title: A Loudness Model for Time-Varying Sounds Incorporating Binaural Inhibition.
abstract: This article describes a model of loudness for time-varying sounds that incorporates the concept of binaural inhibition, namely, that the signal applied to one ear can reduce the internal response to a signal at the other ear. For each ear, the model includes the following: a filter to allow for the effects of transfer of sound through the outer and middle ear; a short-term spectral analysis with greater frequency resolution at low than at high frequencies; calculation of an excitation pattern, representing the magnitudes of the outputs of the auditory filters as a function of center frequency; application of a compressive nonlinearity to the output of each auditory filter; and smoothing over time of the resulting instantaneous specific loudness pattern using an averaging process resembling an automatic gain control. The resulting short-term specific loudness patterns are used to calculate broadly tuned binaural inhibition functions, the amount of inhibition depending on the relative short-term specific loudness at the two ears. The inhibited specific loudness patterns are summed across frequency to give an estimate of the short-term loudness for each ear. The overall short-term loudness is calculated as the sum of the short-term loudness values for the two ears. The long-term loudness for each ear is calculated by smoothing the short-term loudness for that ear, again by a process resembling automatic gain control, and the overall loudness impression is obtained by summing the long-term loudness across ears. The predictions of the model are more accurate than those of an earlier model that did not incorporate binaural inhibition.
authors.affiliation: 1 Department of Experimental Psychology, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, England.
authors.forename: Brian C J
authors.initials: BC
authors.lastname: Moore
authors.affiliation: 1 Department of Experimental Psychology, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, England.
authors.forename: Brian R
authors.initials: BR
authors.lastname: Glasberg
authors.affiliation: 1 Department of Experimental Psychology, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, England.
authors.forename: Ajanth
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Varathanathan
authors.affiliation: 1 Department of Experimental Psychology, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, England.
authors.forename: Josef
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Schlittenlacher
mesh_terms: D004423:Ear; D006801:Humans; D008144:Loudness Perception; D013016:Sound
keywords: binaural inhibition; dichotic stimuli; excitation pattern; long-term loudness; loudness; loudness model; short-term loudness; specific loudness pattern