Tehran University of Medical Sciences Auditory and Vestibular Research 2423-480X 35 3 2025 09 23 232 242 Sushmitha Upadhya Department of Audiology, All India Institute of Speech and Hearing, Mysuru, India Rohit Bhattacharyya Department of Ear, Nose, and Throat (ENT), Guwahati Medical College and Hospital, Guwahati, India Ritwik Jargar Department of Otorhinolaryngology, All India Institute of Medical Sciences, Rajkot, India Kavassery Venkateswaran Nisha Department of Audiology, Center for Hearing Sciences, All India Institute of Speech and Hearing, Mysuru, India 2025 03 21 2025 09 21 Background and Aim: Musicians can detect changes in minute aspects including pitch, timing, and loudness, all of which assist in auditory spatial perception. This study hypothesized that non-musicians with musical aptitude might display spatial skills comparable to trained musicians, and superior to non-musicians without musical aptitude. Methods: To test this hypothesis, we considered 101 participants in three groups: musicians (n=33, trained in classical music), 33 Non-Musicians with Good musical Aptitude (NMGA) and 35 Non-Musicians with Poor musical Aptitude (NM-PA), selected based on convenience sampling. Music aptitude was assessed using the Mini profile of music perception skills. A spatial test battery consisting of tests of binaural interaction Interaural Time Difference (ITD) and Interaural Level Difference (ILD), and Virtual Acoustic Space Identification (VASI) test were administered. Results: Musicians and NM-GA demonstrated significantly lower ITD and ILD thresholds than NM-PA, suggesting the role of musical aptitude in sound lateralization. In VASI test, musicians scored highest, followed by NM-GA, who in turn had significantly higher scores than NM-PA, suggestive of further refinement of innate musical advantage due to training in musicians. Location specific analysis revealed NM-PA made significantly greater errors in right 45, left 45, right 135, and left 135 (p<0.001), often confusing them with extreme right (R 90) or left (L 90) locations. Conclusion: Both innate musical aptitude and formal musical training contribute to enhanced spatial hearing abilities. While musicians and NM-GA exhibit superior ITD and ILD thresholds, musicians outperform NM-GA in VASI scores, indicating training refines complex spatial perception beyond natural aptitude. https://avr.tums.ac.ir/index.php/avr/article/view/1429