Enhancing Auditory Spatial Perception through Music: Interplay between Musical Aptitude and Training

Abstract

Background and Aim: Musicians can detect changes in minute aspects including pitch, timing, and loudness, all of which assist in auditory spatial perception. This study hypothesized that non-musicians with musical aptitude might display spatial skills comparable to trained musicians, and superior to non-musicians without musical aptitude.

Methods: To test this hypothesis, we considered 101 participants in three groups: musicians (n=33, trained in classical music), 33 Non-Musicians with Good musical Aptitude (NM- GA) and 35 Non-Musicians with Poor musical Aptitude (NM-PA), selected based on convenience sampling. Music aptitude was assessed using the Mini profile of music perception skills. A spatial test battery consisting of tests of binaural interaction Interaural Time Difference (ITD) and Interaural Level Difference (ILD), and Virtual Acoustic Space Identification (VASI) test were administered.

Results: Musicians and NM-GA demonstrated significantly lower ITD and ILD thresholds than NM-PA, suggesting the role of musical aptitude in sound lateralization. In VASI test, musicians scored highest, followed by NM-GA, who in turn had significantly higher scores than NM-PA, suggestive of further refinement of innate musical advantage due to training in musicians. Location specific analysis revealed NM-PA made significantly greater errors in right 45, left 45, right 135, and left 135 (p<0.001), often confusing them with extreme right (R 90) or left (L 90) locations.

Conclusion: Both innate musical aptitude and formal musical training contribute to enhanced spatial hearing abilities. While musicians and NM-GA exhibit superior ITD and ILD thresholds, musicians outperform NM-GA in VASI scores, indicating training refines complex spatial perception beyond natural aptitude