Frequency tuning of hearing in the beluga whale: discrimination of rippled spectra.

Frequency tuning was measured in the beluga whale (Delphinapterus leucas) using rippled-noise test stimuli in conjunction with an auditory evoked potential (AEP) technique. The test stimulus was a 2-octave-wide rippled noise with frequency-proportional ripple spacing. The rippled-noise signal contained either a single reversal or rhythmic (1-kHz rate) reversals of the ripple phase. Single or rhythmic phase reversals evoked, respectively, a single auditory brainstem response (ABR) or a rhythmic AEP sequence-the envelope following response (EFR). The response was considered as an indication of resolvability of the ripple pattern. The rhythmic phase-reversal test with EFR recording revealed higher resolution than the single phase-reversal test with single ABR recording. The limit of ripple-pattern resolution with the single phase-reversal test ranged from 17 ripples per octave (rpo) at 32 kHz to 24 rpo at 45 to 64 kHz; for the rhythmic phase-reversal test, the limit ranged from 20 to 32 rpo. An interaction model of a ripple spectrum with frequency-tuned filters suggests that the ripple-pattern resolution limit of 20 to 32 rpo requires a filter quality Q of 29 to 46. Possible causes of disagreement of these estimates with several previously published data are discussed.