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Spatial release from masking (SRM) occurs when a signal of interest (target) and an interfering sound (masker) come from different locations in space. SRM and sound localization are assumed to share common mechanisms, but it is still unclear whether SRM actually depends on hearing the target and masker in different places, even in situations dominated by informational masking. The current study used a spatial rhythmic release from masking (RMR) task J. Middlebrooks and Z. Onsan, JASA, 132, 3896–3911, 2012. The target and masker were trains of non-simultaneous noise bursts; hearing the target temporal pattern relies on segregation from the masker, which is supported by spatial separation. Using a headphone simulation of space (HRTFs), the current study replicated key aspects of Middlebrooks and Onsan’s (2012) finding that RMR spatial thresholds were poorer for high-frequency than low-frequency bursts. We investigated whether this low/high frequency difference, and others created with degraded localization cues, were associated with variations in basic localization discrimination tasks using the same RMR stimuli. Data collection is ongoing, but preliminary results suggest a covariation of spatial release in the RMR task and sensitivity to change in spatial angle. Work supported by NIDCD R01-01625.
Zobel et al. (2024) studied this question.