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Sensitivity to envelope interaural time differences at high modulation rates

Sensitivity to envelope interaural time differences at high modulation rates
Sensitivity to envelope interaural time differences at high modulation rates
Sensitivity to interaural time differences (ITDs) conveyed in the temporal fine structure of low-frequency tones and the modulated envelopes of high-frequency sounds are considered comparable, particularly for envelopes shaped to transmit similar fidelity of temporal information normally present for low-frequency sounds. Nevertheless, discrimination performance for envelope modulation rates above a few hundred Hertz is reported to be poor—to the point of discrimination thresholds being unattainable—compared with the much higher (>1,000?Hz) limit for low-frequency ITD sensitivity, suggesting the presence of a low-pass filter in the envelope domain. Further, performance for identical modulation rates appears to decline with increasing carrier frequency, supporting the view that the low-pass characteristics observed for envelope ITD processing is carrier-frequency dependent. Here, we assessed listeners’ sensitivity to ITDs conveyed in pure tones and in the modulated envelopes of high-frequency tones. ITD discrimination for the modulated high-frequency tones was measured as a function of both modulation rate and carrier frequency. Some well-trained listeners appear able to discriminate ITDs extremely well, even at modulation rates well beyond 500?Hz, for 4-kHz carriers. For one listener, thresholds were even obtained for a modulation rate of 800?Hz. The highest modulation rate for which thresholds could be obtained declined with increasing carrier frequency for all listeners. At 10?kHz, the highest modulation rate at which thresholds could be obtained was 600?Hz. The upper limit of sensitivity to ITDs conveyed in the envelope of high-frequency modulated sounds appears to be higher than previously considered.
interaural time differences, transposed envelopes, rate-limits
2331-2165
1-14
Monaghan, Jessica J. M.
c6e0821f-a660-4f07-85ac-66033f0e0b44
Bleeck, Stefan
c888ccba-e64c-47bf-b8fa-a687e87ec16c
McAlpine, David
4df95d1e-4f00-4924-b24c-ced1a7ed2c40
Monaghan, Jessica J. M.
c6e0821f-a660-4f07-85ac-66033f0e0b44
Bleeck, Stefan
c888ccba-e64c-47bf-b8fa-a687e87ec16c
McAlpine, David
4df95d1e-4f00-4924-b24c-ced1a7ed2c40

Monaghan, Jessica J. M., Bleeck, Stefan and McAlpine, David (2015) Sensitivity to envelope interaural time differences at high modulation rates. Trends in Hearing, 19, 1-14. (doi:10.1177/2331216515619331).

Record type: Article

Abstract

Sensitivity to interaural time differences (ITDs) conveyed in the temporal fine structure of low-frequency tones and the modulated envelopes of high-frequency sounds are considered comparable, particularly for envelopes shaped to transmit similar fidelity of temporal information normally present for low-frequency sounds. Nevertheless, discrimination performance for envelope modulation rates above a few hundred Hertz is reported to be poor—to the point of discrimination thresholds being unattainable—compared with the much higher (>1,000?Hz) limit for low-frequency ITD sensitivity, suggesting the presence of a low-pass filter in the envelope domain. Further, performance for identical modulation rates appears to decline with increasing carrier frequency, supporting the view that the low-pass characteristics observed for envelope ITD processing is carrier-frequency dependent. Here, we assessed listeners’ sensitivity to ITDs conveyed in pure tones and in the modulated envelopes of high-frequency tones. ITD discrimination for the modulated high-frequency tones was measured as a function of both modulation rate and carrier frequency. Some well-trained listeners appear able to discriminate ITDs extremely well, even at modulation rates well beyond 500?Hz, for 4-kHz carriers. For one listener, thresholds were even obtained for a modulation rate of 800?Hz. The highest modulation rate for which thresholds could be obtained declined with increasing carrier frequency for all listeners. At 10?kHz, the highest modulation rate at which thresholds could be obtained was 600?Hz. The upper limit of sensitivity to ITDs conveyed in the envelope of high-frequency modulated sounds appears to be higher than previously considered.

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e-pub ahead of print date: 30 December 2015
Published date: 2015
Keywords: interaural time differences, transposed envelopes, rate-limits
Organisations: Human Sciences Group

Identifiers

Local EPrints ID: 387001
URI: http://eprints.soton.ac.uk/id/eprint/387001
ISSN: 2331-2165
PURE UUID: 1257ae9b-6c8b-49c3-b7ea-961c52f2efdc
ORCID for Stefan Bleeck: ORCID iD orcid.org/0000-0003-4378-3394

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Date deposited: 05 Feb 2016 16:32
Last modified: 15 Mar 2024 03:25

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Contributors

Author: Jessica J. M. Monaghan
Author: Stefan Bleeck ORCID iD
Author: David McAlpine

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