Top

Journal of the Association for Research in Otolaryngology

Published in:

01-09-2003

Forward Masking Additivity and Auditory Compression at Low and High Frequencies

Authors: Christopher J. Plack, Catherine G. O’Hanlon

Published in: Journal of the Association for Research in Otolaryngology | Issue 3/2003

Abstract

The additivity of nonsimultaneous masking can be used as a measure of nonlinearity in the auditory system. For example, two equally effective forward maskers should produce 3 dB of additional masking when they are combined, assuming linearity with respect to intensity. A combined effect greater than this (excess masking) indicates compression. In the present experiments, the signal was a 10-ms pure tone presented 20 ms after a 200-ms narrowband noise masker and/or immediately after a 20-ms narrowband noise masker. The signal frequency was 250, 500, or 4000 Hz. The signal threshold produced by combining two equally effective maskers was measured. At all three frequencies, little excess masking was observed for a signal 10 dB above absolute threshold, indicating linear additivity (no compression). At signal levels 30 dB above absolute threshold, excess masking was observed at all three frequencies. The estimated compression exponents were 0.29 at 250 Hz, 0.34 at 500 Hz, and 0.17 at 4000 Hz. In contrast with physiological studies on other mammals, the present results provide evidence for substantial compression at low frequencies in humans.

Abel, SM 1972Duration discrimination of noise and tone bursts.J. Acoust. Soc. Am.5112191223PubMed

Cokely, CG, Humes, LE 1993Two experiments on the temporal boundaries for the nonlinear additivity of masking.J. Acoust. Soc. Am.9425532559PubMed

Cooper, NP, Rhode, WS 1995Nonlinear mechanics at the apex of the guinea-pig cochlea.Hear. Res.82225243CrossRefPubMed

Cooper, NP, Yates, GK 1994Nonlinear input–output functions derived from the responses of guinea-pig cochlear nerve fibres: variations with characteristic frequency.Hear. Res.78221234CrossRefPubMed

Glasberg, BR, Moore, BCJ 1990Derivation of auditory filter shapes from notched-noise data.Hear. Res.47103138PubMed

Hanna, TE, Robinson, DE, Shiffrin, RM, Gilkey, RH 1982Forward masking of dicotic and dichotic clicks by noise.J. Acoust. Soc. Am.7211711177PubMed

Hicks, ML, Bacon, SP 1999Psychophysical measures of auditory nonlinearities as a function of frequency in individuals with normal hearing.J. Acoust. Soc. Am.105326338CrossRefPubMed

Humes, LE, Espinoza–Varas, B, Watson, CS 1988Modeling sensorineural hearing loss. I. Model and retrospective evaluation.J. Acoust. Soc. Am.83188202PubMed

Humes, LE, Jesteadt, W 1989Models of the additivity of masking.J. Acoust. Soc. Am.8512851294PubMed

10.

Levitt, H 1971Transformed up–down methods in psychoacoustics.J. Acoust. Soc. Am.49467477PubMed

11.

Lopez–Poveda, EA, Plack, CJ, Meddis, R 2003Cochlear nonlinearity between 500 and 8000 Hz in listeners with normal hearing.J. Acoust. Soc. Am.113951960CrossRefPubMed

12.

Lutfi, RA 1983Additivity of simultaneous masking.J. Acoust. Soc. Am.73262267PubMed

13.

Lutfi, RA 1985A power-law transformation predicting masking by sounds with complex spectra.J. Acoust. Soc. Am.7721282136PubMed

14.

Moore, BCJ, Glasberg, BR 1982Contralateral and ipsilateral cueing in forward masking.J. Acoust. Soc. Am.71942945PubMed

15.

Moore, BCJ, Vickers, DA, Plack, CJ, Oxenham, AJ 1999Inter-relationship between different psychoacoustic measures assumed to be related to the cochlear active mechanism.J. Acoust. Soc. Am.10627612778CrossRefPubMed

16.

Murugasu, E, Russell, IJ 1995Salicylate ototoxicity: The effects on basilar membrane displacement, cochlear microphonics, and neural responses in the basal turn of the guinea pig cochlea.Aud. Neurosci.1139150

17.

Neff, DL 1986Confusion effects with sinusoidal and narrowband-noise forward maskers.J. Acoust. Soc. Am.7915191529PubMed

18.

Nelson, DA, Schroder, AC, Wojtczak, M 2001A new procedure for measuring peripheral compression in normal-hearing and hearing-impaired listeners.J. Acoust. Soc. Am.11020452064CrossRefPubMed

19.

Oxenham, AJ, Dau, T 2001Towards a measure of auditory filter phase response.J. Acoust. Soc. Am.11031693178CrossRefPubMed

20.

Oxenham, AJ, Moore, BCJ 1994Modeling the additivity of nonsimultaneous masking.Hear. Res.80105118CrossRefPubMed

21.

Oxenham, AJ, Moore, BCJ 1995Additivity of masking in normally hearing and hearing-impaired subjects.J. Acoust. Soc. Am.9819211934PubMed

22.

Oxenham, AJ, Plack, CJ 1997A behavioral measure of basilar-membrane nonlinearity in listeners with normal and impaired hearing.J. Acoust. Soc. Am.10136663675CrossRefPubMed

23.

Patterson, JH 1971Additivity of forward and backward masking as a function of signal frequency.J. Acoust. Soc. Am.5011231123

24.

Patterson, RD, Nimmo-Smith, I, Holdsworth, J, Rice, P 1998Spiral Vos Final Report, Part A: The Auditory Filterbank.Applied Psychology Unit, Cambridge

25.

Penner, MJ 1980The coding of intensity and the interaction of forward and backward masking.J. Acoust. Soc. Am.67608616PubMed

26.

Penner, MJ, Shiffrin, RM 1980Nonlinearities in the coding of intensity within the context of a temporal summation model.J. Acoust. Soc. Am.67617627PubMed

27.

Plack, CJ, Drga, V 2003Psychophysical evidence for auditory compression at low characteristic frequencies.J. Acoust. Soc. Am.11315741586CrossRefPubMed

28.

Plack, CJ, Oxenham, AJ 1998Basilar-membrane nonlinearity and the growth of forward masking.J. Acoust. Soc. Am.10315981608CrossRefPubMed

29.

Plack, CJ, Oxenham, AJ 2000Basilar-membrane nonlinearity estimated by pulsation threshold.J. Acoust. Soc. Am.107501507CrossRefPubMed

30.

Rhode, WS, Cooper, NP 1996Nonlinear mechanics in the apical turn of the chinchilla cochlea in vivo.Audit. Neurosci.3101121

31.

Rhode, WS, Recio, A 2000Study of mechanical motions in the basal region of the chinchilla cochlea.J. Acoust. Soc. Am.10733173332CrossRefPubMed

32.

Rhode, WS, Robles, L 1974Evidence from Mössbauer experiments for non-linear vibration in the cochlea.J. Acoust. Soc. Am.55588596PubMed

33.

Robinson, DW, Dadson, RS 1956A re-determination of the equal-loudness relations for pure tones.Br. J. Appl. Phys.7166181CrossRef

34.

Robles, L, Ruggero, MA, Rich, NC 1986Basilar membrane mechanics at the base of the chinchilla cochlea. I. Input-output functions, tuning curves, and phase responses.J. Acoust. Soc. Am.8013641374PubMed

35.

Ruggero, MA, Rich, NC 1991Furosemide alters organ of Corti mechanics: Evidence for feedback of outer hair cells upon the basilar membrane.J. Neurosci.1110571067PubMed

36.

Ruggero, MA, Rich, NC, Recio, A, Narayan, SS, Robles, L 1997Basilar-membrane responses to tones at the base of the chinchilla cochlea.J. Acoust. Soc. Am.10121512163CrossRefPubMed

37.

Ruggero, MA, Robles, L, Rich, NC 1992Two-tone suppression in the basilar membrane of the cochlea: Mechanical basis of auditory-nerve rate suppression.J. Neurophysiol.6810871099PubMed

38.

Russell, IJ, Nilsen, KE 1997The location of the cochlear amplifier: Spatial representation of a single tone on the guinea pig basilar membrane.Proc. Nat. Acad. Sci. USA9426602664CrossRefPubMed

39.

Sachs, MB, Abbas, PJ 1974Rate versus level functions for auditory-nerve fibers in cats: tone-burst stimuli.J. Acoust. Soc. Am.5618351847PubMed

40.

Schlauch, RS, DiGiovanni, JJ, Reis, DT 1998Basilar membrane nonlinearity and loudness.J. Acoust. Soc. Am.10320102020CrossRefPubMed

41.

Shailer, MJ, Moore, BCJ 1987Gap detection and the auditory filter: Phase effects using sinusoidal stimuli.J. Acoust. Soc. Am.8111101117PubMed

42.

Widin, GP, Viemeister, NF 1980Masker interaction in pure-tone forward masking.J. Acoust. Soc. Am.68475479PubMed

43.

Wilson, RH, Carhart, R 1971Forward and backward masking: interactions and additivity.J. Acoust. Soc. Am.4912541263PubMed

44.

Zinn, C, Maier, H, Zenner, H-P, Gummer, AW 2000Evidence for active, nonlinear, negative feedback in the vibration response of the apical region of the in-vivo guinea-pig cochlea.Hear. Res.142159183CrossRefPubMed

Title: Forward Masking Additivity and Auditory Compression at Low and High Frequencies
Authors: Christopher J. Plack
Catherine G. O’Hanlon
Publication date: 01-09-2003
Publisher: Springer-Verlag
Published in: Journal of the Association for Research in Otolaryngology / Issue 3/2003
Print ISSN: 1525-3961
Electronic ISSN: 1438-7573
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10162-002-3056-0

Keynote webinar | Spotlight on medication adherence

Springer Medicine

Forward Masking Additivity and Auditory Compression at Low and High Frequencies

Abstract

Keynote webinar | Spotlight on medication adherence

Springer Medicine

Abstract

Please log in to get access to this content

Other articles of this Issue 3/2003

Mechanical Noise Enhances Signal Transmission in the Bullfrog Sacculus

ErbB Expression: The Mouse Inner Ear and Maturation of the Mitogenic Response to Heregulin

Lateral Wall Histopathology and Endocochlear Potential in the Noise-Damaged Mouse Cochlea

Editorial

Expression of Mucins in Mucoid Otitis Media

The Aging of the Middle Ear in 129S6/SvEvTac and CBA/CaJ Mice: Measurements of Umbo Velocity, Hearing Function, and the Incidence of Pathology