Frame Theory for Signal Processing in Psychoacoustics

This review chapter aims to strengthen the link between frame theory and signal processing tasks in psychoacoustics. On the one side, the basic concepts of frame theory are presented and some proofs are provided to explain those concepts in some detail. The goal is to reveal to hearing scientists how this mathematical theory could be relevant for their research. In particular, we focus on frame theory in a filter bank approach, which is probably the most relevant view-point for audio signal processing. On the other side, basic psychoacoustic concepts are presented to stimulate mathematicians to apply their knowledge in this field

Abstract sounds and their applications in audio and perception research

International audienceRecognition of sound sources and events is an important pro- cess in sound perception and has been studied in many research domains. Conversely sounds that cannot be recognized are not often studied except by electroacoustic music composers. Besides, considerations on recogni- tion of sources might help to address the problem of stimulus selection and categorization of sounds in the context of perception research. This paper introduces what we call abstract sounds with the existing musical background and shows their relevance for different applications

Basic auditory processes involved in the analysis of speech sounds

This paper reviews the basic aspects of auditory processing that play a role in the perception of speech. The frequency selectivity of the auditory system, as measured using masking experiments, is described and used to derive the internal representation of the spectrum (the excitation pattern) of speech sounds. The perception of timbre and distinctions in quality between vowels are related to both static and dynamic aspects of the spectra of sounds. The perception of pitch and its role in speech perception are described. Measures of the temporal resolution of the auditory system are described and a model of temporal resolution based on a sliding temporal integrator is outlined. The combined effects of frequency and temporal resolution can be modelled by calculation of the spectro-temporal excitation pattern, which gives good insight into the internal representation of speech sounds. For speech presented in quiet, the resolution of the auditory system in frequency and time usually markedly exceeds the resolution necessary for the identification or discrimination of speech sounds, which partly accounts for the robust nature of speech perception. However, for people with impaired hearing, speech perception is often much less robust

Psychoacoustic consequences of compression in the peripheral auditory system

Input–output functions on the basilar membrane of the cochlea show a strong compressive nonlinearity at midrange levels for frequencies close to the characteristic frequency of a given place. This article shows how many different phenomena can be explained as consequences of this nonlinearity, including the "excess" masking produced when 2 nonsimultaneous maskers are combined, the nonlinear growth of forward masking with masker level, the influence of component phase on the effectiveness of complex forward maskers, changes in the ability to detect increments and decrements with level, temporal integration, and the influence of component phase and level on the perception of vowellike sounds. Cochlear hearing loss causes basilar-membrane responses to become more linear. This can account for loudness recruitment, linear additivity of nonsimultaneous masking, linear growth of forward masking, reduced temporal resolution for sounds with fluctuating envelopes, and reduced temporal integration

Modeling the effects of peripheral nonlinearity in listeners with normal and impaired hearing

Recent physiological studies of basilar rnembrane (BM) mechanics indicate that the response to tones presented at the characteristic frequency (CF) is nonlinear and cornpressive. Input-output functions show marked compression at medium input levels and become more linear at very low and very high levels. Damage to the cochlea, in particular the outer hair celis, generally results in a loss of sensitivity and a linearization of the BM transfer function. In this study we assume that listeners with cochlear hearing loss also exhibit reduced BM compression, and we investigate some possible psychoacoustic consequences of the reduced nonlinearity. Results from nonsimultaneous rnasking experiments in norrnally hearing listeners were modeled using a temporal window model, preceded by a compressive nonlinearity (Oxenham & Moore, 1994). When modeling sirnilar data from hearing-impaired listeners, only the input nonlinearity of the model was changed. The results suggest that the change in nonlinearity may be sufficient to account for some differences in performance in the additivity of nonsimultaneous masking, the decay of forward masking with increasing masker-signal interval, and the growth of forward masking with increasing masker level