A Preliminary Study on the Ability of Omnidirectional Sound Localization in Normal Hearing Adults
HU Hongyan
LI Siyang
WANG Qian
YE Fanglei
LI Nan
JI Fei
Abstract：Objective To explore the characteristics of the horizontal sound localization of normal hearing adults by using 24 and 36 sound sources in all directions.Methods 43 healthy adult subjects admitted to the Otolaryngology Department of the PLA General Hospital from April 2021 to September 2021 were selected as the research subjects,including 22 males and 21 females;They were divided into two groups according to age,young and middle-aged group(21～49 years old),pre-aged and elderly group(50～72 years old).Sound localization tests were carried out using 24 and 36 horizontal speakers(all directions),and then root mean square(RMS)and mean absolutely error(MAE)were calculated to figure out the localization capability.Results The mean values of 24 sound sources MAE and RMS in the pre-aged and elderly group were higher than those in the young and middle-aged group,the differences were statistically significant(P＜0.05);The mean value of 36 sound sources MAE and RMS in the pre-aged and elderly group were higher than those in the young and middle-aged group,the differences were not statistically significant(P＞0.05).The MAE and RMS of the front field of 24 and 36 sound sources were greater than those of the back field,there were significant statistical differences between the mean values of the MAE and RMS of the front and the back fields(P＜0.01).There were no statistically significant differences between the mean values of MAE and RMS in left and right fields(P＞0.05).The front-back reverse of 24 and 36 sound sources were 7.73％and 15.42％respectively.The accuracy of sound location was the worstest when they were directly in front.The proportion of confusion in the pre-aged and elderly group was greater than that in the young and middle-aged group,but the difference was not statistically significant(P＞0.05).Conclusion Compared with the young and middle-aged group with healthy hearing,the horizontal ability of 24 sound sources and 36 sound sources in all directions of the pre-aged and elderly group decreased.The localization accuracy of left and right field is higher than front and back field,while the accuracy of the directly front is the lowest.The test results of omnidirectional sound sources location ability are related to the number of speakers,and the response trend is consistent.
Keywords：sound localizationomnidirectionalroot mean squaremean absolutely errorfront-back reverse
Publication Date：2024-10-28
Online Publishing Date：2025-08-15(First online date of this platform, not the publication date of the document)
Pages：6( 709-714 )