Residue pitch is computed in the auditory cortex within a tenth of a second

Evidence

For the low-frequency stimulus, the listeners were required to detect a common upward frequency shift (Δf Hz) imposed on the individual components of the SSMC with the spectral envelope remaining unchanged (Moore and Sek 2009 ). It was assumed that the listeners based their judgments on pitch changes, reflecting the temporal fine structure encoded as the pattern of neural phase locking. — Dijk, Pim van, Physiology, Psychoacoustics and…, 1043 (#expands, via linked claim)

In 1940, Schouten observed that Helmholtz’s version of the place model could not account for the pitch of a complex sound when the harmonic associated with the fundamental frequency was removed (Schouten, 1940). Schouten dubbed this phenomenon the residue pitch, also sometimes called the pitch of the missing fundamental. One hypothesis explaining the residue pitch was related to Helmholtz’s theory: The residue pitch occurred because distortion in the cochlea yielded a traveling wave representation at the location corresponding to the fundamental frequency. However, in 1954, Licklider demonstrated that a residue pitch still was perceivable even when a low-frequency noise was added that would have masked any representation of that component (Licklider, 1954). This put the nail in the coffin on the distortion hypothesis and confirmed that Helmholtz’s theory of pitch perception was incomplete and insufficient. — Jennifer Lentz, Psychoacoustics- Perception of Normal…, 1286 (#expands, via linked claim)

Categorization

• XREF: connects to: Low-frequency pitch judgments reflect temporal fine structure via neural phase locking — Dijk, Pim van, Physiology, Psychoacoustics and…, 1043; The residue pitch refuted Helmholtz’s place theory of pitch percept. — Jennifer Lentz, Psychoacoustics- Perception of Normal…, 1286; The sustained field builds up over about 500 milliseconds in auditory cortex.

Related

• The residue pitch refuted Helmholtz’s place theory of pitch percept. (similarity 0.91)
• Place theory cannot account for level-independent pitch, so other mechanisms must operate (similarity 0.89)
• Correct theories of pitch perception were suppressed by Helmholtz’s authority (similarity 0.87)
• Missing fundamental pitch survives even when cochlear distortion is masked out (similarity 0.87)
• Low-frequency pitch judgments reflect temporal fine structure via neural phase locking (similarity 0.87)
• The central debate in pitch perception is whether humans are essentially walking Fourier analyzers (similarity 0.85)
• Place and timing theories fail to explain some complex pitch perception phenomena (similarity 0.84)
• Physiological coding of frequency does not by itself explain perceived pitch. (similarity 0.83)
• The auditory system can extract pitch from resolved low-frequency harmonics using place patterns (similarity 0.83)
• Resolved low-numbered harmonics are required to encode pitch by place (similarity 0.83)
• Only two classical theories, place and temporal, explain pitch tracking. (similarity 0.82)
• Resolved harmonics use place pitch coding while unresolved harmonics use temporal coding (similarity 0.82)
• Phase locking fails above 5 kHz, so high-pitch perception relies on place theory (similarity 0.82)
• The temporal code mainly handles pitch at low frequencies where pitch is strong (similarity 0.82)
• Listeners perceive the fundamental frequency even when its lowest partials are absent (similarity 0.81)

Broader Connections

• Low-frequency pitch judgments reflect temporal fine structure via neural phase locking #expands (0.75) — Dijk, Pim van, Physiology, Psychoacoustics and…, 1043
• The residue pitch refuted Helmholtz’s place theory of pitch percept. #expands (0.72) — Jennifer Lentz, Psychoacoustics- Perception of Normal…, 1286