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No Effect of Musical Training on Frequency Selectivity Estimated Using Three Methods.

Accepted version
Peer-reviewed

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Type

Article

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Authors

Wan, Jie 
Varathanathan, Ajanth 
Naddell, Sophie 
Baer, Thomas 

Abstract

It is widely believed that the frequency selectivity of the auditory system is largely determined by processes occurring in the cochlea. If so, musical training would not be expected to influence frequency selectivity. Consistent with this, auditory filter shapes for low center frequencies do not differ for musicians and nonmusicians. However, it has been reported that psychophysical tuning curves (PTCs) at 4000 Hz were sharper for musicians than for nonmusicians. This study explored the origin of the discrepancy across studies. Frequency selectivity was estimated for musicians and nonmusicians using three methods: fast PTCs with a masker that swept in frequency, "traditional" PTCs obtained using several fixed masker center frequencies, and the notched-noise method. The signal frequency was 4000 Hz. The data were fitted assuming that each side of the auditory filter had the shape of a rounded-exponential function. The sharpness of the auditory filters, estimated as the Q10 values, did not differ significantly between musicians and nonmusicians for any of the methods, but detection efficiency tended to be higher for the musicians. This is consistent with the idea that musicianship influences auditory proficiency but does not influence the peripheral processes that determine the frequency selectivity of the auditory system.

Description

Keywords

auditory filter, frequency selectivity, musicianship, notched-noise method, psychophysical tuning curve, Adult, Auditory Perception, Auditory Threshold, Cochlea, Humans, Music, Noise, Perceptual Masking, Psychophysics

Journal Title

Trends Hear

Conference Name

Journal ISSN

2331-2165
2331-2165

Volume Title

23

Publisher

SAGE Publications
Sponsorship
Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EP/M026957/1)
Medical Research Council (G0701870)
Medical Research Council (G8717539)