Spatial hearing in unilateral vestibular disorders (Sevmez & Türkyılmaz, 2026)

<p dir="ltr"><b>Purpose: </b>This preliminary study aimed to examine spatial auditory perception and selected cognitive functions in individuals with unilateral peripheral vestibular disorders and clinically normal hearing.</p><p dir="ltr"><b>Method: </b>Fifteen individuals with unilateral peripheral vestibular disorders and 18 age-matched healthy controls underwent audiological and cognitive assessments. Spatial hearing was evaluated, and cognitive performance was assessed to account for its potential influence on spatial hearing.</p><p dir="ltr"><b>Results: </b>Exploratory analyses showed poorer spatial hearing performance in the vestibular group than in the control group.

After adjustment for age and pure-tone average, significant group differences remained under the spatially separated condition (SV90) and for spatial advantage, whereas the difference under the co-located condition (SV0) was no longer statistically significant. Although tinnitus prevalence differed between groups, within-group analyses showed no significant association between tinnitus and spatial hearing performance. No statistically significant group differences were observed in cognitive performance.</p><p dir="ltr"><b>Conclusions: </b>Unilateral peripheral vestibular dysfunction was associated with poorer spatial auditory performance, particularly under spatially separated listening conditions and in spatial advantage.