Visual and Auditory Spatial Localization in Younger and Older Adults

Abstract

Visual and auditory localization abilities are crucial in real-life tasks such as navigation and social interaction. Aging is frequently accompanied by vision and hearing loss, affecting spatial localization. The purpose of the current study is to elucidate the effect of typical aging on spatial localization and to establish a baseline for older individuals with pathological sensory impairment. Using a verbal report paradigm, we investigated how typical aging affects visual and auditory localization performance, the reliance on vision during sound localization, and sensory integration strategies when localizing audiovisual targets. Fifteen younger adults (N = 15, mean age = 26 years) and thirteen older adults (N = 13, mean age = 68 years) participated in this study, all with age-adjusted normal vision and hearing based on clinical standards. There were significant localization differences between younger and older adults, with the older group missing peripheral visual stimuli at significantly higher rates, localizing central stimuli as more peripheral, and being less precise in localizing sounds from central locations when compared to younger subjects. Both groups localized auditory targets better when the test space was visible compared to auditory localization when blindfolded. The two groups also exhibited similar patterns of audiovisual integration, showing optimal integration in central locations that was consistent with a Maximum-Likelihood Estimation model, but non-optimal integration in peripheral locations. These findings suggest that, despite the age-related changes in auditory and visual localization, the interactions between vision and hearing are largely preserved in older individuals without pathological sensory impairments.

Content development of the VISION-Cog: a novel tool to assess cognitive impairment in visually impaired older adults in Singapore

“…At the end of the first consensus meeting, the expert panel unanimously agreed on a list of appropriateness criteria for the VISION-Cog, describing battery content, target population, test duration and test material (table 2). For the battery content, the panel commented that, unlike other audio-spatial animals, humans did not depend heavily on hearing capability to locate positions in space 31. This meant that the auditory-dependent test in the perceptual-motor domain was unnecessary, resulting in only tactile-dependent tests required for this domain.…”

“…For the battery content, the panel commented that, unlike other audio-spatial animals, humans did not depend heavily on hearing capability to locate positions in space. 31 This meant that the auditory-dependent test in the perceptual-motor domain was unnecessary, resulting in only tactile-dependent tests required for this domain. To shorten the test duration, expert members suggested simplifying test instructions and imposing discontinuation rules where appropriate (eg, if the participant cannot complete the easy part of the test, do not proceed to the more difficult parts).…”

“…For the battery content, the panel commented that, unlike other audio-spatial animals, humans did not depend heavily on hearing capability to locate positions in space. 31 This meant that the auditory-dependent test in the perceptual-motor domain was unnecessary, resulting in only tactile-dependent tests required for this domain.…”

Volume electron microscopy reveals age-related circuit remodeling in the auditory brainstem

“…Particularly, the MNTB plays a role in the localization of auditory stimuli by relaying inputs from the contralateral ventral cochlear nucleus to the ipsilateral medial superior olive (Borst and Soria van Hoeve, 2012 ), which is involved in azimuthal localization for low-frequency sounds (Kulesza and Grothe, 2015 ; Cadenas et al, 2020 ). Aging is frequently accompanied by hearing loss, affecting sound source localization (Xiong et al, 2022 ) and it may impair spatial perception (Akeroyd, 2014 ). Older adults show reduced accuracy and precision in auditory localization tasks (Dobreva et al, 2011 ; Freigang et al, 2015 ), possibly due to deficits in processing interaural temporal differences, interaural level differences, and monaural spectral cues (Gallun, 2021 ).…”

“…Although cochlear deafferentation (synaptopathy) is an early contributor to age-related auditory decline (Sergeyenko et al, 2013 ; Parthasarathy and Kujawa, 2018 ; Boero et al, 2020 ), the central alterations in multiple brainstem nuclei (Casey and Feldman, 1982 ; Singh et al, 2018 ; Vicencio-Jimenez et al, 2021 ), as well as in the auditory cortex (Hughes et al, 2010 ), are less studied. Moreover, ARHL is frequently accompanied by a deterioration in sound localization (Burke et al, 2022 ; Xiong et al, 2022 ), an important auditory function of the brainstem (Masterton et al, 1967 ).…”