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. 2021 Jun 17:12:692785.
doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2021.692785. eCollection 2021.

Sensitivity to a Break in Interaural Correlation in Frequency-Gliding Noises

Langchen Fan  1   2 , Lingzhi Kong  3 , Liang Li  1   2 , Tianshu Qu  2
Affiliations

Sensitivity to a Break in Interaural Correlation in Frequency-Gliding Noises

Langchen Fan et al. Front Psychol. .

Abstract

This study was to investigate whether human listeners are able to detect a binaurally uncorrelated arbitrary-noise fragment embedded in binaurally identical arbitrary-noise markers [a break in correlation, break in interaural correlation (BIAC)] in either frequency-constant (frequency-steady) or frequency-varied (unidirectionally frequency gliding) noise. Ten participants with normal hearing were tested in Experiment 1 for up-gliding, down-gliding, and frequency-steady noises. Twenty-one participants with normal hearing were tested in Experiment 2a for both up-gliding and frequency-steady noises. Another nineteen participants with normal hearing were tested in Experiment 2b for both down-gliding and frequency-steady noises. Listeners were able to detect a BIAC in the frequency-steady noise (center frequency = 400 Hz) and two types of frequency-gliding noises (center frequency: between 100 and 1,600 Hz). The duration threshold for detecting the BIAC in frequency-gliding noises was significantly longer than that in the frequency-steady noise (Experiment 1), and the longest interaural delay at which a duration-fixed BIAC (200 ms) in frequency-gliding noises could be detected was significantly shorter than that in the frequency-steady noise (Experiment 2). Although human listeners can detect a BIAC in frequency-gliding noises, their sensitivity to a BIAC in frequency-gliding noises is much lower than that in frequency-steady noise.

Keywords: auditory system; binaural hearing; center frequency; frequency gliding; interaural correlation; interaural delay.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Spectrograms of up-gliding, frequency-steady, and down-gliding noises.
Figure 2
Figure 2
Group-mean duration thresholds for detecting a break in interaural correlation (BIAC) in three types of noises: frequency-steady noise, up-gliding noise, and down-gliding noise (Experiment 1). The error bars represent the standard errors of the means (SEM). **p < 0.01.
Figure 3
Figure 3
Group-mean interaural delay thresholds for detecting a BIAC in for three types of noises: frequency-steady noise, up-gliding noise, and down-gliding noise (Experiment 2). The error bars represent the SEM. *p < 0.05, **p < 0.01.
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