title: Auditory spatial representations of the world are compressed in blind humans.
abstract: Compared to sighted listeners, blind listeners often display enhanced auditory spatial abilities such as localization in azimuth. However, less is known about whether blind humans can accurately judge distance in extrapersonal space using auditory cues alone. Using virtualization techniques, we show that auditory spatial representations of the world beyond the peripersonal space of blind listeners are compressed compared to those for normally sighted controls. Blind participants overestimated the distance to nearby sources and underestimated the distance to remote sound sources, in both reverberant and anechoic environments, and for speech, music, and noise signals. Functions relating judged and actual virtual distance were well fitted by compressive power functions, indicating that the absence of visual information regarding the distance of sound sources may prevent accurate calibration of the distance information provided by auditory signals.
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, University of Cambridge, Downing Street, Cambridge, CB2 3EB, UK. ak771@cam.ac.uk.|Vision and Eye Research Unit (VERU), Postgraduate Medical Institute, Anglia Ruskin University, YST 215, Young Street, Cambridge, CB1 1PT, UK. ak771@cam.ac.uk.|Centre for the Study of the Senses, Institute of Philosophy, University of London, Senate House, Malet Street, London, WC1E 7HU, UK. ak771@cam.ac.uk.
authors.forename: Andrew J
authors.initials: AJ
authors.lastname: Kolarik
authors.affiliation: Vision and Eye Research Unit (VERU), Postgraduate Medical Institute, Anglia Ruskin University, YST 215, Young Street, Cambridge, CB1 1PT, UK.
authors.forename: Shahina
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Pardhan
authors.affiliation: Vision and Eye Research Unit (VERU), Postgraduate Medical Institute, Anglia Ruskin University, YST 215, Young Street, Cambridge, CB1 1PT, UK.
authors.forename: Silvia
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Cirstea
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, University of Cambridge, Downing Street, Cambridge, CB2 3EB, UK.
authors.forename: Brian C J
authors.initials: BC
authors.lastname: Moore
mesh_terms: D000161:Acoustic Stimulation; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D001766:Blindness / Q000503:physiopathology*; D003463:Cues; D004192:Discrimination, Psychological; D005260:Female; D007839:Functional Laterality; D006801:Humans; D007600:Judgment; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D013017:Sound Localization / Q000502:physiology*; D013028:Space Perception / Q000502:physiology*; D055815:Young Adult
keywords: Auditory distance; Blindness; Multisensory plasticity; Sound localization; Spatial hearing