Place and timing theories fail to explain some complex pitch perception phenomena

Evidence

The temporal theory gives a basis for understanding how the fundamental period could be found from an analysis of the nerve firing times from all places across the basilar membrane. However, not all observed pitch perception abilities can be explained by the temporal theory alone, the most important being the pitch perceived for sounds whose f0 is greater than 5 kHz. This cannot be explained by the temporal theory because phase locking breaks down above 5 kHz. Any ability to perceive the pitches of sounds with f0 greater than 5 kHz is therefore thought to be due to the place theory alone. — David M. Howard, Jamie Angus, Acoustics and Psychoacoustics, 907

There exist many other cases where the place theory does not at all explain the perception. A simple case is a harmonic sound, where the partials at higher frequencies are dominant. The perceived pitch follows the fundamental frequency in many cases, although the centre of gravity of the spectrum is elsewhere (Plack et al., 2005). — Ville Pulkki, Matti Karjalainen, Communication Acoustics- An…, 1114

The mechanism leading to pitch perception has been explained by two theories: the place theory and the timing theory (Plack et al., 2005).The place theory assumes that the frequency– place mapping occurring in the cochlea explains pitch perception. Unfortunately, this does not explain all pitch phenomena, and in some cases it is clear that a time-domain analysis of periodicity is also performed in hearing. The current assumption is that hearing analyses pitch using both mechanisms, but, unfortunately, they are not known well enough to be able to construct a functional model of the pitch perception mechanisms for all cases, although some quite advanced models already exist (Plack et al., 2005). — Ville Pulkki, Matti Karjalainen, Communication Acoustics- An…, 1121

The final identified problem is that the pitch perceived for sounds with components only below 50 Hz cannot be explained by the place theory, because the pattern of vibration on the basilar membrane does not appear to change in that region. Sounds of this type are rather unusual but not impossible to create by electronic synthesis. Since the typical lowest audible frequency for humans is 20 Hz, a sound with an f0 of 20 Hz would have harmonics at 40 Hz, 60 Hz and so on, and only the first two fall within this region where no change is observed in basilar membrane response. Harmonics falling above 50 Hz will be analyzed by the place mechanism in the usual manner. Sinusoids in the 20 to 50 Hz range are perceived as having different pitches, and the place mechanism cannot explain this. — David M. Howard, Jamie Angus, Acoustics and Psychoacoustics, 887

Figure 3.12 shows a model for pitch perception of complex tones based on that of Moore (1982) that encapsulates the benefits described for both theories. The acoustic pressure wave is modified by the frequency response of the outer and middle ears (see Chapter 2) and analyzed by the place mechanism, which is equivalent to a filter bank analysis. Neural firings occur stimulated by the detailed vibration of the membrane at places equivalent to frequency components of the input sound based on phase locking but not always once per cycle-the latter is illustrated on the right-hand side of the figure. The fact that firing is occurring from particular places provides the basis for the place theory of pitch perception. The intervals between neural firings (spikes) are analyzed, and the results are combined to allow common intervals to be found that will tend to be at the fundamental period and Combine Interspike intervals keeping place FIGURE 3. — David M. Howard, Jamie Angus, Acoustics and Psychoacoustics, 912

Two basic theories of pitch perception have been proposed to explain how the human hearing system is able to locate and track changes in the f0 of an input sound: the “place” theory and the “temporal” theory. These are described below along with their limitations in terms of explaining observed pitch perception effects. — David Howard, Jamie Angus, coustics and Psychoacoustics, 834

Two basic theories of pitch perception have been proposed to explain how the human hearing system is able to locate and track changes in the f0 of an input sound: the “place” theory and the “temporal” theory. These are described in what follows along with their limitations in terms of explaining observed pitch perception effects. — David M. Howard, Jamie Angus, Acoustics and Psychoacoustics, 830

Categorization

• XREF: The 5 kHz phase-locking limit is a core datum connecting to similar neural phase-locking limits discussed for other senses. — connects to: Pitch can be perceived even when no partial exists at that frequency — Eric J. Heller, Why You Hear What You Hear- An…, 2031; The central debate in pitch perception is whether humans are essentially walking Fourier analyzers; Helmholtz wrongly assumed every heard pitch requires a physically present partial (+11 more)
• QUESTION: What exactly causes phase locking to break down at 5 kHz in auditory nerve fibers - biophysical limits of the synapse?
• DEFINE: Introduces the place theory of pitch perception and demonstrates its limits.
• corroborated: 11 independent passages support this claim — David M. Howard, Jamie Angus, Acoustics and Psychoacoustics, 907; Ville Pulkki, Matti Karjalainen, Communication Acoustics- An…, 1114; Ville Pulkki, Matti Karjalainen, Communication Acoustics- An…, 1121 (+4 more)

Broader Connections

• The residue pitch refuted Helmholtz’s place theory of pitch percept. #exemplifies (0.90) — Jennifer Lentz, Psychoacoustics- Perception of Normal…, 1286
• Pitch perception involves both spectral and temporal representations of sound #expands (0.75) — Dijk, Pim van, Physiology, Psychoacoustics and…, 4638
• Hearing analyzes pitch through both place and timing mechanisms #expands (0.75)
• Pitch perception corresponds to peaks in the autocorrelation function #expands (0.75) — Eric J. Heller, Why You Hear What You Hear- An…, 2033
• Pitch may be jointly coded by temporal patterns and their cochlear location #expands (0.72) — Jennifer Lentz, Psychoacoustics- Perception of Normal…, 1338
• Shifted complex tones cannot isolate pure temporal fine structure effects in pitch #qualifies (0.70)