Roberto Barumerli

Abstract Our brains predict future sensory input based on their current beliefs about the world around us, but interpreting prediction errors can be challenging in a volatile environment because they can be caused by stochastic noise or by outdated predictions. Noisy signals should be integrated with prior beliefs to improve precision, but the two should be segregated when environmental changes render prior beliefs irrelevant.

Abstract Estimating the location of a stimulus is a key function in sensory processing, and widely considered to result from the integration of prior information and sensory input according to Bayesian principles. A deviation of sensory input from the prior elicits surprisal, depending on the uncertainty of the prior. While this mechanism is increasingly understood in the visual domain, much less is known about its implementation in audition, especially regarding spatial localization.

Abstract While sounds of approaching objects are generally more salient than those of receding ones, the traditional association of this auditory looming bias with threat perception is subject to debate. Differences between looming and receding sounds may also be learned through non-threatening multisensory information, or influenced by confounding stimulus characteristics.