Sensorineural hearing loss causes wide variability in sound localization ability

Evidence

As a rule, listeners with sensorineural hearing loss experience deficits in their sound localization and lateralization abilities (Akeroyd, 2014). A particular hallmark of these studies is wide variability of performance by listeners with hearing loss. As an example from a comprehensive study that evaluated MAAs in the free field and JNDs for ITDs and ILDs over headphones, Häusler, Colburn, and Marr (1983) measured binaural abilities in 140 listeners using broadband noise stimuli. Regarding the MAA measurements, some listeners with bilateral sensorineural hearing loss had MAAs within the range of normal variability, but other listeners, both those with bilateral hearing loss and those with asymmetrical hearing losses, had abnormally large MAAs. Most of the listeners with bilaterally symmetric hearing losses presented JNDs for ITDs and ILDs within normal limits, although some demonstrated larger ITDs than normal. — Jennifer Lentz, Psychoacoustics- Perception of Normal…, 1578

Categorization

• corroborated: 2 independent passages support this claim — Jennifer Lentz, Psychoacoustics- Perception of Normal…, 1578
• XREF: connects to: Oversized-pinna cue simulation barely improves vertical localization for hearing-impaired listeners — Dijk, Pim van, Physiology, Psychoacoustics and…, 3048; Hearing-impaired subjects localized via pinna frequency shaping, not level differences — Dijk, Pim van, Physiology, Psychoacoustics and…, 3124; Sound localization deficits in hearing loss come from neural coding changes, not audibility. (+3 more)

Broader Connections

• Sound localization deficits in hearing loss come from neural coding changes, not audibility. #expands (0.85)
• Enhanced pinna cues only partially close the spatial-resolution gap in hearing-impaired listeners #qualifies (0.75) — Dijk, Pim van, Physiology, Psychoacoustics and…, 3133
• Even modest hearing loss increases variability in sound quality judgments #exemplifies (0.75)
• Hearing aids distort localization cues and often worsen localization #complicates (0.72)