Localization in auditory space

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Abstract
A series of subjects upon whom auditory localization tests were performed has been presented. The results show significant differences in the capacity to localize auditory stimuli between the control group and the group of neurologic patients without evidence of supratentorial disease on the one hand and a group of patients with clinical or ancillary evidence, or both, of supratentorial dysfunction on the other. Only the last group showed significant defect. Sound localization represents a cerebral hemispheric function in connection with the opposite auditory hemispace, which should be viewed as a component of elemental sensory organization of the hemisphere. Mislocalizatlon, in the absence of a primary hearing deficit and loss of the ear appendages, is frequently present on the side opposite to a cerebral hemispheric lesion. When the disorder is bilateral, the mislocalization may be bilateral. A brief review of the neurologic and psychophysiologic literature is included, as is a discussion of the possible meaning of the defect in total sensory context.