On the role of envelope fluctuation processing in spectral masking

This study examines the role of temporal cues in spectral masking, such as beats and intrinsic envelope fluctuations. Predictions from the modulation-filterbank model developed by Dau et al. [J. Acoust. Soc. Am. 102, 2906-2919 (1997)] are compared to average masking patterns from Moore et al. [J. Acoust. Soc. Am. 104, 1023-1038 (1998)]. In these experiments, tones and narrow-band noises have been used as the signal and the masker, so that all four signal-masker combinations are considered. In addition, model predictions are compared with new experimental data in conditions of notched-noise masking, where the masker consisted of two narrow-band noises whose bandwidth and frequency separation were varied systematically. The model uses a peripheral filtering stage with linear and symmetric Gammatone filters, an adaptation stage that includes a static compressive nonlinearity for stationary input stumuli and a higher sensitivity for envelope fluctuation, and a modulation filterbank that analyzes the output for each peripheral channel. For low and medium masker levels, the model accounts very well for the masking patterns in all signal-masker conditions, as well as for the notched-noise conditions. In contrast, predictions from a version of the model that acts like an energy detector account for only some of the notched-noise data, and generally do not account for the shape of the masking patterns. For a high masker level, the simulations suggest the use of asymmetric filters, with a steeper high-frequency slope than is used in the linear model, consistent with results from previous studies. In addition, several nonlinear effects become apparent at this masker level, which cannot be accounted for by the current model.