Auditory motion perception emerges from successive sound localizations integrated over time

Abstract

Humans rely on auditory information to estimate the path of moving sound sources. But unlike in vision, the existence of motion-sensitive mechanisms in audition is still open to debate. Psychophysical studies indicate that auditory motion perception emerges from successive localization, but existing models fail to predict experimental results. However, these models do not account for any temporal integration. We propose a new model tracking motion using successive localization snapshots but integrated over time. This model is derived from psychophysical experiments on the upper limit for circular auditory motion perception (UL), defined as the speed above which humans no longer identify the direction of sounds spinning around them. Our model predicts ULs measured with different stimuli using solely static localization cues. The temporal integration blurs these localization cues rendering them unreliable at high speeds, which results in the UL. Our findings indicate that auditory motion perception does not require motion-sensitive mechanisms.

A common mechanism processes auditory and visual motion

“…It is possible that by using a relatively fast set of speeds (up to 100°/s) there was a degree of smearing at the local V1 level such that MT inherited impaired motion signals. By contrast, the auditory system uses different cues to detect horizontal motion based primarily on interaural time and level differences, supplemented with spectral cues and doppler cues 40,58 and these are not tied to small spatial receptive fields in the way that vision is and may remain veridical at higher speeds.…”

“…Consistent with this position, psychophysical data shows that distance and duration are the strongest cues determining auditory motion perception 68 . A recent model has added further nuance to the snapshot theory by adding a simple temporal integration period and finding it adds further explanatory power 58 . The continued viability of the snapshot model raises the possibility that evidence appearing to indicate motion selectivity in neurophysiological and neuroimaging studies 64,66,69 could instead arise from samples of positional information along a motion trajectory.…”

Do you hear what I see? How do early blind individuals experience object motion?

“…Human behavioural data similarly suggest a heavy reliance on separable spatio-temporal tuning. A variety of psychophysical studies support a 'snapshot' model of auditory motion in which the perception of a moving sound is constructed from successive, temporally integrated frames [70][71][72]. Consistent with this model, it is easier to discriminate stimuli of similar speeds but different durations than it is to discriminate stimuli of similar durations but different speeds [73], suggesting that duration and distance cues dominate human auditory speed perception.…”

Measuring “Where”: A Comparative Analysis of Methods Measuring Spatial Perception

“…Appropriate sound localization is important, as it underpins various essential activities that we engage in routinely. It enables us to determine the direction from which a sound emanates relative to our position [3], the distance between us and the sound source [5], and to detect motion [6]. All these enable effective navigation within our surroundings, and, crucially, detect potential hazards.…”