A method for pitch tracking in the frequency following response using harmonic amplitude summation filterbank

The frequency following response (FFR) reflects the brain's neural encoding of pitch through the fundamental frequency (F0). While autocorrelation has long been the standard method for estimating F0 in FFRs, few alternatives have been explored. We propose a harmonic-structure-based approach that leverages knowledge of the stimulus F0 to guide a selective filterbank, extracting harmonic energy while suppressing noise. F0 is then tracked by identifying the most prominent spectral peak. Applied to FFRs recorded from 16 listeners in response to natural speech stimuli, the method reduced F0 tracking error by 8.8% to 47.4% compared to autocorrelation, offering a more accurate approach.