Gerken G M, Bhat V K, Hutchison-Clutter M
Department of Otorhinolaryngology, University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, Dallas 75235.
J Acoust Soc Am. 1990 Aug;88(2):767-78. doi: 10.1121/1.399726.
The auditory temporal integration function was studied with the objective of improving both its quantitative description and the specification of its principle independent variable, stimulus duration. In Sec. I, temporal integration data from 20 studies were subjected to uniform analyses using standardized definitions of duration and two models of temporal integration. Analyses revealed that these data were best described by a power function model used in conjunction with a definition of duration, termed assigned duration, that de-emphasized the rise/fall portions of the stimuli. There was a strong effect of stimulus frequency and, in general, the slope of the temporal integration function was less than 10 dB per decade of duration; i.e., a power function exponent less than 1.0. In Sec. II, an experimental study was performed to further evaluate the models and definitions. Detection thresholds were measured in 11 normal-hearing human subjects using a total of 24 single-burst and multiple-burst acoustic stimuli of 3.125 kHz. The issues addressed are: the quantitative description of the temporal integration function; the definition of stimulus duration; the similarity of the integration processes for single-burst and multiple-burst stimuli; and the contribution of rise/fall time to the integration process. A power function in conjunction with the assigned duration definition was again most effective in describing the data. Single- and multiple-burst stimuli both seemed to be integrated by the same central mechanism, with data for each type of stimulus being described by a power function exponent of approximately 0.6 at 3.125 kHz. It was concluded that the contribution of the rise/fall portions of the stimuli can be factored out from the rest of the temporal integration process. In Sec. III, the conclusions that emerged from the review of published work and the present experimental work suggested that auditory temporal integration is best described by a power function in conjunction with the assigned duration definition. The exponent for the power function is typically less than 1.0, and varies with frequency and hearing level. Second, a means of empirically assaying the contribution of the rise-fall portions of the stimuli is presented and evaluated. Finally, properties of a central auditory integrator are hypothesized.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)
对听觉时间整合功能进行了研究，目的是改进其定量描述以及其主要自变量（刺激持续时间）的具体界定。在第一节中，使用持续时间的标准化定义和两种时间整合模型，对来自20项研究的时间整合数据进行了统一分析。分析表明，这些数据最好用幂函数模型结合一种持续时间定义（称为指定持续时间）来描述，该定义淡化了刺激的上升/下降部分。刺激频率有很强的影响，一般来说，时间整合函数的斜率每十年持续时间小于10分贝；即幂函数指数小于1.0。在第二节中，进行了一项实验研究以进一步评估这些模型和定义。使用总共24个3.125千赫的单脉冲和多脉冲声刺激，测量了11名听力正常的人类受试者的检测阈值。所探讨的问题包括：时间整合函数的定量描述；刺激持续时间的定义；单脉冲和多脉冲刺激整合过程的相似性；以及上升 / 下降时间对整合过程的贡献。幂函数结合指定持续时间定义再次最有效地描述了数据。单脉冲和多脉冲刺激似乎都由相同的中枢机制进行整合，在3.125千赫时，每种类型刺激的数据都由幂函数指数约为0.6来描述。得出的结论是，刺激的上升/下降部分的贡献可以从时间整合过程的其余部分中分离出来。在第三节中，对已发表工作的综述和当前实验工作得出的结论表明，听觉时间整合最好用幂函数结合指定持续时间定义来描述。幂函数的指数通常小于1.0，并且随频率和听力水平而变化。其次，提出并评估了一种凭经验测定刺激上升 - 下降部分贡献的方法。最后，对中枢听觉整合器的特性进行了假设。（摘要截断于250字）
