A theoretical study of information transmission in the auditory system using signal detection theory: frequency discrimination by normal and impaired systems

We have investigated the differences between normal and impaired auditory processing for a frequency discrimination task by analyzing the responses of a computational auditory model using signal detection theory. Two detectors, one using all of the information in the signal, the other using only the number of neural responses, were implemented. An evaluation of the performance differences between the two theoretical detectors and experimental data may provide insight into quantifying the type of information present in the auditory system as well as whether the human auditory system uses this information efficiently. Results support previous hypotheses that, for lowand mid-range frequencies, the auditory system is able to use temporal information to perform frequency discrimination (see Moore, B.C.J., J. Acoust. Soc. Am., vol.54, p.610-19, 1973). The results also suggest that some temporal information is represented in the neural spike train, even at high frequencies However, the ability of the auditory system to use this information deteriorates at higher frequencies