Inharmonicity detection

Abstract

Detection of mistuned partials in otherwise harmonic complex tones was investigated in naïve subjects of three different age groups. Signals were presented at constant sensation level to compensate for differences in hearing sensitivity and to specifically examine age-related changes in inharmonicity perception. Performance was measured under two conditions, monaural signal presentation and dichotic signal-noise presentation, with the latter aiming at the influence of contralateral distractor sounds. Stimuli were complex tones with ten harmonics and 125-Hz fundamental frequency. Mistuning detection was measured for the first, second, fourth, and eighth harmonic. In a three-interval, three-alternative forced-choice procedure, subjects were required to distinguish a complex tone containing one mistuned partial from two reference tones, with all partials at their harmonic frequencies. Thresholds were measured as the amount of frequency shift necessary for the mistuning to be detected. Performance deteriorated moderately with age for the two higher partials tested, but not for the lower ones. Thresholds for dichotic signal/noise presentation did not differ significantly from monaural ones in any of the age groups. Results are discussed in relation to hypotheses of harmonicity perception in auditory scene analysis and with respect to the investigation of patients suffering form respective deficits due to acquired brain lesions.

Relationship Between Working Memory and Speech-in-Noise Recognition in Young and Older Adult Listeners With Age-Appropriate Hearing

“…Some individual variables undoubtedly influence the way older adults understand speech in complex acoustic environments. For example, older adults may have deficits in sound segregation (Alain, Arnott, Hevenor, Graham, & Grady, 2001;Grube, von Cramon, & Rübsamen, 2003;Summers & Leek, 1998;Vongpaisal & Pichora-Fuller, 2007), at least in part, because of reduced sensitivity to temporal fine structure cues that carry the fundamental frequency information used to separate sound sources (Füllgrabe, Moore, & Stone, 2015;Neher, Lunner, Hopkins, & Moore, 2012). The majority of the studies described above a regarding why the ability to understand speech in adverse environments declines with age can be explained primarily by changes within the auditory system.…”

Testing a Novel Web-Based Neurocognitive Battery in the General Community: Validation and Usability Study

“…Therefore, normative task data were stratified by age. Hearing sensitivity and sensitivity to mistuned, oddball, or discontinuous tones have been shown to deteriorate with age [38][39][40]. The slowing of processing speed with age has also been well documented [41,42].…”

Perceptual sensitivity to, and electrophysiological encoding of, a complex periodic signal: effects of age

“…There have been few studies investigating the perception of mistuning in older adults. Grube and colleagues (Grube, von Cramon, and Rubsamen 2003) found that older adults had higher thresholds for detecting a mistuned harmonic compared to younger adults for higher harmonic components (i.e., 4 th and 8 th harmonic), but not for lower harmonic components (i.e., 1 st and 2 nd harmonics). In addition, Alain and colleagues (Alain et al 2001) found that older adults were poorer than younger adults at detecting a mistuned harmonic, particularly for short duration stimuli.…”