Accurate Sound Localization in Reverberant Environments Is Mediated by Robust Encoding of Spatial Cues in the Auditory Midbrain
In reverberant environments, acoustic reflections interfere with the direct sound arriving at a listener's ears, distorting the spatial cues for sound localization. Yet, human listeners have little difficulty localizing sounds in most settings. Because reverberant energy builds up over time, th...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | en_US |
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Elsevier
2015
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| Online Access: | http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/96188 https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1349-9608 https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5096-5914 |
| _version_ | 1811072651477647360 |
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| author | Devore, Sasha Ihlefeld, Antje Hancock, Kenneth E. Shinn-Cunningham, Barbara Delgutte, Bertrand |
| author2 | Harvard University--MIT Division of Health Sciences and Technology |
| author_facet | Harvard University--MIT Division of Health Sciences and Technology Devore, Sasha Ihlefeld, Antje Hancock, Kenneth E. Shinn-Cunningham, Barbara Delgutte, Bertrand |
| author_sort | Devore, Sasha |
| collection | MIT |
| description | In reverberant environments, acoustic reflections interfere with the direct sound arriving at a listener's ears, distorting the spatial cues for sound localization. Yet, human listeners have little difficulty localizing sounds in most settings. Because reverberant energy builds up over time, the source location is represented relatively faithfully during the early portion of a sound, but this representation becomes increasingly degraded later in the stimulus. We show that the directional sensitivity of single neurons in the auditory midbrain of anesthetized cats follows a similar time course, although onset dominance in temporal response patterns results in more robust directional sensitivity than expected, suggesting a simple mechanism for improving directional sensitivity in reverberation. In parallel behavioral experiments, we demonstrate that human lateralization judgments are consistent with predictions from a population rate model decoding the observed midbrain responses, suggesting a subcortical origin for robust sound localization in reverberant environments. |
| first_indexed | 2024-09-23T09:09:25Z |
| format | Article |
| id | mit-1721.1/96188 |
| institution | Massachusetts Institute of Technology |
| language | en_US |
| last_indexed | 2024-09-23T09:09:25Z |
| publishDate | 2015 |
| publisher | Elsevier |
| record_format | dspace |
| spelling | mit-1721.1/961882022-09-30T13:50:49Z Accurate Sound Localization in Reverberant Environments Is Mediated by Robust Encoding of Spatial Cues in the Auditory Midbrain Devore, Sasha Ihlefeld, Antje Hancock, Kenneth E. Shinn-Cunningham, Barbara Delgutte, Bertrand Harvard University--MIT Division of Health Sciences and Technology Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Research Laboratory of Electronics Delgutte, Bertrand Devore, Sasha Shinn-Cunningham, Barbara In reverberant environments, acoustic reflections interfere with the direct sound arriving at a listener's ears, distorting the spatial cues for sound localization. Yet, human listeners have little difficulty localizing sounds in most settings. Because reverberant energy builds up over time, the source location is represented relatively faithfully during the early portion of a sound, but this representation becomes increasingly degraded later in the stimulus. We show that the directional sensitivity of single neurons in the auditory midbrain of anesthetized cats follows a similar time course, although onset dominance in temporal response patterns results in more robust directional sensitivity than expected, suggesting a simple mechanism for improving directional sensitivity in reverberation. In parallel behavioral experiments, we demonstrate that human lateralization judgments are consistent with predictions from a population rate model decoding the observed midbrain responses, suggesting a subcortical origin for robust sound localization in reverberant environments. National Institutes of Health (U.S.) (Grant R01 DC002258) National Institutes of Health (U.S.) (Grant R01 DC05778-02) core National Institutes of Health (U.S.) (Eaton Peabody Laboratory. (Core) Grant P30 DC005209) National Institutes of Health (U.S.) (Grant T32 DC0003) 2015-03-25T17:54:31Z 2015-03-25T17:54:31Z 2009-04 Article http://purl.org/eprint/type/JournalArticle 08966273 1097-4199 http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/96188 Devore, Sasha, Antje Ihlefeld, Kenneth Hancock, Barbara Shinn-Cunningham, and Bertrand Delgutte. “Accurate Sound Localization in Reverberant Environments Is Mediated by Robust Encoding of Spatial Cues in the Auditory Midbrain.” Neuron 62, no. 1 (April 2009): 123–134. © 2009 Elsevier Inc. https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1349-9608 https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5096-5914 en_US http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.neuron.2009.02.018 Neuron Article is made available in accordance with the publisher's policy and may be subject to US copyright law. Please refer to the publisher's site for terms of use. application/pdf Elsevier Elsevier |
| spellingShingle | Devore, Sasha Ihlefeld, Antje Hancock, Kenneth E. Shinn-Cunningham, Barbara Delgutte, Bertrand Accurate Sound Localization in Reverberant Environments Is Mediated by Robust Encoding of Spatial Cues in the Auditory Midbrain |
| title | Accurate Sound Localization in Reverberant Environments Is Mediated by Robust Encoding of Spatial Cues in the Auditory Midbrain |
| title_full | Accurate Sound Localization in Reverberant Environments Is Mediated by Robust Encoding of Spatial Cues in the Auditory Midbrain |
| title_fullStr | Accurate Sound Localization in Reverberant Environments Is Mediated by Robust Encoding of Spatial Cues in the Auditory Midbrain |
| title_full_unstemmed | Accurate Sound Localization in Reverberant Environments Is Mediated by Robust Encoding of Spatial Cues in the Auditory Midbrain |
| title_short | Accurate Sound Localization in Reverberant Environments Is Mediated by Robust Encoding of Spatial Cues in the Auditory Midbrain |
| title_sort | accurate sound localization in reverberant environments is mediated by robust encoding of spatial cues in the auditory midbrain |
| url | http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/96188 https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1349-9608 https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5096-5914 |
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