITD and ILD as the principal horizontal localization cues.
- corroborated: 3 independent passages support this claim — Dijk, Pim van, Physiology, Psychoacoustics and…, 1026; Dijk, Pim van, Physiology, Psychoacoustics and…, 1028