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Enhanced signal detectability in comodulated noise introduced by compression

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Abstract

Many examples of natural noise show common amplitude modulations at different frequency regions. This kind of noise has been termed comodulated noise and is widely examined in hearing research, where an enhanced detectability of pure tones and narrow noise bands in comodulated noise compared to unmodulated noise is well known as the CMR or CDD effects, respectively. Here it is shown that only one signal processing step, a compressive nonlinearity motivated by the peripheral auditory system, is sufficient to explain a considerable contribution to these effects. Using an analytical approach, the influence of compression on the detectability of periodic and narrow band signals in the presence of unmodulated and comodulated noise is investigated. This theoretical treatment allows for identifying the mechanism leading to improved signal detection. The compressive nonlinearity constitutes an adaptive gain which selectively boosts a stimulus during time spans of inherently increased signal-to-noise ratio and attenuates it during time spans dominated by noise. On average, these time spans are more pronounced in stimuli with comodulated noise than with unmodulated noise, thus giving rise to the observed CMR and CDD effects.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. International Graduate School for Neurosensory Sciences, Carl-von-Ossietzky Universität Oldenburg, 26111, Oldenburg, Germany

    Michael Buschermöhle, Ulrike Feudel & Jan A. Freund

  2. Institute for Chemistry and Biology of the Marine Environment, Carl-von-Ossietzky Universität Oldenburg, 26111, Oldenburg, Germany

    Michael Buschermöhle, Ulrike Feudel & Jan A. Freund

Authors
  1. Michael Buschermöhle
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  2. Ulrike Feudel
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  3. Jan A. Freund
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Correspondence to Michael Buschermöhle.

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Buschermöhle, M., Feudel, U. & Freund, J.A. Enhanced signal detectability in comodulated noise introduced by compression. Biol Cybern 99, 491–502 (2008). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00422-008-0255-8

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00422-008-0255-8

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