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Perceived continuity and pitch shifts for complex tones with unresolved harmonics
Christopher J Plack1, Rebecca K Watkinson
1Human Communication and Deafness Division, University of Manchester, Manchester M13 9PL, United Kingdom. chris.plack@manchester.ac.uk
The Journal of the Acoustical Society of America
|October 26, 2010
Summary
Pitch perception is reset by silent intervals, but not by continuous noise. This suggests that auditory continuity, not just discontinuity, influences how the brain processes pitch sequences.
Area of Science:
- Auditory Neuroscience
- Psychoacoustics
- Signal Processing
Background:
- Pitch perception is influenced by the temporal structure of auditory stimuli.
- The brain's pitch integration window is thought to be reset by discontinuities in sound.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the effect of auditory continuity on pitch perception.
- To determine if noise filling a silent interval alters pitch perception.
Main Methods:
- Complex tone bursts with controlled fundamental frequencies (F0s) were generated.
- Tone bursts were presented sequentially with varying interpulse intervals (IPIs).
- The interval between bursts was either silent or filled with noise.
Main Results:
- Varying IPIs had minimal effect on pitch when the interval was silent, consistent with pitch integration window resetting.
- Varying IPIs significantly affected pitch when the interval was filled with noise.
Conclusions:
- Auditory continuity, created by noise, prevents the resetting of the pitch integration window.
- The pitch mechanism is sensitive to phase discontinuities, but continuity overrides this effect.
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