Moving Heads, Moving Sounds: Systematic Errors in Auditory Motion Perception

Head movements bias perceived direction of a moving auditory sound source, producing directional errors opposite to the head movement, with larger effects for horizontal than vertical motion.

• Why it matters: Auditory motion perception may be vulnerable because the system may lack dedicated low-level speed processing, and it is unclear how head/ear movement cues distort perceived sound motion.
• What they did: Participants moved their heads at a fixed speed horizontally or vertically while a physical sound source moved at constant speed in fronto-parallel 2D space; they reported perceived direction with a joystick.
• The result: Directional accuracy was less precise during horizontal than vertical head movement, and error magnitude depended on head-movement direction, consistent with different localization cues.

AI summary of the abstract · may contain errors · not medical advice · read the paper.