Sequential Stream Segregation Affects Localisation of Diotic Tones among Tones with Time-Varying Interaural Time Difference

Perception ◽  
10.1068/p6369 ◽  
2009 ◽  
Vol 38 (9) ◽  
pp. 1377-1385
Author(s):  
Takahiro Kawabe

In this study, I examined how sequential stream segregation contributes to the detection of diotic tones among tones with time-varying interaural time differences (ITDs). Target (T) and distractor (D) tones, and a silent duration (–) formed a sequence (DTD–) and this sequence was presented repeatedly. A frequency difference was introduced between target and distractor tones. The distractor tones were also given time-varying ITDs to produce a percept of smooth auditory motion along the interaural axis. In half of the trials, the target tones were not given time-varying ITDs, and thus were diotically presented. The task of the listeners was to determine whether the repeated sequences of DTD–had target tones without motion. The sensitivity d′ for the detection of diotic target tones was higher with larger frequency differences. On the other hand, the criterion c was lower with larger frequency differences. In another session, I confirmed that proportions of reports “two streams” was positively and negatively correlated with d′ and c, respectively. The results indicate that the localisation of a sound image could be influenced by sequential stream segregation in complex sound environments.

1969 ◽  
Vol 21 (02) ◽  
pp. 249-258 ◽  
Author(s):  
L. A Sherman ◽  
M. A Goldstein ◽  
H. S Sise

SummaryThree cases have been presented who had a circulating antifactor VIII anticoagulant developing spontaneously in non-hemophilic subjects. Following two short courses of azathioprine in one case there were transient incomplete remissions of a degree not seen in the previous 4 months of observation. In the other two cases complete remissions were observed within three weeks of beginning administration of 6-mercaptopurine. In one of these, a brief relapse was retreated successfully. In 4 other cases not given these drugs and in cases reported in the literature, such a rapid remission was not seen to occur spontaneously and happened only infrequently in cases given corticosteroids. On the basis of this experience, we suggest that in the treatment of antifactor VIII, if the disorder shows no improvement with conventional therapy (blood, factor VIII concentrates, and corticosteroids), a trial with immunosuppressive drugs is warranted.


2008 ◽  
Vol 29 (1) ◽  
pp. 269-292 ◽  
Author(s):  
R Zimmermann

Within a culture of “Looking the Other way” there are not only empirically ascertainable reasons why help is not given in acute emergency situations, there is also a “Theory of Not-Helping” that attempts to demonstrate argumentatively why it may even be better not to help. According to the article, the parable of the “good Samaritan” invites us, however, to “look closely”. Four invitations of the text are developed, each with an emphasis on ethics: 1) The narrated Samaritan (The appeal structure of ethics); 2) The touched Samaritan (Ethics in the Context of Love); 3) The partisan Samaritan (Universal ethos of helping – or: Ethics of open partisanship); 4) The charitable Samaritan (Social ethics instead of ethics of conscience).


2016 ◽  
Vol 21 (5) ◽  
pp. 1158-1174 ◽  
Author(s):  
Stephen G. Hall ◽  
P. A. V. B. Swamy ◽  
George S. Tavlas

Coefficient drivers are observable variables that feed into time-varying coefficients (TVCs) and explain at least part of their movement. To implement the TVC approach, the drivers are split into two subsets, one of which is correlated with the bias-free coefficient that we want to estimate and the other with the misspecification in the model. This split, however, can appear to be arbitrary. We provide a way of splitting the drivers that takes account of any nonlinearity that may be present in the data, with the aim of removing the arbitrary element in driver selection. We also provide an example of the practical use of our method by applying it to modeling the effect of ratings on sovereign-bond spreads.


2006 ◽  
Vol 24 (3) ◽  
pp. 961-972 ◽  
Author(s):  
S. K. Morley ◽  
M. Lockwood

Abstract. Using a numerical implementation of the cowlock92 model of flow excitation in the magnetosphere-ionosphere (MI) system, we show that both an expanding (on a ~12-min timescale) and a quasi-instantaneous response in ionospheric convection to the onset of magnetopause reconnection can be accommodated by the Cowley-Lockwood conceptual framework. This model has a key feature of time dependence, necessarily considering the history of the coupled MI system. We show that a residual flow, driven by prior magnetopause reconnection, can produce a quasi-instantaneous global ionospheric convection response; perturbations from an equilibrium state may also be present from tail reconnection, which will superpose constructively to give a similar effect. On the other hand, when the MI system is relatively free of pre-existing flow, we can most clearly see the expanding nature of the response. As the open-closed field line boundary will frequently be in motion from such prior reconnection (both at the dayside magnetopause and in the cross-tail current sheet), it is expected that there will usually be some level of combined response to dayside reconnection.


10.47908/9/5 ◽  
2013 ◽  
pp. 96-117

‘But how can they say anything in the foreign language if they are not given the words beforehand?’ Language teachers often ask this question when I present examples of target language use in an autonomy classroom. This article explains how from the very beginning it is possible to engage pupils in authentic target language use, including communication that does not involve the teacher. The oral and written examples that I use to support my argument were produced by learners aged between 10 and 16 and ranging in proficiency from beginners to intermediate level. When I introduce each activity I also describe the pre-requisites for its success. In the last section of the article I summarise the positive results achieved in the autonomy classroom, which I illustrate using two sets of peer-to-peer talks collected by the LAALE project (Language Acquisition in an Autonomous Learning Environment), one from a ‘traditional’, communicative classroom in a German school, the other from a Danish autonomy classroom. I conclude by listing the essential features of an autonomous classroom supporting authentic language use.


2005 ◽  
Vol 93 (6) ◽  
pp. 3390-3400 ◽  
Author(s):  
W. R. D’Angelo ◽  
S. J. Sterbing ◽  
E.-M. Ostapoff ◽  
S. Kuwada

A major cue for the localization of sound in space is the interaural time difference (ITD). We examined the role of inhibition in the shaping of ITD responses in the inferior colliculus (IC) by iontophoretically ejecting γ-aminobutyric acid (GABA) antagonists and GABA itself using a multibarrel pipette. The GABA antagonists block inhibition, whereas the applied GABA provides a constant level of inhibition. The effects on ITD responses were evaluated before, during and after the application of the drugs. If GABA-mediated inhibition is involved in shaping ITD tuning in IC neurons, then applying additional amounts of this inhibitory transmitter should alter ITD tuning. Indeed, for almost all neurons tested, applying GABA reduced the firing rate and consequently sharpened ITD tuning. Conversely, blocking GABA-mediated inhibition increased the activity of IC neurons, often reduced the signal-to-noise ratio and often broadened ITD tuning. Blocking GABA could also alter the shape of the ITD function and shift its peak suggesting that the role of inhibition is multifaceted. These effects indicate that GABAergic inhibition at the level of the IC is important for ITD coding.


2013 ◽  
Vol 110 (1) ◽  
pp. 117-130 ◽  
Author(s):  
Paula T. Kuokkanen ◽  
Go Ashida ◽  
Catherine E. Carr ◽  
Hermann Wagner ◽  
Richard Kempter

The neurophonic potential is a synchronized frequency-following extracellular field potential that can be recorded in the nucleus laminaris (NL) in the brainstem of the barn owl. Putative generators of the neurophonic are the afferent axons from the nucleus magnocellularis, synapses onto NL neurons, and spikes of NL neurons. The outputs of NL, i.e., action potentials of NL neurons, are only weakly represented in the neurophonic. Instead, the inputs to NL, i.e., afferent axons and their synaptic potentials, are the predominant origin of the neurophonic (Kuokkanen PT, Wagner H, Ashida G, Carr CE, Kempter R. J Neurophysiol 104: 2274–2290, 2010). Thus in NL the monaural inputs from the two brain sides converge and create a binaural neurophonic. If these monaural inputs contribute independently to the extracellular field, the response to binaural stimulation can be predicted from the sum of the responses to ipsi- and contralateral stimulation. We found that a linear summation model explains the dependence of the responses on interaural time difference as measured experimentally with binaural stimulation. The fit between model predictions and data was excellent, even without taking into account the nonlinear responses of NL coincidence detector neurons, although their firing rate and synchrony strongly depend on the interaural time difference. These results are consistent with the view that the afferent axons and their synaptic potentials in NL are the primary origin of the neurophonic.


2009 ◽  
Vol 101 (5) ◽  
pp. 2348-2361 ◽  
Author(s):  
Katrin Vonderschen ◽  
Hermann Wagner

Barn owls process sound-localization information in two parallel pathways, the midbrain and the forebrain pathway. Exctracellular recordings of neural responses to auditory stimuli from far advanced stations of these pathways, the auditory arcopallium in the forebrain and the external nucleus of the inferior colliculus in the midbrain, demonstrated that the representations of interaural time difference and frequency in the forebrain pathway differ from those in the midbrain pathway. Specifically, low-frequency representation was conserved in the forebrain pathway, while it was lost in the midbrain pathway. Variation of interaural time difference yielded symmetrical tuning curves in the midbrain pathway. By contrast, the typical forebrain-tuning curve was asymmetric with a steep slope crossing zero time difference and a less-steep slope toward larger contralateral time disparities. Low sound frequencies contributed sensitivity to contralateral leading sounds underlying these asymmetries, whereas high frequencies enhanced the steepness of slopes at small interaural time differences. Furthermore, the peaks of time-disparity tuning curves were wider in the forebrain than in the midbrain. The distribution of the steepest slopes of best interaural time differences in the auditory arcopallium, but not in the external nucleus of the inferior colliculus, was centered at zero time difference. The distribution observed in the auditory arocpallium is reminiscent of the situation observed in small mammals. We speculate that the forebrain representation may serve as a population code supporting fine discrimination of central interaural time differences and coarse indication of laterality of a stimulus for large interaural time differences.


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