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. 2025 May 1;157(5):3322-3328.
doi: 10.1121/10.0036534.

Forward masking of amplitude modulation: Sensory versus perceptual components

Christopher Conroy  1 , Andrew J Byrne  1 , Gerald Kidd Jr  1   2
Affiliations

Forward masking of amplitude modulation: Sensory versus perceptual components

Christopher Conroy et al. J Acoust Soc Am. .

Abstract

Previous findings suggest that forward masking in the amplitude-modulation (AM) domain includes both sensory and perceptual components. The sensory component reflects masking associated with AM-rate-selective neural channels, whereas the perceptual component reflects masking associated with perceived target-masker similarity. In this article, it is shown that AM forward masking can be substantially reduced or even eliminated by reducing perceived target-masker similarity. It is suggested, therefore, that, under certain conditions, AM forward masking includes, at most, a weak sensory component along with a stronger perceptual component related to perceived target-masker similarity. This complicates interpretations of AM forward masking that rely on AM-rate-selective neural channels.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors have no conflicts to disclose.

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