Identifying cues for tone-in-noise detection using decision variable correlation in the budgerigar (Melopsittacus...

Area of Science:

• Auditory perception
• Animal behavior
• Psychoacoustics

Background:

• Human tone-in-noise detection relies on energy and envelope (ENV) cues.
• Auditory detection cues in nonhuman species remain unclear.
• Budgerigars exhibit human-like auditory sensitivity.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate tone-in-noise detection cues in budgerigars using decision variable correlation (DVC).
• To compare budgerigar and human auditory cue utilization.

Main Methods:

• Budgerigars were trained to detect 500-Hz tones in wideband (WB) and narrowband (NB) noise.
• Behavioral responses were collected using a two-alternative discrimination task and adaptive tracking.
• Decision variable correlation (DVC) was employed to analyze cue utilization.

Main Results:

• Budgerigar tone detection thresholds in WB noise were higher than human thresholds.
• NB noise thresholds were comparable to human results (within ~1 dB).
• NB noise detection was best explained by combined energy and ENV models, similar to humans.
• WB noise detection was better predicted by ENV-based or multi-channel energy models.

Conclusions:

• Budgerigars and humans appear to utilize similar auditory cues for tone-in-noise detection.
• Differences in WB noise detection may relate to peripheral auditory tuning.
• DVC is effective for evaluating auditory detection cues in nonhuman species.