title: Auditory perception of self-similarity in water sounds.
abstract: Many natural signals, including environmental sounds, exhibit scale-invariant statistics: their structure is repeated at multiple scales. Such scale-invariance has been identified separately across spectral and temporal correlations of natural sounds (Clarke and Voss, 1975; Attias and Schreiner, 1997; Escabi et al., 2003; Singh and Theunissen, 2003). Yet the role of scale-invariance across overall spectro-temporal structure of the sound has not been explored directly in auditory perception. Here, we identify that the acoustic waveform from the recording of running water is a self-similar fractal, exhibiting scale-invariance not only within spectral channels, but also across the full spectral bandwidth. The auditory perception of the water sound did not change with its scale. We tested the role of scale-invariance in perception by using an artificial sound, which could be rendered scale-invariant. We generated a random chirp stimulus: an auditory signal controlled by two parameters, Q, controlling the relative, and r, controlling the absolute, temporal structure of the sound. Imposing scale-invariant statistics on the artificial sound was required for its perception as natural and water-like. Further, Q had to be restricted to a specific range for the sound to be perceived as natural. To detect self-similarity in the water sound, and identify Q, the auditory system needs to process the temporal dynamics of the waveform across spectral bands in terms of the number of cycles, rather than absolute timing. We propose a two-stage neural model implementing this computation. This computation may be carried out by circuits of neurons in the auditory cortex. The set of auditory stimuli developed in this study are particularly suitable for measurements of response properties of neurons in the auditory pathway, allowing for quantification of the effects of varying the statistics of the spectro-temporal statistical structure of the stimulus.
authors: Department of Otorhinolaryngology - Head and Neck Surgery, University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine Philadelphia, PA, USA.
authors: Maria N
authors: MN
authors: Geffen
authors: Judit
authors: J
authors: Gervain
authors: Janet F
authors: JF
authors: Werker
authors: Marcelo O
authors: MO
authors: Magnasco
references: Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2001 Feb 13;98(4):1935-40
references: 11172054
references: Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2011 Jan 18;108(3):1188-93
references: 21199948
references: Nat Neurosci. 1999 Nov;2(11):947-57
references: 10526332
references: J Neurophysiol. 2005 Dec;94(6):4051-67
references: 16135553
references: Curr Biol. 2006 Feb 7;16(3):264-71
references: 16461279
references: Curr Opin Neurobiol. 2009 Aug;19(4):430-3
references: 19674890
references: PLoS One. 2008 Feb 27;3(2):e1655
references: 18301738
references: Nat Neurosci. 2002 Apr;5(4):356-63
references: 11896400
references: Nature. 1996 Jun 13;381(6583):607-9
references: 8637596
references: Vision Res. 2001 Mar;41(7):955-64
references: 11248280
references: J Acoust Soc Am. 1969 Oct;46(4):924-38
references: 4309951
references: Nature. 1999 Jan 14;397(6715):154-7
references: 9923676
references: PLoS One. 2011 Jan 11;6(1):e16104
references: 21264310
references: PLoS Biol. 2008 Jan;6(1):e16
references: 18232737
references: J Neurophysiol. 2001 Mar;85(3):1220-34
references: 11247991
references: Nat Neurosci. 2005 Oct;8(10):1371-9
references: 16136039
references: Proc Biol Sci. 1995 Dec 22;262(1365):259-65
references: 8587884
references: J Neurosci. 2010 Jan 20;30(3):802-19
references: 20089889
references: Nature. 2006 Feb 23;439(7079):978-82
references: 16495999
references: Network. 2011;22(1-4):4-44
references: 22149669
references: J Neurosci. 2002 Apr 1;22(7):2904-15
references: 11923455
references: J Acoust Soc Am. 2003 Dec;114(6 Pt 1):3394-411
references: 14714819
references: Psychol Rev. 1954 May;61(3):183-93
references: 13167245
references: J Neurosci. 2010 Nov 24;30(47):15969-80
references: 21106835
references: J Neurosci. 2006 Jul 12;26(28):7477-90
references: 16837596
references: Nature. 2007 Sep 6;449(7158):92-5
references: 17805296
references: Phys Rev Lett. 1994 Aug 8;73(6):814-817
references: 10057546
references: J Neurophysiol. 2002 Dec;88(6):3409-20
references: 12466457
references: Neuron. 2008 Jun 26;58(6):956-66
references: 18579084
references: Annu Rev Neurosci. 2001;24:1193-216
references: 11520932
references: J Neurophysiol. 2008 May;99(5):2496-509
references: 18353910
references: J Neurosci. 2008 Dec 3;28(49):13268-73
references: 19052218
references: Eur J Neurosci. 2008 Jun;27(12):3310-21
references: 18598269
references: PLoS Biol. 2005 Oct;3(10):e342
references: 16171408
references: PLoS Biol. 2007 Mar;5(3):e65
references: 17341132
references: Int Rev Neurobiol. 2005;70:207-52
references: 16472636
references: J Opt Soc Am A. 1987 Dec;4(12):2379-94
references: 3430225
references: J Neurosci. 2003 Dec 17;23(37):11489-504
references: 14684853
references: Neuron. 2009 Feb 26;61(4):570-86
references: 19249277
references: J Neurosci. 2004 Oct 13;24(41):9201-11
references: 15483139