Learning to find spatially reversed sounds

Abstract

Adaptation to systematic visual distortions is well-documented but there is little evidence of similar adaptation to radical changes in audition. We use a pseudophone to transpose the sound streams arriving at the left and right ears, evaluating the perceptual effects it provokes and the possibility of learning to locate sounds in the reversed condition. Blindfolded participants remain seated at the center of a semicircular arrangement of 7 speakers and are asked to orient their head towards a sound source. We postulate that a key factor underlying adaptation is the self-generated activity that allows participants to learn new sensorimotor schemes. We investigate passive listening conditions (very short duration stimulus not permitting active exploration) and dynamic conditions (continuous stimulus allowing participants time to freely move their heads or remain still). We analyze head movement kinematics, localization errors, and qualitative reports. Results show movement-induced perceptual disruptions in the dynamic condition with static sound sources displaying apparent movement. This effect is reduced after a short training period and participants learn to find sounds in a left-right reversed field for all but the extreme lateral positions where motor patterns are more restricted. Strategies become less exploratory and more direct with training. Results support the hypothesis that self-generated movements underlie adaptation to radical sensorimotor distortions.