# Processing of complex sounds at high frequencies

> **NIH NIH F31** · UNIVERSITY OF MINNESOTA · 2020 · $42,964

## Abstract

Abstract
Pitch is a fundamental perceptual dimension of natural sounds, and pitch perception is crucial for
understanding speech and music and for segregating concurrent sounds. Pitch perception degrades as
component frequencies in a sound increase beyond 2-3 kHz, a trend that is usually assumed to reflect a
corresponding loss of phase locking to temporal fine structure (TFS) in the auditory nerve above 2-3 kHz.
However, recent psychophysical and physiological findings, including evidence that accurate pitch perception
is possible at high frequencies and that phase locking may degrade in humans at lower frequencies than
previously believed, have cast doubt on this link. Aim 1 of the proposed research tests the hypothesis that a
general deficit in across-frequency comparison or integration of information, instead of the roll-off of phase
locking, may explain why pitch perception degrades as frequency increases. To this end, performance will be
measured in tasks that do not depend on across-frequency comparisons, where this hypothesis would predict
equivalent performance at low and high frequencies, and in tasks that are designed to require across-
frequency comparisons, where this hypothesis would predict poorer performance at high frequencies than at
low frequencies. Aim 2 of the proposed research tests the hypothesis that this deficit in across-frequency
comparison might also predict that segregation of concurrent sounds should be impaired at high frequencies,
even when the segregation cues are not encoded via TFS information. To this end, we will measure the extent
to which amplitude modulation and onset asynchrony cues promote segregation of single or multiple target
components from within a complex tone. Here, our hypothesis predicts that performance should be poorer at
high frequencies, especially when compared to matched control tasks that require no segregation. The
behavioral results, which will be interpreted with the aid of ideal observer analysis of simulated auditory nerve
responses, will provide valuable insight into the neural mechanisms that underlie complex pitch perception and
concurrent sound segregation.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10137410
- **Project number:** 1F31DC019247-01
- **Recipient organization:** UNIVERSITY OF MINNESOTA
- **Principal Investigator:** Daniel Guest
- **Activity code:** F31 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2020
- **Award amount:** $42,964
- **Award type:** 1
- **Project period:** 2020-09-16 → 2022-09-15

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10137410

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10137410, Processing of complex sounds at high frequencies (1F31DC019247-01). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-23 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10137410. Licensed CC0.

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