Dataset Information

Effects of self-motion on auditory scene analysis.

ABSTRACT: Auditory scene analysis requires the listener to parse the incoming flow of acoustic information into perceptual "streams," such as sentences from a single talker in the midst of background noise. Behavioral and neural data show that the formation of streams is not instantaneous; rather, streaming builds up over time and can be reset by sudden changes in the acoustics of the scene. Here, we investigated the effect of changes induced by voluntary head motion on streaming. We used a telepresence robot in a virtual reality setup to disentangle all potential consequences of head motion: changes in acoustic cues at the ears, changes in apparent source location, and changes in motor or attentional processes. The results showed that self-motion influenced streaming in at least two ways. Right after the onset of movement, self-motion always induced some resetting of perceptual organization to one stream, even when the acoustic scene itself had not changed. Then, after the motion, the prevalent organization was rapidly biased by the binaural cues discovered through motion. Auditory scene analysis thus appears to be a dynamic process that is affected by the active sensing of the environment.

SUBMITTER: Kondo HM

PROVIDER: S-EPMC3340062 | biostudies-literature | 2012 Apr

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Effects of self-motion on auditory scene analysis.

Kondo Hirohito M HM Pressnitzer Daniel D Toshima Iwaki I Kashino Makio M

Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America 20120409 17

Auditory scene analysis requires the listener to parse the incoming flow of acoustic information into perceptual "streams," such as sentences from a single talker in the midst of background noise. Behavioral and neural data show that the formation of streams is not instantaneous; rather, streaming builds up over time and can be reset by sudden changes in the acoustics of the scene. Here, we investigated the effect of changes induced by voluntary head motion on streaming. We used a telepresence r ...[more]

PMID: 22493250

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Project description:Parsing of sound sources in the auditory environment or 'auditory scene analysis' is a computationally demanding cognitive operation that is likely to be vulnerable to the neurodegenerative process in Alzheimer's disease. However, little information is available concerning auditory scene analysis in Alzheimer's disease. Here we undertook a detailed neuropsychological and neuroanatomical characterization of auditory scene analysis in a cohort of 21 patients with clinically typical Alzheimer's disease versus age-matched healthy control subjects. We designed a novel auditory dual stream paradigm based on synthetic sound sequences to assess two key generic operations in auditory scene analysis (object segregation and grouping) in relation to simpler auditory perceptual, task and general neuropsychological factors. In order to assess neuroanatomical associations of performance on auditory scene analysis tasks, structural brain magnetic resonance imaging data from the patient cohort were analysed using voxel-based morphometry. Compared with healthy controls, patients with Alzheimer's disease had impairments of auditory scene analysis, and segregation and grouping operations were comparably affected. Auditory scene analysis impairments in Alzheimer's disease were not wholly attributable to simple auditory perceptual or task factors; however, the between-group difference relative to healthy controls was attenuated after accounting for non-verbal (visuospatial) working memory capacity. These findings demonstrate that clinically typical Alzheimer's disease is associated with a generic deficit of auditory scene analysis. Neuroanatomical associations of auditory scene analysis performance were identified in posterior cortical areas including the posterior superior temporal lobes and posterior cingulate. This work suggests a basis for understanding a class of clinical symptoms in Alzheimer's disease and for delineating cognitive mechanisms that mediate auditory scene analysis both in health and in neurodegenerative disease.

Project description:BackgroundSpatial inputs from the auditory periphery can be changed with movements of the head or whole body relative to the sound source. Nevertheless, humans can perceive a stable auditory environment and appropriately react to a sound source. This suggests that the inputs are reinterpreted in the brain, while being integrated with information on the movements. Little is known, however, about how these movements modulate auditory perceptual processing. Here, we investigate the effect of the linear acceleration on auditory space representation.Methodology/principal findingsParticipants were passively transported forward/backward at constant accelerations using a robotic wheelchair. An array of loudspeakers was aligned parallel to the motion direction along a wall to the right of the listener. A short noise burst was presented during the self-motion from one of the loudspeakers when the listener's physical coronal plane reached the location of one of the speakers (null point). In Experiments 1 and 2, the participants indicated which direction the sound was presented, forward or backward relative to their subjective coronal plane. The results showed that the sound position aligned with the subjective coronal plane was displaced ahead of the null point only during forward self-motion and that the magnitude of the displacement increased with increasing the acceleration. Experiment 3 investigated the structure of the auditory space in the traveling direction during forward self-motion. The sounds were presented at various distances from the null point. The participants indicated the perceived sound location by pointing a rod. All the sounds that were actually located in the traveling direction were perceived as being biased towards the null point.Conclusions/significanceThese results suggest a distortion of the auditory space in the direction of movement during forward self-motion. The underlying mechanism might involve anticipatory spatial shifts in the auditory receptive field locations driven by afferent signals from vestibular system.

Dataset Information

Effects of self-motion on auditory scene analysis.

Publications

Effects of self-motion on auditory scene analysis.

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