Contribution of the peripheral system to auditory signal processing in modeling the precedence effect

The precedence effect, or the law of the first wave, is important for localization of sound sources in a reverberant environment. Sound propagates in multiple directions and is subsequently reflected from different surfaces. As a result, the listener is faced with sound waves from the sound source and also with its reflections. However, despite this “acoustic chaos”, the listener can localize the sound source fairly accurately. This review is regarded to “peripheral” models of the precedence effect. The effect is explained by peripheral auditory processing without the central inhibition. This article reviews the precedence effect and its properties; describes the localization of the sound source and the structure of the peripheral part of the human auditory system; describes the general points of all peripheral models; discusses similarities and differences between models; and proposes further development paths.