Masking-period patterns: presentation of a model compatible with an enlarged set of psychophysical and physiological results.
Masking-period patterns (MPP) have been regarded by Zwicker [J. Acoust. Soc. Am. 59, 166-175 (1976)] as psychoacoustic equivalents of period histograms (PH) measured in auditory neurons. Various models have been proposed in the literature to account for his results. We present here a set of results on the MPP produced by a 40-Hz triangular masker that cannot be reproduced by any of these models. This leads to the elaboration of a new model for predicting MPP assuming the existence of nonlinearities in the basilar membrane, and based on neural fast adaptation and rectification, and a simple detection device. This model is shown to be able to account for the whole set of available results, and thus to provide a good basis for the use of MPP as a psychoacoustic tool for the study of PH.
D006801:Humans; D008144:Loudness Perception / Q000502:physiology; D009412:Nerve Fibers / Q000502:physiology; D010470:Perceptual Masking / Q000502:physiology; D010897:Pitch Discrimination / Q000502:physiology; D011571:Psychoacoustics; D000159:Vestibulocochlear Nerve / Q000502:physiology