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A Method to Study Adaptation to Left-Right Reversed Audition
Published on: October 29, 2018
Binaural notched-noise masking and auditory-filter shape.
Marc Nitschmann1, Jesko L Verhey
1Department of Experimental Audiology, Otto-von-Guericke University Magdeburg, 39120 Magdeburg, Germany. marc.nitschmann@med.ovgu.de
The Journal of the Acoustical Society of America
|April 6, 2013
Summary
Investigating auditory masking, this study found that the binaural masking-level difference (BMLD) decreases as the masker notch width increases. This suggests a detrimental across-channel process impacts sound localization.
Area of Science:
- Auditory Neuroscience
- Psychoacoustics
- Signal Processing
Background:
- Understanding binaural hearing is crucial for explaining sound localization.
- The binaural masking-level difference (BMLD) is a key measure in auditory masking studies.
- Previous models struggled to explain BMLD changes with masker characteristics.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the effect of masker notch width on BMLD for different signal frequencies.
- To evaluate auditory models' ability to predict observed BMLD changes.
- To identify underlying mechanisms contributing to BMLD reduction with increasing notch width.
Main Methods:
- Measuring detection thresholds for interaurally in-phase (S0) and out-of-phase (Sπ) sinusoids.
- Using a diotic notched-noise masker (N0) with varying notch widths.
- Testing signal frequencies of 250, 500, 1000, and 2000 Hz.
- Simulating results using auditory models with and without across-channel processing.
Main Results:
- BMLD consistently decreased as masker notch width increased across all tested signal frequencies.
- Simple auditory filter models failed to predict the observed BMLD reduction.
- Including a detrimental across-channel process, such as filter overlap or phase shifts, accurately predicted the data.
- The strength of this detrimental process decreased with higher signal frequencies.
Conclusions:
- Auditory filter overlap or adverse interaural phase shifts in the binaural stage contribute to BMLD reduction in notched noise.
- A detrimental across-channel process is necessary to explain BMLD behavior as a function of notch width.
- Signal frequency influences the effectiveness of this across-channel interference.
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