Spectral integration of interaural time differences in auditory localization

Nicolas Le Goff, Jörg Buchholz, Torsten Dau

    Research output: Contribution to journalConference articleResearchpeer-review

    Abstract

    This study investigates how the auditory system integrates spatial information across frequency. In experiment 1, discrimination thresholds for interaural time differences (ITDs) were measured as a function of both reference ITD and center frequency (CF) of noises with bandwidth of one ERB. In addition, discrimination thresholds were also measured as a function of CF for different values of interaural coherence (IC) typical of sounds in realistic acoustic environments. For both high ICs and small reference ITDs, discrimination thresholds were lowest for CFs between 700 and 1000 Hz. For smaller ICs and larger reference ITDs, this dominance region shifted towards lower CFs. A conceptual localization model was developed that used the variance of the ITD thresholds to optimally weight the contribution of the individual frequency bands before spectral integration. In experiment 2, the model was tested by asking listeners to align a broadband noise signal with an ITD that was fixed across frequency onto a broadband noise target with different ITDs in individual 1 ERB-wide subbands. The results were consistent with both the model predictions and the shift of dominance range observed in experiment one.
    Original languageEnglish
    JournalMeetings on Acoustics. Proceedings
    Volume19
    Number of pages8
    ISSN1939-800X
    DOIs
    Publication statusPublished - 2013
    Event21st International Congress on Acoustics - Montreal, Canada
    Duration: 2 Jun 20137 Jun 2013
    Conference number: 21
    http://www.ica2013montreal.org/

    Conference

    Conference21st International Congress on Acoustics
    Number21
    Country/TerritoryCanada
    CityMontreal
    Period02/06/201307/06/2013
    Internet address

    Bibliographical note

    Psychological and Physiological Acoustics
    Session 4aPPb: Binaural Hearing (Poster Session)

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