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University Laboratory of Physiology, Oxford University, Parks Road,
Oxford OX1 3PT, United Kingdom
Sound localization relies on the neural processing of monaural and
binaural spatial cues that arise from the way sounds interact with the
head and external ears. Neurophysiological studies of animals raised
with abnormal sensory inputs show that the map of auditory space in the
superior colliculus is shaped during development by both auditory and
visual experience. An example of this plasticity is provided by
monaural occlusion during infancy, which leads to compensatory changes
in auditory spatial tuning that tend to preserve the alignment between
the neural representations of visual and auditory space. Adaptive
changes also take place in sound localization behavior, as demonstrated
by the fact that ferrets raised and tested with one ear plugged learn
to localize as accurately as control animals. In both cases, these
adjustments may involve greater use of monaural spectral cues provided
by the other ear. Although plasticity in the auditory space map seems to be restricted to development, adult ferrets show some recovery of
sound localization behavior after long-term monaural occlusion. The
capacity for behavioral adaptation is, however, task dependent, because
auditory spatial acuity and binaural unmasking (a measure of the
spatial contribution to the "cocktail party effect") are permanently impaired by chronically plugging one ear, both in infancy
but especially in adulthood. Experience-induced plasticity allows the
neural circuitry underlying sound localization to be customized to
individual characteristics, such as the size and shape of the head and
ears, and to compensate for natural conductive hearing losses,
including those associated with middle ear disease in infancy.
Colloquium Paper
Plasticity in the neural coding of auditory space in the
mammalian brain
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To whom reprint requests should be addressed. E-mail:
ajk{at}physiol.ox.ac.uk.
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