Effects of auditory selective attention in depth direction on target sound detection

• Published in: Acoustical Science and Technology p. e25.08
• Main Authors: Teraoka, Ryo, Tanaka, Yuki, Teramoto, Wataru
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: ACOUSTICAL SOCIETY OF JAPAN 2025
• Subjects: auditory distance perception; auditory selective attention; auditory spatial attention; cocktail-party effect; peripersonal space
• ISSN: 1346-3969; 1347-5177
• DOI: 10.1250/ast.e25.08

Auditory spatial attention is crucial for extracting relevant sounds from background noise in noisy environments. Despite its significance in daily life, the effect of auditory spatial attention on the depth direction remains poorly understood. The present study aimed to investigate how auditory selective attention influences the detection of target sounds in the depth direction using sensitivity (d′), false alarm rates, and reaction time (RT) for the target sound. In each trial, either a target or distractor sound was presented from one of the five distances (32, 64, 96, 128, and 160 cm). The listeners were directed to respond as soon as they heard the target sound, while ignoring distractor sounds. The results indicated that directing attention to a specific distance significantly increased the sensitivity (d′) at that distance compared to other distances. Furthermore, the false alarm rate was the lowest at the attended position and progressively increased as sound positions deviated from the focus of attention. However, no significant effect of attention on the RT was observed. These findings suggest that auditory selective attention is not limited to the horizontal direction but can also operate along the depth direction in reverberant environments, expanding our understanding of auditory spatial attention.