Rabbits use both spectral and temporal cues to discriminate the fundamental frequency of harmonic complexes with missing fundamentals

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Joseph D Wagner ◽  
Alice Gelman ◽  
Kenneth E. Hancock ◽  
Yoojin Chung ◽  
Bertrand Delgutte
Keyword(s):  
Fundamental Frequency ◽  
Human Performance ◽  
Spectral Composition ◽  
Pitch Perception ◽  
Wide Frequency Range ◽  
Spatial Gradient ◽  
Harmonic Complex ◽  
Complex Tones ◽  
Behavioral Paradigm ◽  
Animal Vocalizations

The pitch of harmonic complex tones (HCT) common in speech, music and animal vocalizations plays a key role in the perceptual organization of sound. Unraveling the neural mechanisms of pitch perception requires animal models but little is known about complex pitch perception by animals, and some species appear to use different pitch mechanisms than humans. Here, we tested rabbits' ability to discriminate the fundamental frequency (F0) of HCTs with missing fundamentals using a behavioral paradigm inspired by foraging behavior in which rabbits learned to harness a spatial gradient in F0 to find the location of a virtual target within a room for a food reward. Rabbits were initially trained to discriminate HCTs with F0s in the range 400-800 Hz and with harmonics covering a wide frequency range (800-16,000 Hz), and then tested with stimuli differing either in spectral composition to test the role of harmonic resolvability (Experiment 1), or in F0 range (Experiment 2), or both F0 and spectral content (Experiment 3). Together, these experiments show that rabbits can discriminate HCTs over a wide F0 range (200-1600 Hz) encompassing the range of conspecific vocalizations, and can use either the spectral pattern of harmonics resolved by the cochlea for higher F0s or temporal envelope cues resulting from interaction between unresolved harmonics for lower F0s. The qualitative similarity of these results to human performance supports using rabbits as an animal model for studies of pitch mechanisms providing species differences in cochlear frequency selectivity and F0 range of vocalizations are taken into account.

scholarly journals Across-species differences in pitch perception are consistent with differences in cochlear filtering

eLife ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 8 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kerry MM Walker ◽  
Ray Gonzalez ◽  
Joe Z Kang ◽  
Josh H McDermott ◽  
Andrew J King
Keyword(s):  
Fundamental Frequency ◽  
Species Differences ◽  
Pitch Perception ◽  
Species Variation ◽  
Opposite Pattern ◽  
Auditory Periphery ◽  
Cochlear Tuning ◽  
Animal Vocalizations ◽  
Species Specific ◽  
Relative Salience

Pitch perception is critical for recognizing speech, music and animal vocalizations, but its neurobiological basis remains unsettled, in part because of divergent results across species. We investigated whether species-specific differences exist in the cues used to perceive pitch and whether these can be accounted for by differences in the auditory periphery. Ferrets accurately generalized pitch discriminations to untrained stimuli whenever temporal envelope cues were robust in the probe sounds, but not when resolved harmonics were the main available cue. By contrast, human listeners exhibited the opposite pattern of results on an analogous task, consistent with previous studies. Simulated cochlear responses in the two species suggest that differences in the relative salience of the two pitch cues can be attributed to differences in cochlear filter bandwidths. The results support the view that cross-species variation in pitch perception reflects the constraints of estimating a sound’s fundamental frequency given species-specific cochlear tuning.

Influence of peripheral resolvability on the perceptual segregation of harmonic complex tones differing in fundamental frequency

2000 ◽  
Vol 108 (1) ◽  
pp. 263-271 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nicolas Grimault ◽  
Christophe Micheyl ◽  
Robert P. Carlyon ◽  
Patrick Arthaud ◽  
Lionel Collet
Keyword(s):  
Fundamental Frequency ◽  
Harmonic Complex ◽  
Complex Tones

Left ear advantage in pitch perception of complex tones without energy at the fundamental frequency

1996 ◽  
Vol 34 (2) ◽  
pp. 153-157 ◽  
Author(s):  
Claude Paquette ◽  
Michelle Bourassa ◽  
Isabelle Peretz
Keyword(s):  
Fundamental Frequency ◽  
Pitch Perception ◽  
Complex Tones ◽  
Ear Advantage

Perception of Iterated Rippled Noise Periodicity in Cochlear Implant Users

2017 ◽  
Vol 22 (2) ◽  
pp. 104-115 ◽  
Author(s):  
Luise Wagner ◽  
Stefan K. Plontke ◽  
Torsten Rahne
Keyword(s):  
Objective Measure ◽  
Difference Limen ◽  
Normal Hearing ◽  
Pitch Perception ◽  
Harmonic Complex ◽  
Pitch Matching ◽  
Complex Tones ◽  
The Difference ◽  
Single Sided Deafness ◽  
Onset Response

Pitch perception is more challenging for individuals with cochlear implants (CIs) than normal-hearing subjects because the signal processing by CIs is restricted. Processing and perceiving the periodicity of signals may contribute to pitch perception. Whether individuals with CIs can discern pitch within an iterated rippled noise (IRN) signal is still unclear. In a prospective controlled psychoacoustic study with 34 CI users and 15 normal-hearing control subjects, the difference limen between IRN signals with different numbers of iterations was measured. In 7 CI users and 15 normal-hearing control listeners with single-sided deafness, pitch matching between IRN and harmonic complex tones was measured. The pitch onset response (POR) following signal changes from white noise to IRN was measured electrophysiologically. The CI users could discriminate different numbers of iteration in IRN signals, but worse than normal-hearing listeners. A POR was measured for both normal-hearing subjects and CI users increasing with the pitch salience of the IRN. This indicates that the POR could serve as an objective measure to monitor progress during audioverbal therapy after CI surgery.

Roughness of Two Simultaneous Harmonic Complex Tones On Just-Tempered and Equal-Tempered Scales

2017 ◽  
Vol 35 (2) ◽  
pp. 127-143
Author(s):  
Václav Vencovský ◽  
František Rund
Keyword(s):  
Fundamental Frequency ◽  
Basilar Membrane ◽  
Auditory Periphery ◽  
Harmonic Complex ◽  
Phase Fluctuations ◽  
Fundamental Frequencies ◽  
Spectral Components ◽  
Complex Tones ◽  
Si Model ◽  
Possible Cause

This study is focused on the perceived roughness of two simultaneous harmonic complex tones with ratios between their fundamental frequencies set to create intervals on just-tempered (JT) and equal-tempered (ET) scales. According to roughness theories, ET intervals should produce more roughness. However, previous studies have shown the opposite for intervals in which the lower fundamental frequency of the complex was equal to 261.6 Hz. The aim of this study is to verify and explain these results by using intervals composed of complexes whose spectral components were generated with either a sine starting phase or with a random starting phase. Results of the current study showed the same phenomenon as previous studies. To examine whether the explanation of the phenomenon lies in the function of the peripheral ear, three roughness models based upon this function were used: the Daniel and Weber (1997) model, the synchronization index (SI) model, and the model based on a hydrodynamic cochlear model. For most of the corresponding JT and ET intervals, only the Daniel and Weber (1997) model predicted less roughness in the ET intervals. In addition to this, the intervals were analyzed by a model simulating the auditory periphery. The results showed that a possible cause for the roughness differences may be in the frequencies of fluctuations of the signal in the peripheral ear. For JT intervals the fluctuations in the adjacent places on the simulated basilar membrane had either the same frequency or integer multiples of that frequency and were synchronized. Since a previous study showed that synchronized fluctuations in adjacent auditory filters lead to higher roughness than out of phase fluctuations (Terhardt, 1974), this may cause more roughness across JT and ET intervals.

scholarly journals Pitch perception for mixtures of spectrally overlapping harmonic complex tones

2010 ◽  
Vol 128 (1) ◽  
pp. 257-269 ◽  
Author(s):  
Christophe Micheyl ◽  
Michael V. Keebler ◽  
Andrew J. Oxenham
Keyword(s):  
Pitch Perception ◽  
Harmonic Complex ◽  
Complex Tones

scholarly journals Different Modes of Pitch Perception and Learning-Induced Neuronal Plasticity of the Human Auditory Cortex

2002 ◽  
Vol 9 (3) ◽  
pp. 161-175 ◽  
Author(s):  
Michael Schulte ◽  
Arne Knief ◽  
Annemarie Seither-Preisler ◽  
Christo Pantev
Keyword(s):  
Auditory Cortex ◽  
Neuronal Plasticity ◽  
Pitch Perception ◽  
Gamma Band ◽  
Base Line ◽  
Band Frequency ◽  
Harmonic Complex ◽  
Fundamental Frequencies ◽  
Complex Tones ◽  
Virtual Pitch

We designed a melody perception experiment involving eight harmonic complex tones of missing fundamental frequencies (hidden auditory object) to study the short-term neuronal plasticity of the auditory cortex. In this experiment, the fundamental frequencies of the complex tones followed the beginning of the virtual melody of the tune “Frère Jacques”. The harmonics of the complex tones were chosen so that the spectral melody had an inverse contour when compared with the virtual one. Evoked magnetic fields were recorded contralaterally to the ear of stimulation from both hemispheres. After a base line measurement, the subjects were exposed repeatedly to the experimental stimuli for 1 hour a day. All subjects reported a sudden change in the perceived melody, indicating possible reorganization of the cortical processes involved in the virtual pitch formation. After this switch in perception, a second measurement was performed. Cortical sources of the evoked gamma-band activity were significantly stronger and located more medially after a switch in perception. Independent Component Analysis revealed enhanced synchronization in the gamma-band frequency range. Comparing the gamma-band activation of both hemispheres, no laterality effects were observed. The results indicate that the primary auditory cortices are involved in the process of virtual pitch perception and that their function is modifiable by laboratory manipulation.

Dynamic Pitch Perception for Complex Tones of Periodic Spectral Patterns

1991 ◽  
Vol 8 (3) ◽  
pp. 291-314 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yoshitaka Nakajima ◽  
Hiroyuki Minami ◽  
Takashi Tsumura ◽  
Hiroshi Kunisaki ◽  
Shigeki Ohnishi ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Paired Comparison ◽  
Fixed Ratio ◽  
Pitch Perception ◽  
The Other ◽  
Complex Tones ◽  
Logarithmic Frequency ◽  
Human Ear ◽  
Spectral Patterns ◽  
Pitch Movement

Pitch circularity as found in Shepard tones was examined by using complex tones that had various degrees of exactness in their spectral periodicities on the logarithmic frequency dimension. This dimension was divided into periods of 1400 cents by tone components, and each period was subdivided into two parts of a fixed ratio of 700:700, 600:800, 550:850, 500:900, 450:950, 400:1000, or 0:1400. Subjects made paired comparison judgments for pitch. When the subdividing ratio was 0: 1400 or 400:1000, the subjects responded to the spectral periodicity of 1400 cents, and, when the ratio was 700:700 or 600:800, they responded to the periodicity of 700 cents. Some seemingly intermediate cases between these two extremes or some qualitatively different cases were obtained in the other conditions. As we have asserted before, the human ear appears to detect a global pitch movement when some tone components move in the same direction by similar degrees on the logarithmic frequency dimension.

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