Spatial release from masking (SRM) occurs when spatial separation between a signal and masker decreases masked thresholds. The mechanically-coupled ears of Ormia ochracea are specialized for hyperacute directional hearing, but the possible role of SRM, or whether such specializations exhibit limitations for sound source segregation, is unknown. We recorded phonotaxis to a cricket song masked by...

This present study examined the relationship between cognitive measures and self-report hearing aid outcome. A sentence-final word identification and recall (SWIR) test was used to investigate how hearing aid use may relate to experienced explicit cognitive processing. A visually based cognitive test battery was also administered. To measure self-report hearing aid outcome, the International Ou...

Both psychophysical and physiological studies have examined plasticity of spatial auditory processing. While there is a great deal known about how the system computes basic cues that influence spatial perception, less is known about how these cues are integrated to form spatial percepts and how the auditory system adapts and calibrates in order to maintain accurate spatial perception. After sum...

In noisy situations with competing voices, people often find it easier to hear out and recognize what familiar voices say. However, people with hearing loss report difficulties in utilizing this ability in situations with competing voices. This research investigates if hearing devices can learn and utilize voice characteristics to separate voices, and furthermore, if presenting the separated vo...

Here we describe a patient with epilepsy (secondary to left parieto-temporal brain damage) suffering from the paroxysmal unilateral experience of hearing a person in her near extrapersonal space. The paroxysmal auditory experience was associated with a deficit in spatial auditory perception and other paroxysmal disorders of somatognosia. Based on these findings, it is suggested that the paroxys...

Spatial release from masking (SRM) was tested within the first week of fitting and after 12 weeks hearing aid use for unilateral and bilateral adult hearing aid users. A control group of experienced hearing aid users completed testing over a similar time frame. The main research aims were (1) to examine auditory acclimatization effects on SRM performance for unilateral and bilateral hearing aid...

Objectives: The current study aimed at investigating the impact of SHOFER computer game on visual-motor coordination in children with hearing impairments. Methods: The current pre-test, post-test experimental study was conducted in Ahvaz, Iran in 2018. Sixteen preschool children with hearing impairment were randomly assigned into two groups of experimental (n=8) and control (n=8). The experime...

Directional Audio Coding (DirAC) is a perceptually motivated technique for spatial audio processing. DirAC analyzes in short time windows the sound spectrum together with direction and diffuseness in frequency bands of human hearing, and uses this information in synthesis. It has applications in capturing, coding and resynthesis of spatial sound, in teleconferencing, in directional filtering, a...

Current technology makes it possible to simulate naturally-occurring spatial auditory cues quite accurately. However, the cost of such a system is not justifiable, or even desirable, for all applications. This paper surveys some of the applications currently using virtual auditory displays and some of the issues important in the design of virtual auditory displays. Keywords—virtual environments...