Temporal auditory summation for pure tones and white noise in the house mouse (M u s m u s c u l u s)

Abstract

The dependence of the absolute auditory threshold on signal duration was measured by behavioral methods in the house mouse (Mus musculus). Twelve frequencies between 1-120 kHz and white broadband noise were tested while 7 pulse durations between 1-3000 ms were used. In any case temporal summation followed the function I .cntdot. tb = const until, at a critical duration tc, a constant value was reached where thresholds became independent from signal duration. The critical durations were frequency-dependent following the general function: tc = p .cntdot. fq (with q < 0). This frequency-dependent nonlinearity could also be extracted from available data on human hearing. A critical-band-related summation theory assuming fixed critical bands even for short signal durations was discussed.