rarefaction onset?

[Eckard Blumschein <Eckard.Blumschein@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Dear Peter and list,

I would much appreciate if you, after vacation, did not ignore my question
marks concerning interval histograms, efferent equalization, effects of
refractory time, high frequency = 10Hz, and spectral map. I would like to
add just one more related moot point you might ponder about.

Normally I expect most of the sound attacks and onsets to start with
increasing sound pressure like plosives and condensation clicks. In case of
vowel "a" I do not expect the opposite sign either. However the neurogram
by Shamma rather resembles a sequence of rarefaction clicks. Possibly this
lower than expected latency at low frequency is due to modification of the
mechanisms within cochlea. Can you confirm that the stimulus was actually
positive, i.e. condensation-like?

When I checked my own experiments I was unhappy with non-ideal
(oscillating) response of my loudspeaker to clicks. As far as I know,
merely the Manger transducer is able to respond aperiodically. What type of
loudspeaker did you use in your experiments?

-- Eckard