science

Spatial hearing loss

Spatial hearing loss is a science topic covered in the lgStudy science library. This page brings together a partial reference excerpt, illustrations, worked examples, real-world applications and a short study plan, so you can understand Spatial hearing loss rather than just read about it. In short: Spatial hearing loss refers to a form of deafness that is an inability to use spatial cues about where a sound originates from in space. Poor sound localization in turn affects the ability to understand speech in the presence of background noise.

Key takeaways

Spatial hearing loss belongs to science; place it in that map before memorising details.
Learn the definition first, then one example that makes the definition concrete.
Connect Spatial hearing loss to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
Reproduce the core statement of Spatial hearing loss from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

Spatial hearing loss refers to a form of deafness that is an inability to use spatial cues about where a sound originates from in space. Poor sound localization in turn affects the ability to understand speech in the presence of background noise. People with spatial hearing loss have difficulty processing speech that arrives from one direction while simultaneously filtering out 'noise' arriving from other directions. Research has shown spatial hearing loss to be a leading cause of central auditory processing disorder (CAPD) in children. Children with spatial hearing loss commonly present with difficulties understanding speech in the classroom. Spatial hearing loss is found in most people over 70 years of age, and can sometimes be independent of other types of age related hearing loss. As with presbycusis, spatial hearing loss varies with age. Through childhood and into adulthood it can be viewed as spatial hearing gain (with it becoming easier to hear speech in noise), and then with middle age and beyond the spatial hearing loss begins (with it becoming harder again to hear speech in noise).

Localization mechanism Sound streams arriving from the left or right (the horizontal plane) are localised primarily by the small time differences of the same sound arriving at the two ears. A sound straight in front of the head is heard at the same time by both ears. A sound to the side of the head is heard approximately 0.0005 seconds later by the ear furthest away. A sound halfway to one side is heard approximately 0.0003 seconds later. This is the interaural time difference (ITD) cue and is measured by signal processing in the two central auditory pathways that begin after the cochlea and pass through the brainstem and mid-brain. Some of those with spatial hearing loss are unable to process ITD (low frequency) cues. Sound streams arriving from below the head, above the head, and over behind the head (the vertical plane) are localised again by signal processing in the central auditory pathways. The cues this time however are the notches/peaks that are added to the sound arriving at the ears by the complex shapes of the pinna. Different notches/peaks are added to sounds coming from below compared to sounds coming from above, and compared to sounds coming from behind. The most significant notches are added to sounds in the 4 kHz to 10 kHz range. Some of those with spatial hearing loss are unable to process pinna related (high frequency) cues. By the time sound stream representations reach the end of the auditory pathways brainstem inhibition processing ensures that the right pathway is solely responsible for the left ear sounds and the left pathway is solely responsible for the right ear sounds. It is then the responsibility of the auditory cortex (AC) of the right hemisphere (on its own) to map the whole auditory scene. Information about the right auditory hemifield joins with the information about the left hemifield once it has passed through the corpus callosum (CC) - the brain white matter that connects homologous regions of the left and right hemispheres. Some of those with spatial hearing loss are unable to integrate the auditory representations of the left and right hemifields, and consequently are unable to maintain any representation of auditory space. An auditory space representation enables attention to be given (conscious top-down driven) to a single auditory stream. A gain mechanism can be employed involving the enhancement of the speech stream, and the suppression of any other speech streams and any noise streams. An inhibition mechanism can be employed involving the variable suppression of outputs from the two cochlea. Some of those with spatial hearing loss are unable to suppress unwanted cochlea output. Those individuals with spatial hearing loss are not able to accurately perceive the directions different sound streams are coming from and their hearing is no longer 3-dimensional (3D). Sound streams from the rear may appear to come from the front instead. Sound streams from the left or right may appear to come from the front. The gain mechanism can not be used to enhance the speech stream of interest from all other sound streams. Those with spatial hearing loss need target speech to be raised by typically more than 10 dB when listening to speech in a background noise compared to those with no spatial hearing loss. Spatial hearing ability normally begins to develop in early childhood, and then continues to develop into early adulthood. After the age of 50 years spatial hearing ability begins to decline. Both peripheral hearing and central auditory pathway problems can interfere with early development. With some individuals, for a range of different reasons, maturation of the two ear spatial hearing ability may simply never happen. For example, prolonged episodes of ear infections such as “glue ear” are likely to significantly hinder its development.

… excerpt ends here. Continue reading the full article.

Illustrations

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with Spatial hearing loss

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what Spatial hearing loss claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In science, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to Spatial hearing loss before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about Spatial hearing loss ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of Spatial hearing loss

In research: Spatial hearing loss appears in science research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry: Engineering practice reuses Spatial hearing loss in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom: Spatial hearing loss is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics Hearing loss, Spatial cognition, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for Spatial hearing loss outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.

Ask Teacher Smith questions about this articleOpens your AI tutor with a question about “Spatial hearing loss” →

Affiliate

Preply — study more efficiently by working with a personal tutor. 50% off.

How to study Spatial hearing loss in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what Spatial hearing loss means in your own words.
Compare your version with the excerpt and mark what you missed.
Work through the three examples above with pen and paper.
Explain Spatial hearing loss out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is Spatial hearing loss in simple terms?

Why does Spatial hearing loss matter?

Because it connects several science ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.

How should I study Spatial hearing loss?

Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.

What does this page cover?

It gives you a compact reference excerpt plus original lgStudy explanations, examples, applications and study material on Spatial hearing loss.