Pitch perception involves both spectral and temporal representations of sound

Evidence

The results of the simulation plotted in Fig. 2 evidence that, as in Santurette and Dau ( 2011 ), the predicted pitch values are always related to TE × TSFperiod and never related to TEperiod . This is strongly consistent with the results reported by the authors. The results of the simulation plotted in Fig. 3 are strongly consistent with Oxenham et al. ( 2011 ). Using a plausible refractory period of 2500 Hz, the simulation is able to extract the TE × TSFperiod even if the TSFperiod are too fast to be correctly encoded. The decrease in performances reported in Oxenham et al. ( 2011 ) when increasing the F0 from 1200 Hz to up to 2000 Hz is also simulated. This decrease is probably explained by a decrease in resolvability (less and less interactions between harmonic components) when increasing the F0. — Dijk, Pim van, Physiology, Psychoacoustics and…, 4638

Most sounds do not arrive in long-lasting tones, ripe for Fourier analysis. We clearly need to have a means of temporal processing. The temporal school of hearing asserts that we can process separate phenomena that occur as fast as 5000 times per second. The temporal theories are quite compatible with the notion, promoted here, that our sense of pitch arises from periodicity and autocorrelation of sound. This puts pitch perception up a notch in the auditory system, more neural than mechanical. We are not waiting for frequency detectors to send the first signals to the brain, but rather pitch and timbre are deduced from the temporal data. — Eric J. Heller, Why You Hear What You Hear- An…, 2165

Like Seebeck, Koenig took issue with the assertion that pitch is associated with pure partials of the same frequency. Instead, Koenig asserted that pitch and tones sprang from periodicity, which as he knew could exist without a partial of the same period. Seebeck the schoolmaster and Koenig the artisan were right, but their opinion did not carry against the Aristotelian weight of Helmholtz. Even so, it is widely acknowledged that Koenig gave Helmholtz a run for his money on key issues surrounding pitch perception, the nature of difference tones, beat tones, and so on. Some contemporaries even thought Helmholtz lost the arguments. Careful reading and testing of Koenig’s arguments and examples are convincing regarding the correctness of his main ideas, if not all the details. This is not to diminish Helmholtz, a truly great physicist. The issue remained controversial for a long time, even up to the present, as such issues do in science when truth and authority do not coincide. — Eric J. Heller, Why You Hear What You Hear- An…, 2313

There are two main theories underlying perception of pitch in the auditory system: the place code and the temporal code. Both models were originally developed to describe the phenomena that the frequency of a pure tone determines its pitch and that the fundamental frequency of a complex tone determines its pitch. Each code has its roots in the acoustics of stimuli: the place code is based on a spectral representation, whereas the temporal code is based on a temporal representation of the sound. These theories come about because of the interchangeability between the frequency, or fundamental frequency, and the period of both simple and complex sounds. Essentially, the period and the f0 are two different ways of describing the same acoustic property. — Jennifer Lentz, Psychoacoustics- Perception of Normal…, 1196

Seebeck’s results posed substantial problems for Helmholtz’s theories and were bitterly disputed at the time (Turner, 1977). Unfortunately for Seebeck, he passed away almost a century before his experimental results were reconsidered and formalized into a theory by J. F. Schouten (1940). Schouten’s residue theory suggested pitch perception could also be based on a temporal representation (in contrast to the spectral representation proposed by Helmholtz) of sound. Variants of Helmholtz’s and Schouten’s theories are still discussed today and both form the foundation of modern models of pitch perception (see Chapter 6). — Jennifer Lentz, Psychoacoustics- Perception of Normal…, 69

Pitch is a remarkably stable percept. The SPL of sound and the direction of sound source do not have a noticeable effect on it. The only factors that seem to affect pitch perception are the magnitude spectrum and repetitive structures in the ear canal signals. — Ville Pulkki, Matti Karjalainen, Communication Acoustics- An…, 1120

A focus of the field has been to determine which code best describes pitch perception, but both codes might work in concert. One possibility is a combination of the place and temporal codes. This spectral-temporal code posits that the temporal patterns in the auditory nerve form the code for the pitch, but these temporal patterns must align with the appropriate place in the cochlea (Loeb, White, & Merzenich, 1983). This particular version of the codes requires both place and temporal information to be appropriately aligned and synchronized. Distortions to either cochlear representation could lead to altered pitch. — Jennifer Lentz, Psychoacoustics- Perception of Normal…, 1222

Houtsma and Smurzynski noted that performance on their melodic interval identification task was never at the level of guessing, even when about 20 harmonics were removed from the stimulus! Thus, these sounds must evoke a pitch, albeit a weak one. Thus, there must be some other code for pitch that allowed people to perform that task. The temporal code is a distinct possibility. — Jennifer Lentz, Psychoacoustics- Perception of Normal…, 1295

Categorization

• DEFINE: Introduces TE, TSFperiod, and TEperiod as the distinct temporal periodicity constructs under test.
• QUESTION: The temporal-vs-place controversy is the book’s core thesis question — worth chasing how autocorrelation is neurally instantiated.
• XREF: Connects to the pitch-controversy framing in chapter 21/22 and to holography/autocorrelation ideas the author promotes throughout. — connects to: Complex-tone pitch tracks the spectral pitch of lower components — Professor Dr.-Ing. Hugo Fastl, Professor Dr.-Ing. Eberhard, Psychoacoustics- Facts and Models, 706; Auditory Gestalt perception mirrors vision through spectral-pitch contours — Professor Dr.-Ing. Hugo Fastl, Professor Dr.-Ing. Eberhard, Psychoacoustics- Facts and Models, 2043; Pitch perception corresponds to peaks in the autocorrelation function — Eric J. Heller, Why You Hear What You Hear- An…, 2033 (+21 more)
• SEED: Essay angle: the Koenig vs Helmholtz dispute as a case study in how authority in science beats truth, and how it was eventually vindicated.
• corroborated: 11 independent passages support this claim — Dijk, Pim van, Physiology, Psychoacoustics and…, 4638; Eric J. Heller, Why You Hear What You Hear- An…, 2165; Eric J. Heller, Why You Hear What You Hear- An…, 2313 (+5 more)

Broader Connections

• Pitch perception is encoded by the timing of neural firing in the cochlea #expands (0.80) — Ville Pulkki, Matti Karjalainen, Communication Acoustics- An…, 1655
• Clear pitch perception depends on periodic repetition of the pressure wave #expands (0.80) — David Howard, Jamie Angus, coustics and Psychoacoustics, 774