Abstract:

In a previous paper, the relationship between auditory filter bandwidth and temporal resolution was examined in the context of an envelope detector model [E. A. Strickland, J. Acoust. Soc. Am. 97, 3330(A) (1995)]. This model predicts that temporal resolution will be limited by peripheral filtering at low frequencies, and by a central limitation at high frequencies. In the previous paper, time constants as measured by temporal modulation transfer functions (TMTFs) were compared to time constants predicted from the 3-dB bandwidths of auditory filters, for TMTFs and filters measured as a function of frequency region and level. Time constants for the TMTFs covaried with those estimated from the filters for low frequencies and levels, but were constant at high frequencies, as predicted. In the present paper, the auditory filters were used in the first stage of the envelope detector model, and TMTFs predicted by the model were compared to measured TMTFs. Time constants for the TMTFs increased as frequency decreased, but not as much as was predicted by the model. The model predicts time constants well for high frequencies, where the limitation is central. [Work partially supported by a post-doctoral fellowship from NIH.]