In a recent study by Simon-Dack & Teder-Sälejärvi (in press), human participants attended to noise bursts from either left or right sound sources in free-field in three experimental conditions and button-pressed to infrequent targets. The ERP grand-average signatures of two particular experimental conditions constituted the main finding of the study: further processing of auditory stimuli in free-field was significantly attenuated when participants held the speakers in their hands as opposed to resting their hands in their laps. However, a more detailed analysis of individual differences revealed differential effects between gender and the degree to which proprioceptive cues are utilized for further processing, corroborating well-established findings regarding gender-specific strategies of processing spatial information (Hugdahl, Thomsen, & Ersland, 2006).
A follow-up study with equal numbers of female and male participants was designed to specifically test and replicate this observation. Beyond a successful replication, gender differences in behavior and ERP morphologies were statistically highly significant. Behaviorally, males responded more accurately than females to targets in the attended channels. Moreover, differences in ERP patterns confirmed existing predictions of female top-down and male bottom-up strategies in determining spatial locations.

References:
Simon-Dack, & Teder-Sälejärvi. Proprioceptive cues modulate further processing of spatially congruent auditory information. A high-density EEG study. Experimental Brain Research (in press).

Hugdahl, Thomsen, & Ersland (2006). Sex differences in visuo-spatial processing: an fMRI study of mental rotation. Neuropsychologia, 44, 1575-1583.