Abstract
The study investigated how hearing depends on the whole body, head and trunk orientation relative to a sound source. In normal hearing humans we examined auditory thresholds and their ability to recognize logatomes (bi-syllabic non-sense words) at different whole body, head and trunk rotation relative to a sound source. We found that auditory threshold was increased and logatome recognition was impaired when the body or the trunk were rotated 40° away from a sound source compared to when the body or the trunk was oriented towards the sound source. Conversely, no effects were seen when only the head was rotated. Further, an increase of thresholds and impairment of logatome recognition were also observed after unilateral vibration of dorsal neck muscles that induces, per se, long-lasting illusory trunk displacement relative to the head. Thus, our findings support the idea that processing of acoustic signals depends on where a sound is located within a reference system defined by the subject’s trunk coordinates.
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All data generated or analysed during this study are included in this published article [and its supplementary information files].
Abbreviations
- T:
-
Trunk
- H:
-
Head
- HT:
-
Whole body (head + trunk)
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Acknowledgements
We thank Francesca Gioeli, Fabio Antognarelli and Donatella Lorentini, audiometrists of Ospedale Santa Maria della Misericordia of Perugia, for their collaboration in testing auditory thresholds and logatome recognition.
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Communicated by Melvyn A. Goodale.
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Occhigrossi, C., Brosch, M., Giommetti, G. et al. Auditory perception is influenced by the orientation of the trunk relative to a sound source. Exp Brain Res 239, 1223–1234 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00221-021-06047-2
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00221-021-06047-2