EYE-POSITION EFFECTS IN DIRECTIONAL HEARING

The influence of gaze direction on azimuthal sound localization was in vestigated by presenting free-field acoustical stimuli in combination with a visual fixation task. In Experiment 1, a two-alternative forced -choice method was employed. While fixating visual targets, subjects j udged whether noise bursts, presented from various directions, were pe rceived as being on the left or right of either a visual reference ind icating straight ahead or the subjective straight-ahead direction. The psychometric functions measured with the first task shifted consisten tly opposite to the direction of eccentric gaze, i.e. the location of the auditory stimulus was perceived as shifted toward the direction of gaze. The mean magnitude of the shift was 4.7 degrees over a range of fixation angles up to 45 degrees on either side. Without an external reference indicating straight ahead, shifts of sound localization were inconsistent, either opposite or toward the direction of fixation in individual subjects. In Experiment 2, subjects orientated their head t oward sound stimuli while fixating visual targets in various direction s. As in Experiment 1, head position as a measure of sound localizatio n shifted significantly toward the direction of eccentric gaze when a visual reference of the head median plane was present, and the results were inconsistent across subjects when it was absent. The results ind icate a significant effect of gaze direction on the spatial agreement of auditory and visual perception which may be based on the superposit ion of distinct auditory and visual eye-position effects. The effect i s in agreement with previous neurophysiological results that have sugg ested an incomplete neural transformation of auditory spatial coordina tes from a craniocentric into an oculocentric frame of reference. (C) 1997 Elsevier Science B.V.