When i found this video, I literally wanted to cry in joy because in my doctoral course, I had a hard time understanding this concept and my preceptor did not explain this well. i immediately shared this video to my future colleagues in our group chat because i know this would be helpful for them as well. I have a much better understanding on this concept now.THANK YOU!
All I know is that the Pinna (the ear) is capable of selectivly filtrering the frequencies of incoming soundwaves so that it more high frequency conponents get relayed from an elevated soundsource than from one at the level of the ear. I have no idea how the central processing of that information works though
Humans have a diminished localization when it comes to the vertical plane. although there is one mechanism that maps this out. and thats the shape of our outer ears. sound bounces around differently depending on the location of origin. this colors the sound and our brain converts this coloration into spatial data. the coloration has been mapped to some extent, but note that every ear is unique so the coloration will vary from person to person. this same coloration helps with more precise localization in the horisontal plane as well.
Close your eyes, plug your right finger into your right ear and snap your left fingers in front of you, then right then above your head. You are still able to localize the sound.
this theory (developed from studies on birds) is no longer thought to be true for mammals - see Grothe et al.; Mechanisms of Sound Localization in Mammals; Physiol Rev 90, 2010
Some of what you are saying about the ears has some truth, but the full truth is completely missing, in my very humble opinion. The pinna is the only visible organ that you can see how it works as long as you comprehend the true function of the pinna, the only function of the pinna is to infuse binaural information to the ear canal, if the head had no pinna, there would be no binaural information and the perceived sound experience would be heard in side the head, the pinna with binaural infusion gives us the experience of sounds outside the head. The pinna help us to experience the sounds perceived as external with perceived direction for most sounds, pure tones can cause confusion due to standing waves..
