Statistically robust evidence of stochastic resonance in human auditory perceptual system

Abstract

In human perception, exogenous noise is known to yield a masking effect, i.e. an increase of the perceptual threshold relative to a stimulus acting on the same modality. However, somehow counterintuitively, the opposite mechanism can occasionally occur: a decrease of the perceptual threshold for a non-vanishing, virtuous amount of noise. This mechanism, called stochastic resonance, is deemed to provide important information about the role of noise in the human brain. In this paper, we investigate stochastic resonance in a detection task in the auditory modality. Normal-hearing participants were asked to judge the presence of acoustic stimuli of different intensity and superimposed to different levels of white noise. The matrix-like outcomes of a behavioural experiment were fitted by a two-dimensional, noisedependent psychometric function. The fit revealed a statistically significant stochastic resonance in 43% of the experimental runs. We conclude that, in the auditory modality, stochastic resonance is a tiny effect that, under conventional circumstances, is largely overrun by standard masking.

Connectivity Influences on Nonlinear Dynamics in Weakly-Synchronized Networks: Insights From Rössler Systems, Electronic Chaotic Oscillators, Model and Biological Neurons

“…In other words, while underlying nonlinear dynamics are present, they are largely concealed by random fluctuations, for example of thermal origin [28], [82], [83]. Notably, while in engineered devices noise is often a hindrance to information storage and transmission, self-organized entities such as biological neuronal circuits can leverage it purposefully through phenomena such as stochastic resonance [84]; recently, this effect is also finding applications in nonlinear optics and solid state devices [85], [86]. It is therefore interesting to briefly investigate the influence of local connectivity also in systems with noisy dynamics via the mechanism of stochastic synchronization.…”

Periodically driven underdamped periodic and washboard potential systems: Dynamical states and stochastic resonance

“…As a consequence, it may have potential applications in the detection of weak signals as well as in the selection of a signal of a particular frequency out of a host of signals of different frequencies [8][9][10][11]. As a corollary, a biological system can tune noise level internally to select and enhance a desired signal [12][13][14]. Apart from potential practical applications, it offers considerable theoretical challenges.…”

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