Temporal Integration at 125 Hz

Abstract

An apparent lack of temporal integration for a 125-Hz signal was interpreted as having implications for the neural coding of periodicity pitch by Campbell and Counter [J. Acoust. Soc. Amer 45, 691–693 (1969)]. Watson and Gengel [J. Acoust. Soc. Amer. 46, 989–997 (1969)] suggested, rather, that the failure to observe temporal integration at 125 Hz was due to the spread of energy at the shorter durations upward into frequency regions of greater sensitivity. Consideration of the data mentioned above and additional data gathered at 125 Hz with durations of 30, 100, and 300 msec and rise/fall times of 1 and 5 msec presented with and without a noise (160 to 360 Hz), intended to minimize the upward spread of energy, indicate that the apparent lack of integration was due to the upward spread of energy. The rise/fall time does, however, seem to play a crucial role in this upward spread of energy rather than the short durations, per se. Furthermore, for higher frequencies, rise/fall times do not seem as critical.