Comodulation masking release: A study using a computational model of the auditory periphery

Comodulation masking release (CMR) is the effect of enhanced signal detection in the presence of maskers with coherent temporal fluctuations of frequency components. To gain insight into the physiological mechanism of CMR, this study employs a computational model of the auditory nerve to simulate neural responses using a band-widening paradigm at 2 kHz. Signal detection theory was used to relate the population neural responses to an estimated psychophysical detection performance. The estimated thresholds of detection corresponded well with behavioral studies. A CMR of 11 dB was obtained from the simulation compared to 8-14 dB reported in behavioral studies. The result suggests that the influence on CMR at the level of the auditory nerve for increasing bandwidth is significant.