Coherent amplitude modulation across frequency bands may drive auditory source grouping.

Evidence

Dau et al. (1997) suggest that the outputs of the auditory filters are processed by a bank of overlapping ‘modulation filters’ (analogous to auditory filters), each tuned to a different modulation frequency – a modulation filter bank. This helps the system to group signals sharing the same source, since different frequency bands originating from the same source are often modulated coherently. Although the model explains many aspects of modulation perception, the existence of the bank has not been proven, and is controversial (Plack, 2013). — Ville Pulkki, Matti Karjalainen, Communication Acoustics- An…, 1015

Categorization

• DEFINE: Introduces the modulation filter bank concept — a proposed mechanism for how the ear groups signal components into sources.
• QUESTION: If modulation filter banks are unproven and controversial, what competing explanations exist for modulation perception and sound grouping?
• corroborated: 2 independent passages support this claim — Ville Pulkki, Matti Karjalainen, Communication Acoustics- An…, 1015