Detection of Tastes in Mixture with Other Tastes: Issues of Masking and Aging

When one taste (masker) is strong enough, it can completelymask another taste (target) of different quality. How strongthe masker must be to do this depends on how strong the targetis. As the target concentration is increased, the masking concentrationmust be increased, too, but in ever-increasing proportion. Toquantify the conditions for such complete masking, the target'sdetection threshold was measured as a function of the masker'sconcentration, from zero to strong. This was done for 12 binarycombinations of sucrose, sodium chloride, citric acid and quininehydrochloride. The 12 functions generated show that some tastantsmask each other much more efficiently than others. Masking givesnew insight into the role of aging in taste: older (66–90years) subjects' thresholds, regardless of masking concentration,always measured a constant factor higher than younger (18–29years) subjects' thresholds (about two to seven times higher,depending on target tastant). Thus, with increasing level ofthe masker, the thresholds of young and elderly go up in parallel.Thresholds of tastants in water alone are false predictors ofelderly persons' ability to perceive ingredients like salt andsugar condiments in foods, where, because of masking, theirthresholds can be several times higher than in water. Age manifesteditself relatively mildly in sucrose and citric acid, moderatelyin sodium chloride, and strongly in quinine hydrochloride. Chem.Senses 21: 211–221, 1996.     

Effect of harmonicity on the detection of a signal in a complex masker and on spatial release from masking

The amount of masking of sounds from one source (signals) by sounds from a competing source (maskers) heavily depends on the sound characteristics of the masker and the signal and on their relative spatial location. Numerous studies investigated the ability to detect a signal in a speech or a noise masker or the effect of spatial separation of signal and masker on the amount of masking, but there is a lack of studies investigating the combined effects of many cues on the masking as is typical for natural listening situations. The current study using free-field listening systematically evaluates the combined effects of harmonicity and inharmonicity cues in multi-tone maskers and cues resulting from spatial separation of target signal and masker on the detection of a pure tone in a multi-tone or a noise masker. A linear binaural processing model was implemented to predict the masked thresholds in order to estimate whether the observed thresholds can be accounted for by energetic masking in the auditory periphery or whether other effects are involved. Thresholds were determined for combinations of two target frequencies (1 and 8 kHz), two spatial configurations (masker and target either co-located or spatially separated by 90 degrees azimuth), and five different masker types (four complex multi-tone stimuli, one noise masker). A spatial separation of target and masker resulted in a release from masking for all masker types. The amount of masking significantly depended on the masker type and frequency range. The various harmonic and inharmonic relations between target and masker or between components of the masker resulted in a complex pattern of increased or decreased masked thresholds in comparison to the predicted energetic masking. The results indicate that harmonicity cues affect the detectability of a tonal target in a complex masker.     

Hearing Sensitivity to Shifts of Rippled-Spectrum Sound Signals in Masking Noise

The goal of the study was to enlarge knowledge of discrimination of complex sound signals by the auditory system in masking noise. For that, influence of masking noise on detection of shift of rippled spectrum was studied in normal listeners. The signal was a shift of ripple phase within a 0.5-oct wide rippled spectrum centered at 2 kHz. The ripples were frequency-proportional (throughout the band, ripple spacing was a constant proportion of the ripple center frequency). Simultaneous masker was a 0.5-oct noise below-, on-, or above the signal band. Both the low-frequency (center frequency 1 kHz) and on-frequency (the same center frequency as for the signal) maskers increased the thresholds for detecting ripple phase shift. However, the threshold dependence on the masker level was different for these two maskers. For the on-frequency masker, the masking effect primarily depended on the masker/signal ratio: the threshold steeply increased at a ratio of 5 dB, and no shift was detectable at a ratio of 10 dB. For the low-frequency masker, the masking effect primarily depended on the masker level: the threshold increased at a masker level of 80 dB SPL, and no shift was detectable at a masker level of 90 dB (for a signal level of 50 dB) or 100 dB (for a signal level of 80 dB). The high-frequency masker had little effect. The data were successfully simulated using an excitation-pattern model. In this model, the effect of the on-frequency masker appeared to be primarily due to a decrease of ripple depth. The effect of the low-frequency masker appeared due to widening of the auditory filters at high sound levels.     

Taste perception with age: generic or specific losses in threshold sensitivity to the five basic tastes?

Detection thresholds for NaCl, KCl, sucrose, aspartame, acetic acid, citric acid, caffeine, quinine HCl, monosodium glutamate (MSG) and inosine 5'-monophosphate (IMP) were assessed in 21 young (19-33 years) and 21 elderly (60-75 years) persons by taking the average of six ascending two-alternative forced choice tests. A significant overall effect was found for age, but not for gender. However, an interaction effect of age and gender was found. The older men were less sensitive than the young men and women for acetic acid, sucrose, citric acid, sodium and potassium chloride and IMP. To detect the compound dissolved in water they needed a 1.32 (aspartame) to 5.70 times (IMP) higher concentration than the younger subjects. A significant decline in thresholds with replication was shown. The age effect found could be attributed predominantly to a generic taste loss.     

Intensity and hedonic judgments of taste mixtures: an information integration analysis

Anderson's (1981) information integration approach was usedto examine taste mixture integration for intensity and hedonicjudgments of sucrose/sodium chloride and sucrose/citnc acidsolutions. In Experiment I, total intensity and hedonic ratingswere made for factorial combinations of sucrose and sodium chlorideor citric acid. The total intensity judgments produced an integrationpattern characterized by extreme subadditivity at high soluteconcentrations. (Subadditivity refers to the tendency for totalmixture intensity to be rated as less than the sum of the unmixedcomponent intensities.) The intensity judgment integration patternswere essentially identical for the two mixture types. However,the pattern of integration for the sucrose/sodium chloride andsucrose/citric acid mixtures differed for the hedonic ratings.Sucrose tended to eliminate the unpleasantness associated withincreasing concentrations of citric acid, while it only modulatedthis trend for sodium chloride. In Experiment II, subjects ratedthe individual sweet, salty and sour components of the mixturesto determine whether mixture suppression of the component tastescould account for the subadditivity of the total intensity judgmentsand/or the pattern of results for the hedonic ratings. It wasfound that sucrose suppressed the sour component of the sucrose/citricacid mixtures more than the salty component of the sucrose/sodiumchloride solutions This difference in component suppressionseemed to account for the hedonic integration patterns of thetwo mixture types which suggests that mixture suppression isan important factor to consider when predicting the pleasantnessof simple taste mixtures.     

Modulation discrimination interference and auditory grouping.

The detection of a change in the modulation pattern of a (target) carrier frequency, fc (for example a change in the depth of amplitude or frequency modulation, AM or FM) can be adversely affected by the presence of other modulated sounds (maskers) at frequencies remote from fc, an effect called modulation discrimination interference (MDI). MDI cannot be explained in terms of interaction of the sounds in the peripheral auditory system. It may result partly from a tendency for sounds which are modulated in a similar way to be perceptually 'grouped', i.e. heard as a single sound. To test this idea, MDI for the detection of a change in AM depth was measured as a function of stimulus variables known to affect perceptual grouping, namely overall duration and onset and offset asynchrony between the masking and target sounds. In parallel experiments, subjects were presented with a series of pairs of sounds, the target alone and the target with maskers, and were asked to rate how clearly the modulation of the target could be heard in the complex mixture. The results suggest that two factors contribute to MDI. One factor is difficulty in hearing a pitch corresponding to the target frequency. This factor appears to be strongly affected by perceptual grouping. Its effects can be reduced or abolished by asynchronous gating of the target and masker. The second factor is a specific difficulty in hearing the modulation of the target, or in distinguishing that modulation from the modulation of other sounds that are present. This factor has effects even under conditions promoting perceptual segregation of the target and masker.     

Temporal summation under masking conditions and speech recognition

Temporal summation was estimated by measuring the detection thresholds for pulses with durations of 1–50 ms in the presence of noise maskers. The purpose of the study was to examine the effects of the spectral profiles and intensities of noise maskers on temporal summation, to investigate the appearance of signs of peripheral processing of pulses with various frequency-time structures in auditory responses, and to test the opportunity to use temporal summation for speech recognition. The central frequencies of pulses and maskers were similar. The maskers had ripple structures of the amplitude spectra of two types. In some maskers, the central frequencies coincided with the spectrum humps, whereas in other maskers, they coincided with spectrum dip (so-called on- and off-maskers). When the auditory system differentiated the masker humps, then the difference between the thresholds of recognition of the stimuli presented together with each of two types of maskers was not equal to zero. The assessment of temporal summation and the difference of the thresholds of pulse recognition under conditions of the presentation of the on- and off-maskers allowed us to make a conclusion on auditory sensitivity and the resolution of the spectral structure of maskers or frequency selectivity during presentation of pulses of various durations in local frequency areas. In order to estimate the effect of the dynamic properties of hearing on sensitivity and frequency selectivity, we changed the intensity of maskers. We measured temporal summation under the conditions of the presentation of on- and off-maskers of various intensities in two frequency ranges (2 and 4 kHz) in four subjects with normal hearing and one person with age-related hearing impairments who complained of a decrease in speech recognition under noise conditions. Pulses shorter than 10 ms were considered as simple models of consonant sounds, whereas tone pulses longer than 10 ms were considered as simple models of vowel sounds. In subjects with normal hearing in the range of moderate masker intensities, we observed an enhancement of temporal summation when the short pulses or consonant sounds were presented and an improvement of the resolution of the broken structure of masker spectra when the short and tone pulses, i.e., consonant and vowel sounds, were presented. We supposed that the enhancement of the summation was related to the refractoriness of the fibers of the auditory nerve. In the range of 4 kHz, the subject with age-related hearing impairments did not recognize the ripple structure of the maskers in the presence of the short pulses or consonant sounds. We supposed that these impairments were caused by abnormal synchronization of the responses of the auditory nerve fibers induced by the pulses, and this resulted in a decrease in speech recognition.     

Simulated microgravity [bed rest] has little influence on taste,odor or trigeminal sensitivity

Anecdotal evidence suggests that astronauts' perceptions of foods in space flight may differ from their perceptions of the same foods on Earth. Fluid shifts toward the head experienced in space may alter the astronauts' sensitivity to odors and tastes, producing altered perceptions. Our objective was to determine whether head-down bed rest, which produces similar fluid shifts, would produce changes in sensitivity to taste, odor or trigeminal sensations. Six subjects were tested three times prior to bed rest, three times during bed rest and two times after bed rest to determine their threshold sensitivity to the odors isoamylbutyrate and menthone, the tastants sucrose, sodium chloride, citric acid, quinine and monosodium glutamate, and to capsaicin. Thresholds were measured using a modified staircase procedure. Self-reported congestion was also recorded at each test time. Thresholds for monosodium glutamate where slightly higher during bed rest. None of the other thresholds were altered by bed rest.     

Magnetoencephalographic Study on Forward Suppression by Ipsilateral,Contralateral, and Binaural Maskers

When two tones are presented in a short time interval, the response to the second tone is suppressed. This phenomenon is referred to as forward suppression. To address the effect of the masker laterality on forward suppression, magnetoencephalographic responses were investigated for eight subjects with normal hearing when the preceding maskers were presented ipsilaterally, contralaterally, and binaurally. We employed three masker intensity conditions: the ipsilateral-strong, left-right-balanced, and contralateral-strong conditions. Regarding the responses to the maskers without signal, the N1m amplitude evoked by the left and binaural maskers was significantly larger than that evoked by the right masker for the left-strong and left-right-balanced conditions. No significant difference was observed for the right-strong condition. Regarding the subsequent N1m amplitudes, they were attenuated by the presence of the left, binaural, and right maskers for all conditions. For the left- and right-strong conditions, the subsequent N1m amplitude in the presence of the left masker was smaller than those of the binaural and right maskers. No difference was observed between the binaural and right masker presentation. For left-right-balanced condition, the subsequent N1m amplitude decreased in the presence of the right, binaural, and left maskers in that order. If the preceding activity reflected the ability to suppress the subsequent activity, the forward suppression by the left masker would be superior to that by the right masker for the left-strong and left-right-balanced conditions. Furthermore, the forward suppression by the binaural masker would be expected to be superior to that by the left masker owing to additional afferent activity from the right ear. Thus, the current results suggest that the forward suppression by ipsilateral maskers is superior to that by contralateral maskers although both maskers evoked the N1m amplitudes to the same degree. Additional masker at the contralateral ear can attenuate the forward suppression by the ipsilateral masker.     

Taste threshold determination and side-preference in captive cockatiels (Nymphicus hollandicus)

The taste thresholds of caged cockatiels (Nymphicus hollandicus) for aqueous solutions of sodium chloride, citric acid, and sucrose were studied using two-choice taste-preference tests. The effects of location on the threshold were tested by putting the flavored solution in either the preferred or non-preferred locations (i.e. sides of cages) and offering water in the opposite location. Four parameters (total consumption, consumption from preferred side, consumption from non-preferred side, and proportion of test solution consumed) were measured at the end of 3-day test periods. Experiments were repeated with increasing concentration of test flavors until intake variables were significantly (p<0.05) affected. The results showed that birds distinguished (p<0.05) between purified water and 0.16 mol l(-1) sodium chloride, 0.36 mol l(-1) sucrose, or pH 5.5 citric acid. The likelihood of detecting a taste threshold was greater for sodium chloride and citric acid when these solutions were placed on the preferred side. In contrast, sucrose sensitivity was greater when this solution was offered on the non-preferred side.     

Forward masking in the evoked responses of the guinea pig auditory cortex: effects of variation of the interaural time and phase differences

In anaesthesized guinea pigs the evoked potentials of the auditory cortex were studied in a forward masking paradigm. In-phase and out-of-phase binaurally presented clicks with interaural time delay (ITD) were used as masker, in-phase click with ITD = 0 served as probe signal. Addition of the masking stimulus suppressed the probe-evoked response that followed the masker. The magnitude of the suppression correlated with the amount of the masker-evoked response: an increase in masker-evoked excitation caused a greater reduction in probe response magnitude. Amplitude of masker-evoked response was seen to be a monotonic or non-monotonic function of ITD. The non-monotonic response exhibited a sensitivity to the interaural phase differences when in-phase and out-of-phase maskers were presented, and showed the tendency to be periodic function of ITD in the expanded range of ITD values. Phase-sensitive responses differed in recovery time following the in-phase and out-of-phase masking stimuli. At near-threshold levels of a forward masker an enhancement of the probe-evoked response was observed.     

Auditory sensitivity and psychophysical tuning curves in the elephant nose fish,Gnathonemus petersii

Summary Hearing sensitivity and psychophysical tuning curves were determined for the mormyridGnathonemus petersii. Pure tone hearing thresholds were determined from 100 Hz to 2,500 Hz, with best sensitivity being about –31 dB (re: 1 dyne/ cm²) from 300 Hz to 1,000 Hz. In order to determine frequency tuning of the auditory system, psychophysical tuning curves (PTC's) were measured with the masker presented simultaneously with, or just ahead of, the 500 Hz test signal. The sound level for different frequencies needed to just mask the test tone were determined from 100 to 800 Hz. Maximum masking occurred in both forward and simultaneous conditions when the masker and the test tone were at the same frequency. As the masker was moved in frequency from 500 Hz, higher sound levels of maskers were needed to afford masking of the test tone. The data were similar in simultaneous and forward masking, with theQ _{10 dB}, a measure of sharpness of tuning, being about 5 in both cases. Data were compared for other species for which behavioral thresholds and PTC's are available.Gnathonemus hears about as wide a range of frequencies as the goldfish,Carassius auratus, although the PTC's for the two species are strikingly different. The PTC's forGnathonemus resemble those determined in a forward-masking paradigm for the clown knife fish,Notopterus chitala, even thoughGnathonemus has a wider hearing bandwidth.Abbreviations AM amplitude modulated - EOD electric organ discharge - PTC psychophysical tuning curve     

INGESTION AND EXPECTORATION SAMPLING METHODS OF FOUR TASTES IN A MODEL SYSTEM USING TIME-INTENSITY EVALUATIONS

The objective of this investigation was to compare two sampling methods (expectoration and ingestion) of single component water solutions (sweet—5% sucrose, sour—0.006% citric acid, bitter—0.027% caffeine, salty—0.325% sodium chloride) using time-intensity (T-I) evaluations. Analysis of variance was used to evaluate significant differences. There were subject inconsistencies for the recording times (RT) of sucrose, caffeine and sodium chloride tastes among the sampling methods. No panel differences were found for citric acid duration (RT) between ingested or expectorated samples. Individual contradictions for amplitude sucrose and sodium chloride mixtures were apparent however, the panel demonstrated no differences among the amplitude means between the sampling methods for citric acid and caffeine solutions. Aftertastes for ingested sodium chloride solutions were significantly (P < 0.01) greater than for expectorated samples whereas sampling techniques had no effect upon caffeine aftertastes. Individual contradictions were apparent for citric acid and sucrose aftertastes between the sampling methods.     

听神经复合动作电位适应性的定量研究

本文研究了短声串作为刺激时,听神经复合动作电位(CAP)中发生的掩蔽作用随短声串的各项参数变化的关系.结果表明:①双短声诱发的CAP中掩蔽作用随两个短声间距的增大而减小;②掩蔽声越强,或被掩蔽声越弱,掩蔽作用越明显.恢复所需的时间也越长;③掩蔽作用随掩蔽声个数的增多而增大,当个数增大到一定数目时,掩蔽作用趋于饱和.     

Effect of forward masking on evoked potentials of auditory cortex in guinea pigs

Thresholds of the event-related potentials (ERPs) appearance were measured for one stationary and four moving auditory images presented in silence or under forward masking conditions. The difference between thresholds in silence and after noise masker was considered as masking level. Under the forward masking, the amplitude of the ERP to the first click in the test series decreased in guinea pig auditory cortex. Masking level decreased with the time lag between signal and masker and didn't depend on the fused auditory image localization that corresponded to the first click in different test signals. This fact can support the hypothesis that for the long test signals the initial part can be masked more than the final one. The ERPs amplitude to next clicks in test series depended on interaction of two factors: forward masking in the "masker-signal" system and interaction of separate ERPs in the series evoked by the test signal.     

Weighting of Spatial and Spectro-Temporal Cues for Auditory Scene Analysis by Human Listeners

The auditory system creates a neuronal representation of the acoustic world based on spectral and temporal cues present at the listener''s ears, including cues that potentially signal the locations of sounds. Discrimination of concurrent sounds from multiple sources is especially challenging. The current study is part of an effort to better understand the neuronal mechanisms governing this process, which has been termed “auditory scene analysis”. In particular, we are interested in spatial release from masking by which spatial cues can segregate signals from other competing sounds, thereby overcoming the tendency of overlapping spectra and/or common temporal envelopes to fuse signals with maskers. We studied detection of pulsed tones in free-field conditions in the presence of concurrent multi-tone non-speech maskers. In “energetic” masking conditions, in which the frequencies of maskers fell within the ±1/3-octave band containing the signal, spatial release from masking at low frequencies (∼600 Hz) was found to be about 10 dB. In contrast, negligible spatial release from energetic masking was seen at high frequencies (∼4000 Hz). We observed robust spatial release from masking in broadband “informational” masking conditions, in which listeners could confuse signal with masker even though there was no spectral overlap. Substantial spatial release was observed in conditions in which the onsets of the signal and all masker components were synchronized, and spatial release was even greater under asynchronous conditions. Spatial cues limited to high frequencies (>1500 Hz), which could have included interaural level differences and the better-ear effect, produced only limited improvement in signal detection. Substantially greater improvement was seen for low-frequency sounds, for which interaural time differences are the dominant spatial cue.     

持续与间断噪声前掩蔽条件下小鼠下丘神经元的不同反应模式

有关听中枢神经元纯音前掩蔽效应的神经表征已进行了大量研究,但是,噪声前掩蔽尤其是间断噪声前掩蔽效应的神经表征却鲜有报道。本研究观察了自由声场条件下,昆明小鼠下丘神经元在持续与间断噪声前掩蔽条件下对纯音探测声的反应。共记录到96个下丘神经元,测量了其中51个神经元在不同声刺激条件下的强度一放电率函数。结果显示,掩蔽声强度分布较广（探测声阈下21dB至阈上19dB之间）。在将近一半的神经元中,间断噪声的前掩蔽效应比持续噪声强（Ⅰ型,45．10％,P〈0．001）,但也有少数神经元其间断噪声的掩蔽效应较持续噪声的弱（Ⅲ型,17．65％,P〈0．001）,部分神经元无显著性差异（Ⅱ型,37．25％,P〉0．05）。无论Ⅰ型还是Ⅲ型神经元,持续噪声和间断噪声均在探测声强度较低时产生较强的抑制效应,随着探测声强度的升高,抑制效应逐渐降低（P〈0．001）;同时,持续噪声和间断噪声之间前掩蔽效应差异亦不复存在（P〉0．05）。此外,当掩蔽声由持续噪声换为间断噪声后,部分Ⅰ型神经元掩蔽时相的类型发生转变,其中最主要的转变为由前期抑制转变为均衡抑制（53．85％,7／13）。对下丘神经元声反应的时间域以及强度域,持续与间断噪声具有分化性前掩蔽效应,提示噪声前掩蔽并非简单的神经元发放压抑源,某些主动性神经调制机制可能参与了噪声条件下时相声信息的编码过程。     

The taste of polycose in hamsters

Hamsters show a preference for Polycose, a mixture of starch-derived glucose polymers, that is as strong as their preference for sucrose. However, in the hamster, taste aversions to Polycose may be less easily acquired than taste aversions to sucrose and the qualitative aspects of Polycose are unknown in this species. In order to examine the taste of Polycose in the hamster, we utilized a taste-aversion protocol with two conditioning trials. Animals were trained to avoid one of three different conditioning stimuli: 50 mM sucrose, 100 mM Polycose and a mixture of 50 mM sucrose with 100 mM Polycose. Control animals were conditioned with deionized water. After the second conditioning trial, generalization testing began for the three conditioning stimuli plus 3 mM citric acid, 300 mM KCI and 30 mM NaCl. The results showed that aversions to Polycose, sucrose or the Polycose/sucrose mixture cross- generalized, demonstrating that Polycose and sucrose share a common taste percept in the hamster. None of the aversions generalized to NaCl, citric acid or KCI. In addition, comparisons among the patterns of taste generalizations indicated that the tastes of Polycose and sucrose also had distinct qualitative components. Finally, although the taste of 100 mM Polycose was more salient than the taste of 50 mM sucrose, the taste of sucrose could still be detected in a mixture with Polycose.      

The effect of temporal structure on rustling-sound detection in the gleaning bat,Megaderma lyra

For a gleaning bat hunting prey from the ground, rustling sounds generated by prey movements are essential to invoke a hunting behaviour. The detection of prey-generated rustling sounds may depend heavily on the time structure of the prey-generated and the masking sounds due to their spectral similarity. Here, we systematically investigate the effect of the temporal structure on psychophysical rustling-sound detection in the gleaning bat, Megaderma lyra. A recorded rustling sound serves as the signal; the maskers are either Gaussian noise or broadband noise with various degrees of envelope fluctuations. Exploratory experiments indicate that the selective manipulation of the temporal structure of the rustling sound does not influence its detection in a Gaussian-noise masker. The results of the main experiment show, however, that the temporal structure of the masker has a strong and systematic effect on rustling-sound detection: When the width of irregularly spaced gaps in the masker exceeded about 0.3 ms, rustling-sound detection improved monotonically with increasing gap duration. Computer simulations of this experiment reveal that a combined detection strategy of spectral and temporal analysis underlies rustling-sound detection with fluctuating masking sounds.     

Attenuation of vibrotactile spatial summation.

Masked and quiet thresholds at several frequencies of vibratory stimuli were measured as a function of contactor area. The test site was the left index finger; the masking site was the left little finger. The quiet threshold data were consistent with previous investigations: Low-frequency stimuli showed no spatial summation, whereas high-frequency stimuli did. In the presence of a masker, spatial summation was reduced or eliminated for high-frequency stimuli, i.e., the masked threshold was, under some conditions, independent of contactor area. Low-frequency stimuli continued to show no spatial summation in the presence of a masker. The attenuation of spatial summation appears to be a direct function of the intensity of the masking stimulus. Additional measurements with the left thenar eminence as the test site showed that spatial summation could be attenuated by a masker placed on a contralateral body site. The implications of the results for quantifying the effectiveness of a masking stimulus, for the duplex mechanoreceptor hypothesis, and for the nature of spatial summation on the skin are discussed.