Assessment of Spatial Hearing Abilities in Bharatanatyam Dancers

Abstract

Background: Bharatanatyam is an art form that makes use of body motions that are choreographed and timed to Carnatic music. Bharatanatyam dance training has a significant impact on coding of sound signals in the auditory system. Spatial hearing indicates the auditory system's ability to comprehend or relate sounds that arrive at the head via various spatial pathways. Tests of spatial acuity includes Virtual auditory space identification (VASI), Inter-aural level difference (ILD) & Inter-aural time difference (ITD). Aim: The present study aims to evaluate the auditory spatial abilities in Bharatanatyam dancers using Virtual auditory space identification (VASI), Inter-aural level difference (ILD) & Inter-aural time difference (ITD). Method: Ninety-two females belonging to an age range of 18 to 25 years were grouped into three groups, group I of control participants (individuals with no formal training of dance and music) (N=30), group II consisted of formally trained Bharatanatyam dancers (N=32), and group III consisted of formally trained vocal musicians (N=30). Tests of spatial acuity (VASI, ILD and ITD) was performed. Results: The results of Kruskal Wallis test revealed significant difference in VASI scores, ILD threshold and ITD thresholds between Bharatanatyam Dancers, Vocal musicians and control group. There was significant association between VASI scores and ILD & ITD thresholds in both Bharatanatyam dancers and vocal musicians. Conclusion: Bharatanatyam dancers performed superior to both formally trained musicians and control group in all the spatial acuity tests. Thus, it can be concluded that Bharatanatyam dance training has a significant impact on coding of sound signals in the auditory system. The results obtained from the current study suggests that the VASI test is more sensitive in measuring differences in auditory spatial processing.