Zwicker tones produce pitch without peripheral phase locking.

Evidence

It has been argued that musical pitch, i.e. pitch in its strictest sense, requires phase locking at the level of the auditory nerve. The aim of the present study was to assess whether a musical pitch can be heard in the absence of peripheral phase locking, using Zwicker tones (ZTs). 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

• DEFINE: Defines Zwicker tone as a faint decaying tonal percept arising after band-stop noise, with pitch in the notch range.
• QUESTION: The claim that ZTs lack phase locking is asserted as inference from mechanical-noncochelear origin — worth chasing the actual evidence for this.
• corroborated: 2 independent passages support this claim — Dijk, Pim van, Physiology, Psychoacoustics and…, 5392
• XREF: connects to: Pitch can exist with no tone heard at that frequency, unlike phantom tones; Musically trained listeners judge ZT musical intervals accurately despite missing phase locking.; Zwicker tones have no cochlear mechanical or otoacoustic correlate. — Dijk, Pim van, Physiology, Psychoacoustics and…, 5396 (+5 more)

Broader Connections

• Zwicker tones arise centrally, not from cochlear mechanics or phase locking #corroborates (0.95) — Dijk, Pim van, Physiology, Psychoacoustics and…, 5399
• Zwicker tones produce no correlate in cochlear mechanical activity #corroborates (0.90)
• Weak musical pitch perception can persist without peripheral phase locking. #expands (0.80) — Dijk, Pim van, Physiology, Psychoacoustics and…, 5420
• Pitch can be perceived even when no partial exists at that frequency #expands (0.75) — Eric J. Heller, Why You Hear What You Hear- An…, 2031
• A combined waveform can produce a perceived pitch absent from its actual frequency components #expands (0.70) — Eric J. Heller, Why You Hear What You Hear- An…, 323