Weak musical pitch perception can persist without peripheral phase locking.

Evidence

The results showed that, on average, subjects selected similar frequencies in a musical interval adjustment task irrespective of whether the reference tone was a ZT or an equally salient pure tone. The adjusted frequencies were slightly flat in both cases. This might partly result from subjects’ bias towards a “just scale” with musical intervals corresponding to integer ratios of 6/5 and 3/2 for the minor third and the perfect fifth, respectively. If this was the only underlying reason, the “bias” should have been larger for the minor third than for the perfect fifth, which was not observed. The SDs of the musical interval adjustments were only slightly larger (a factor of 1.1–2.2) for the ZTs than for the PTs, with no increase in listening time. Thus, overall the results suggest that a weak musical pitch can exist in the absence of peripheral phase locking. — Dijk, Pim van, Physiology, Psychoacoustics and…, 5420

A ZT is a faint, decaying tonal percept that arises after listening to a band-stop (notched) broadband noise. The pitch is within the frequency range of the notch. Several findings indicate that ZTs are unlikely to be produced mechanically at the level of the cochlea and, therefore, there is unlikely to be phase locking to ZTs in the auditory periphery. — Dijk, Pim van, Physiology, Psychoacoustics and…, 5392

Categorization

• XREF: Connects to the broader question in hearing science of temporal versus place coding of pitch — the Burns & Feth reference is engaged directly here. — connects to: Correct theories of pitch perception were suppressed by Helmholtz’s authority; Listeners perceive the fundamental frequency even when its lowest partials are absent — Ville Pulkki, Matti Karjalainen, Communication Acoustics- An…, 1115; Phase invariance of pitch might arise from some neurons always entracking (+12 more)
• QUESTION: If pitch survives without phase locking, what peripheral code actually carries it — and how would this interact with models that insist on temporal cues?
• DEFINE: Defines Zwicker tones and explains their hypothesized non-mechanical, non-phase-locked origin.
• corroborated: 3 independent passages support this claim — Dijk, Pim van, Physiology, Psychoacoustics and…, 5420; Dijk, Pim van, Physiology, Psychoacoustics and…, 5392

Broader Connections

• Phase locking fails above 5 kHz, so high-pitch perception relies on place theory #expands (0.85)
• Even nonperiodic noise sounds convey a weak pitch sensation based on spectral energy distribution #corroborates (0.85)
• Clear pitch perception depends on periodic repetition of the pressure wave #contradicts (0.80) — David Howard, Jamie Angus, coustics and Psychoacoustics, 774
• Human pitch sense spans 0 to roughly 5000 Hz, distinct from partial perception #expands (0.75)
• An interaural phase transition in noise evokes a pitch sensation #corroborates (0.75) — Dijk, Pim van, Physiology, Psychoacoustics and…, 1043