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Effect of masker level on overshoot
1Department of Speech and Hearing Science, Arizona State University, Tempe 85287-0102.
The Journal of the Acoustical Society of America
|August 1, 1990
Summary
Auditory overshoot, where signal detection improves with delayed onset, was studied. Findings suggest high masker levels reduce overshoot by engaging auditory nerve fibers less prone to short-term adaptation.
Area of Science:
- Auditory Neuroscience
- Psychoacoustics
Background:
- Overshoot describes improved signal detectability when its onset is delayed relative to a masker.
- Short-term adaptation in auditory-nerve fibers is a leading hypothesis for overshoot.
Purpose of the Study:
- Investigate the effect of masker level on auditory overshoot.
- Explore the underlying mechanisms of overshoot, particularly at high masker levels.
Main Methods:
- Measured overshoot for a 10-ms signal masked by broadband noise across varying masker durations and levels.
- Manipulated signal onset delay relative to masker onset.
Main Results:
- Overshoot increased with moderate masker levels but decreased at high levels.
- The decline in overshoot at high masker levels was observed with both 400 ms and 100 ms masker durations.
Conclusions:
- The decline in overshoot at high masker levels is unlikely due to auditory fatigue.
- This decline may result from neural responses being dominated by auditory-nerve fibers with low spontaneous rates and high thresholds, which show less adaptation.