One of the most fundamental aspects of the auditory system is its frequency selectivity - the ability to resolve a complex sound into frequency compOhents. This ability plays a role in many aspects of auditory perception, including: the masking of one sound by another; the perception of pitch for pure tones and complex tones; the perception of timbre; the perception of the relative phase of components in complex sounds; and the perception of loudness. Over the last decade, there have been considerable advances in our understanding of frequency selectivity, both at the physiological and psychophysical level, and rapid progress continues to be made. This book summarizes the proceedings of a NATO Advanced Research Workshop on Auditory Frequency Selectivity which was held in Wolfson College, Cambridge from June 23rd to 27th, 1986. The Workshop brought together leading researchers from all disciplines relevant to the topic, with the aim of reviewing and consolidating the latest research findings, and identifying areas of uncertainty or controversy where further research is needed. The book is aimed primarily at research scientists and research students in the fields of psychology, audiology, auditory physiology, biophysics, medicine, acoustical engineering, noise control, communication and speech science. It should also be useful for advanced undergraduates in these disciplines. A feature of the book is that it includes summaries of the discussions which followed the presentation of each paper at the Workshop.

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Cochlear Mechanics and Otoacoustic Emissions.- Changes in Cochlear Frequency Selectivity Produced by Tectorial-Membrane Manipulation.- Basilar Membrane Tuning in the Pigeon Ear.- Ultra-High Frequency Selectivity in the Horseshoe Bat: Does the Bat Use an Acoustic Interference Filter?.- Asymmetry in Reflection of Cochlear Waves.- The Effects of Temperature on Otoacoustic Emission Tuning Properties.- Spontaneous Oto-acoustic Emissions, Threshold in Quiet, and Just Noticeable Amplitude Modulation at Low Levels.- Mechanical and Electrical Tuning in Hair Cells.- The Evolution of Mechanisms of Frequency Selectivity in Vertebrates.- Harmonic Components in Hair Cell Responses.- Membrane Currents in Solitary Turtle Hair Cells.- Correlation Between the Kinetic Properties of Ionic Channels and the Frequency of Membrane-Potential Resonance in Hair Cells of the Bullfrog.- Direct Evidence for an Active Mechanical Process in Mammalian Outer Hair Cells.- The Cellular Physiology of Isolated Outer Hair Cells: Implications for Cochlear Frequency Selectivity.- Outer Hair Cell Motility and Cochlear Frequency Selectivity.- Electrophysiological Measures of Frequency Selectivity and Suppression.- Some Aspects of Rate Coding in the Auditory Nerve.- Adaptation, Suppression and Tuning in Amphibian Acoustical Fibers.- Frequency Selectivity, Adaptation, and Suppression in Goldfish Auditory Nerve Fibers.- Frequency Selectivity of Acoustically Evoked Potentials from Peripheral and Central Vestibular Structures.- Low Doses of Aminoglycosides Alter the Action Potential Tuning Curve Without Change in Threshold Sensitivity.- Compound Action Potential (CAP) Tuning in Man and Guinea Pig: Effect of Probe Tone Level and Hearing Loss.- Auditory Nerve-Fibre Bandwidths Determined by Two Different Simultaneous Masking Procedures.- Single-Neuron Timing Curves Measured with Psychoacoustic Masking Paradigms.- Measurement and Interpretation of Phase-Locked Neural Responses.- Basilar Membrane Motion and Spike Initiation in the Cochlear Nerve.- Filtering Due to the Inner Hair-Cell Membrane Properties and its Relation to the Phase-locking Limit in Cochlear Nerve Fibres.- Phase Response of Low-Frequency Cochlear Ganglion Cells in the Starling.- Synchronization and Suppression in Primary Auditory Fibers: An Examination of Vector Strength in Relation to Suppression.- Effects of Phase and Amplitude Spectrum in the Nonlinear Processing of Complex Stimuli in Single Fibers of the Auditory Nerve.- Possible Role of Low and Medium Spontaneous Rate Cochlear Nerve Fibers in the Encoding of Waveform Periodicity.- Cochlear Nerve Fibre Temporal Discharge Patterns, Cochlear Frequency Selectivity and the Dominant Region for Pitch.- Strategies for the Representation of Broadband Stimuli in the Discharge Patterns of Auditory-Nerve Fibers.- Comparisons Between Actual and Simulated Responses of Auditory Nerve Fibers Excited by Natural Stop Consonant-Vowel Syllables.- Responses of Cochlear Nucleus Neurons to Speech Signals: Neural Encoding of Pitch, Intensity and Other Parameters.- Encoding the Acoustic Spectrum in the Spatio-Temporal Responses of the Auditory Nerve.- Thinning Periodicity Detectors for Modulated Pulse Streams.- Psychoacoustic Measures of Frequency Selectivity and Suppression.- Critical Bandwidth at Low Frequencies Reconsidered.- Frequency Resolution Measured by Adaptively Varying the Notchwidth: Results from Normals and Hearing Impaired.- The Effect of Hearing Impairment on Auditory Filter Shapes in Simultaneous and Forward Masking.- Tuning Curves at High Frequencies and Their Relation to the Absolute Threshold Curve.- 'Frequency' and the Detection of Spectral Shape.- Processing of Complex Signals and the Role of Inhibition.- The Unimportance of Suppression.- Masking Produced by Fluctuating Sounds.- Effects of the Temporal Properties of a Masker upon Simultaneous-Masking Patterns.- 'Binaural Frequency Selectivity' and CMR.- Masking of Short Noise Probes by Frequency Sweeps for Hearing-Impaired and Normal-Hearing Listeners.- Perceptual Correlates of Frequency Selectivity.- The Relationship Between Frequency Selectivity and Frequency Discrimination for Subjects with Unilateral and Bilateral Cochlear Impairments.- Monaural Phase Sensitivity: Frequency Selectivity and Temporal Processes.- On Thresholds of Short-Duration Intensity Increments and Decrements.- The Role of Aural Frequency Analysis in Pitch Perception with Simultaneous Complex Tones.- Participants.- First Author Index.