Signal detection theory and vestibular perception: II. Fitting perceptual thresholds as a function of frequency

Vestibular perceptual thresholds are defined by a dynamic sensory system. To capture these dynamics, thresholds were previously fit as a function of frequency. In this paper, we compare fits using two published models with two new models. Furthermore, a new fitting method that utilizes vestibular perceptual dynamics is developed to improve fit quality and overcome problems associated with the conventional approach. Combinations of the four models and two fitting methods are tested using both simulated data and previously published experimental data. Simulations reveal that the conventional approach underestimates thresholds when the number of trials at each frequency is limited (circa 50); this underestimation is reduced fivefold by the new fitting method that simultaneously utilizes data across frequencies. The new fitting method also scored best for goodness of fit for both the simulations and experimental data. In fact, the new approach of fitting simultaneously across frequencies proved more accurate, more precise, more robust, and more efficient than the conventional approach of fitting the responses at each frequency individually and then fitting these threshold data across frequency. The revised fit of published yaw rotation threshold data shows that these are best fit by a first-order high-pass filter having a plateau of 0.5°/s (roughly a factor of 4 higher than the motion platform vibration) at frequencies above the cutoff frequency of 0.26 Hz, which is well above the cutoff frequency of the semicircular canals (circa 0.03 Hz). This dynamic analysis suggests the contributions of a velocity leakage mechanism to human yaw rotation thresholds.