 |
| Research article summary (published 27 Feb 2003): |
Psychophysical evidence for auditory compression at low characteristic frequencies.
Full Abstract
Psychophysical estimates of compression often assume that the basilar-membrane response to frequencies well below characteristic frequency (CF) is linear. Two techniques for estimating compression are described here that do not depend on this assumption at low CFs. In experiment 1, growth of forward masking was measured for both on- and off-frequency pure-tone maskers for pure-tone signals at 250, 500, and 4000 Hz. The on- and off-frequency masking functions at 250 and 500 Hz were just as shallow as the on-frequency masking function at 4000 Hz. In experiment 2, the forward masker level required to mask a fixed low-level signal was measured as a function of the masker-signal interval. The slopes of these functions did not differ between signal frequencies of 250 and 4000 Hz for the on-frequency maskers. At 250 Hz, the slope for the 150-Hz masker was almost as steep as that for the on-frequency masker, whereas at 4000 Hz the slope for the 2400-Hz masker was much shallower than that for the on-frequency masker. The results suggest that there is substantial compression, of around 0.2-0.3 dB/dB, at low CFs in the human auditory system. Furthermore, the results suggest that at low CFs compression does not vary greatly with stimulation frequency relative to CF.
Learn Faster Today Improve your study skills
Author information
Author/s: Plack, Christopher J (CJ); Drga, Vit (V);
Affiliation: Department of Psychology, University of Essex, Wivenhoe Park, Colchester CO4 3SQ, England. cplack(-atsign-)essex.ac.uk
Journal and publication information
Publication Type: Journal Article; Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't
Journal: The Journal of the Acoustical Society of America (J Acoust Soc Am), published in United States. (Language: eng)
Reference: 2003-Mar; vol 113 (issue 3) : pp 1574-86
Dates: Created 2003/03/26; Completed 2003/05/29; Revised 2006/12/27;
PMID: 12656392, status: MEDLINE (last retrieval date: 11/6/2008)
Sourced from the National Library of Medicine. Abstract text and other information may be subject to copyright.
External Links for this article (including full text providers, if available):
Click Electronic Full-text Provider Links to see options for finding the electronic full text links to this article. Note there may be a subscription or fee required for access to the full text. See our FAQ for information on finding FREE full text articles.
This article may also be located in paper journal collections available in many libraries. Use the Journal and Publication Information above to find the full article.
MeSH headings (categories)
This article was linked to the MESH Headings shown below.
|
|
Related articles
This article has not been indexed for related articles as yet, however you can still use the live related article search links below.
See a large map of 100+ related articles.