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Randomized Controlled Trial
. 2019 Jul 1;9(1):9476.
doi: 10.1038/s41598-019-45755-2.

Reaching measures and feedback effects in auditory peripersonal space

Mercedes X Hüg  1   2   3 , Ramiro O Vergara  4   5 , Fabián C Tommasini  6   4 , Pablo E Etchemendy  4   5 , Fernando Bermejo  6   7 , Laura G Fernandez  6   8
Affiliations
Randomized Controlled Trial

Reaching measures and feedback effects in auditory peripersonal space

Mercedes X Hüg et al. Sci Rep. .

Abstract

We analyse the effects of exploration feedback on reaching measures of perceived auditory peripersonal space (APS) boundary and the auditory distance perception (ADP) of sound sources located within it. We conducted an experiment in which the participants had to estimate if a sound source was (or not) reachable and to estimate its distance (40 to 150 cm in 5-cm steps) by reaching to a small loudspeaker. The stimulus consisted of a train of three bursts of Gaussian broadband noise. Participants were randomly assigned to two groups: Experimental (EG) and Control (CG). There were three phases in the following order: Pretest-Test-Posttest. For all phases, the listeners performed the same task except for the EG-Test phase where the participants reach in order to touch the sound source. We applied models to characterise the participants' responses and provide evidence that feedback significantly reduces the response bias of both the perceived boundary of the APS and the ADP of sound sources located within reach. In the CG, the repetition of the task did not affect APS and ADP accuracy, but it improved the performance consistency: the reachable uncertainty zone in APS was reduced and there was a tendency to decrease variability in ADP.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no competing interests.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Illustration of the experimental set-up: table placed on a support of adjustable height (A), sound source (B), masking sound system (C), motion tracker mounted on the back of the participant’s hand (D).
Figure 2
Figure 2
Logistic model (dark black solid line) fitted to the average of reaching attempts ratio of normalized reaching distance (MRD ratio) for (a) EG-Pretest, (b) CG-Pretest, (c) EG-Posttest, and (d) CG-Posttest. Data are presented as bubble scatter plots with SEM errors bars. Grey dashed line shows the MRD (equal to 1 in normalized distance units) and the grey area is the reachable zone. Orange zone depicts the uncertainty zone and red dashed line the perceived MRD (reaching distance at the curve inflection point).
Figure 3
Figure 3
Linear model (dark black solid line) fitted to the estimated normalized distance (MRD ratio) for (a) EG-Pretest, (b) CG-Pretest, (c) EG- Posttest, and (d) CG-Posttest. Data are presented as scatter plots. Grey dashed line shows the ideal response and the grey area is the reachable zone.
Figure 4
Figure 4
Individual signed percentage error as a function of normalized source distance (MRD ratio) for (a) EG-Pretest, (b) CG-Pretest, (c) EG Posttest, and (d) CG-Posttest. Grey area is the reachable zone.
Figure 5
Figure 5
(a) Mean signed percentage error. (b) Mean unsigned percentage error. In both panels the errors correspond to the between-subject average (±SEM) of the errors collapsed across targets.
Figure 6
Figure 6
A model (black solid line) for overall reduction of the response bias. (a) The signed percentage error and (b) the unsigned percentage error values obtained by adding a constant to responses of EG-Pretest, as a function of such constant. Grey dashed lines represent the minimum error possible (0%) and red dashed line represent no intercept correction (corresponding with EG-Pretest data).
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