The ear is most sensitive to amplitude modulation near 4 Hz

Evidence

In some way, we can think about this as an indication that an impaired ear provides a more faithful representation of the fluctuations present in sounds. This more faithful representation leads to an internal representation in which the stimulus envelope is exaggerated compared with someone with normal hearing. In fact, when audibility is carefully controlled for and sounds are presented at the same sensation levels, listeners with hearing impairment sometimes demonstrate better amplitude modulation detection thresholds than listeners with normal hearing, in certain circumstances (Bacon & Gleitman, 1992). — Jennifer Lentz, Psychoacoustics- Perception of Normal…, 1102 (#complicates, via linked claim)

Categorization

• XREF: connects to: Hearing-impaired ears can outperform normal ears at amplitude modulation detection — Jennifer Lentz, Psychoacoustics- Perception of Normal…, 1102; One vacil equals a 60 dB 1 kHz tone fully amplitude-modulated at 4 Hz

Related

• Hearing-impaired ears can outperform normal ears at amplitude modulation detection (similarity 0.91)
• Human loudness-modulation detection is fastest around 4 Hz (similarity 0.84)
• One vacil equals a 60 dB 1 kHz tone fully amplitude-modulated at 4 Hz (similarity 0.83)
• The ear’s just-noticeable amplitude difference depends on signal type, level, and frequency (similarity 0.82)
• Cochlear hearing loss spares amplitude modulation detection but distorts perceived fluctuation depth (similarity 0.82)
• Amplitude-modulation detection improves with tone level but is level-independent for noise. (similarity 0.82)
• Amplification only compensates for elevated thresholds, not other perceptual deficits from hearing loss. (similarity 0.81)
• Rapid AM of noise is heard via overall level, not its rapid fluctuations (similarity 0.81)
• Cochlear frequency selectivity decreases as sound level increases (similarity 0.81)
• Quiet-versus-narrowband-masked AM threshold differences can isolate temporal coding from cochlear compression (similarity 0.81)
• The ear’s full dynamic range exists only near 4 kHz (similarity 0.81)
• Phase differences affect loudness only at low modulation frequencies the ear can track (similarity 0.81)
• Ear sensitivity depends jointly on frequency and on sound level (similarity 0.81)
• Hearing-impaired listeners vary more than normal hearers in quiet threshold, complicating averaging (similarity 0.81)
• Hearing performance fluctuates predominantly at the electrical stimulation frequency rather than its harmonics (similarity 0.80)

Broader Connections

• Hearing-impaired ears can outperform normal ears at amplitude modulation detection #complicates (0.72) — Jennifer Lentz, Psychoacoustics- Perception of Normal…, 1102