The role of spatial perception in auditory looming bias: neurobehavioral evidence from impossible ears
IntroductionSpatial hearing enables both voluntary localization of sound sources and automatic monitoring of the surroundings. The auditory looming bias (ALB), characterized by the prioritized processing of approaching (looming) sounds over receding ones, is thought to serve as an early hazard detec...
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Frontiers Media S.A.
2025-08-01
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| Series: | Frontiers in Neuroscience |
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| Online Access: | https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fnins.2025.1645936/full |
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| author | Tobias Greif Roberto Barumerli Roberto Barumerli Karolina Ignatiadis Brigitta Tóth Robert Baumgartner |
| author_facet | Tobias Greif Roberto Barumerli Roberto Barumerli Karolina Ignatiadis Brigitta Tóth Robert Baumgartner |
| author_sort | Tobias Greif |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | IntroductionSpatial hearing enables both voluntary localization of sound sources and automatic monitoring of the surroundings. The auditory looming bias (ALB), characterized by the prioritized processing of approaching (looming) sounds over receding ones, is thought to serve as an early hazard detection mechanism. The bias could theoretically reflect an adaptation to the low-level acoustic properties of approaching sounds, or alternatively necessitate the sound to be localizable in space.MethodsTo investigate whether ALB reflects spatial perceptual decisions or mere acoustic changes, we simulated ears that disrupted spectrospatial associations on the perceptual level while maintaining the original spectrospatial entropy on the acoustic level. We then assessed sound localization, ALB and distance ratings.ResultsCompared to native ears, these novel ears impaired sound localization in both the direction and ego-centric distance dimensions. ALB manifestation also differed significantly between native and novel ears, as evidenced by behavioral discrimination performance and early cortical activity (N1 latency). Notably, the N1 electroencephalographic response closely resembled distance ratings, suggesting a strong link between spatial perception and ALB-related neural processing. Integrating this neural marker into a hierarchical perceptual decision-making model improved explanatory power, underscoring its behavioral relevance.DiscussionThese findings suggest a strong link between the localizability of sounds and their ability to elicit ALB. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-0cec6bb3f3824aa5a846c494cb899b9c |
| institution | Kabale University |
| issn | 1662-453X |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2025-08-01 |
| publisher | Frontiers Media S.A. |
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| series | Frontiers in Neuroscience |
| spelling | doaj-art-0cec6bb3f3824aa5a846c494cb899b9c2025-08-25T05:25:29ZengFrontiers Media S.A.Frontiers in Neuroscience1662-453X2025-08-011910.3389/fnins.2025.16459361645936The role of spatial perception in auditory looming bias: neurobehavioral evidence from impossible earsTobias Greif0Roberto Barumerli1Roberto Barumerli2Karolina Ignatiadis3Brigitta Tóth4Robert Baumgartner5Acoustics Research Institute, Austrian Academy of Sciences, Vienna, AustriaAcoustics Research Institute, Austrian Academy of Sciences, Vienna, AustriaDepartment of Neurosciences, Biomedicine and Movement, University of Verona, Verona, ItalyAcoustics Research Institute, Austrian Academy of Sciences, Vienna, AustriaInstitute of Cognitive Neuroscience and Psychology, HUN-REN Research Centre for Natural Sciences, Budapest, HungaryAcoustics Research Institute, Austrian Academy of Sciences, Vienna, AustriaIntroductionSpatial hearing enables both voluntary localization of sound sources and automatic monitoring of the surroundings. The auditory looming bias (ALB), characterized by the prioritized processing of approaching (looming) sounds over receding ones, is thought to serve as an early hazard detection mechanism. The bias could theoretically reflect an adaptation to the low-level acoustic properties of approaching sounds, or alternatively necessitate the sound to be localizable in space.MethodsTo investigate whether ALB reflects spatial perceptual decisions or mere acoustic changes, we simulated ears that disrupted spectrospatial associations on the perceptual level while maintaining the original spectrospatial entropy on the acoustic level. We then assessed sound localization, ALB and distance ratings.ResultsCompared to native ears, these novel ears impaired sound localization in both the direction and ego-centric distance dimensions. ALB manifestation also differed significantly between native and novel ears, as evidenced by behavioral discrimination performance and early cortical activity (N1 latency). Notably, the N1 electroencephalographic response closely resembled distance ratings, suggesting a strong link between spatial perception and ALB-related neural processing. Integrating this neural marker into a hierarchical perceptual decision-making model improved explanatory power, underscoring its behavioral relevance.DiscussionThese findings suggest a strong link between the localizability of sounds and their ability to elicit ALB.https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fnins.2025.1645936/fullEEGspatial hearingauditory distanceexternalizationauditory looming biassound localization |
| spellingShingle | Tobias Greif Roberto Barumerli Roberto Barumerli Karolina Ignatiadis Brigitta Tóth Robert Baumgartner The role of spatial perception in auditory looming bias: neurobehavioral evidence from impossible ears Frontiers in Neuroscience EEG spatial hearing auditory distance externalization auditory looming bias sound localization |
| title | The role of spatial perception in auditory looming bias: neurobehavioral evidence from impossible ears |
| title_full | The role of spatial perception in auditory looming bias: neurobehavioral evidence from impossible ears |
| title_fullStr | The role of spatial perception in auditory looming bias: neurobehavioral evidence from impossible ears |
| title_full_unstemmed | The role of spatial perception in auditory looming bias: neurobehavioral evidence from impossible ears |
| title_short | The role of spatial perception in auditory looming bias: neurobehavioral evidence from impossible ears |
| title_sort | role of spatial perception in auditory looming bias neurobehavioral evidence from impossible ears |
| topic | EEG spatial hearing auditory distance externalization auditory looming bias sound localization |
| url | https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fnins.2025.1645936/full |
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