Auditory filter tuning inferred with short sinusoidal and notched-noise maskers

The physiology of the medial olivocochlear reflex suggests that a sufficiently long stimulus (>100 ms) may reduce cochlear gain and result in broadened frequency selectivity. The current study attempted to avoid gain reduction by using short maskers (20 ms) to measure psychophysical tuning curves (PTCs) and notched-noise tuning characteristics, with a 4-kHz signal. The influence of off-frequency listening on PTCs was evaluated using two types of background noise. Iso-level curves were derived using an estimate of the cochlear input/output (I/O) function, which was obtained using an off-frequency masker as a linear reference. The influence of masker duration on PTCs was assessed using a model that assumed long maskers (>20 ms) evoked gain reduction. The results suggested that the off-frequency masker was a valid linear reference when deriving I/O functions and that off-frequency listening may have occurred in auditory filters apical to the signal place. The iso-level curves from this growth-of-masking study were consistent with those from a temporal-masking-curve study by Eustaquio-Martin and Lopez-Poveda [J. Assoc. Res. Otolaryngol. 12, 281-299. (2011)], suggesting that either approach may be used to derive iso-level curves. Finally, model simulations suggested that masker duration may not influence estimates of frequency selectivity.