Psychoacoustic evaluation of musical sounds

A review is given of several basic aspects of musical sounds, i.e., the perception of duration, the perception of sound impulses as events within temporal patterns, timbre, the equivalence of sensational intervals, roughness, and the pitch qualities of complex sounds. Selected examples illustrate how psychoacoustic results can contribute to the evaluation of musical sounds and to the understanding of the perception of music.     

The emotions and the ergotropic and trophotropic systems

Summary The activation of the ergotropic or trophotropic system regardless of the procedures through which it is accomplished results in an alteration of the reactivity of the central nervous system for which the term ergotropic or trophotropic tuning is used. Three states of tuning induced by increasing degrees of activation are distinguished. At the first stage of ergotropic tuning the tone and reactivity of the ergotropic system is increased while that of the trophotropic system is reciprocally inhibited. Corresponding changes in reactivity occur during the tuning of the trophotropic system. At the second stage of ergotropic tuning reversal phenomena occur: a stimulus which under control conditions evokes a trophotropic response elicits an ergotropic response in the tuned state. Thus petting produces a rage reaction in the ergotropically tuned state and neutral stimuli which do not evoke any reactions under control conditions evoke ergotropic and trophotropic responses respectively in states of ergotropic and trophotropic tuning. The alterations in the reactivity of the central nervous system in the tuned state is not restricted to inborn (unconditional) reactions but is also demonstrable in response to conditional stimuli. Whereas the activity of the ergotropic and trophotropic systems shows reciprocal relations in stage I and II of tuning, stage III is characterized by simultaneous increased ergotropic and trophotropic discharges. It is believed that at this high degree of ergotropic tuning the ergotropic excitation spills over into the trophotropic system. At the same time pathological symptoms (neurosis, hallucinations) appear. Although changes in the internal environment induced by hypothalamic-hypophyseal discharges modify states of tuning and emotional behavior the chief factor determining mood and emotion is the ergotropic-trophotropic balance.

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Zusammenfassung Die Aktivierung des ergotrophischen oder trophotrophischen Systems durch verschiedene Prozeduren führt eine Änderung der Erregbarkeit des Zentralnervensystems herbei, die als ergo- oder trophotrophische Umstimmung bezeichnet wird. Mit steigender Reizung lassen sich drei verschiedene Stadien solcher Umstimmung unterscheiden. Das erste Stadium der ergotrophischen Umstimmung ist durch erhöhten Tonus und Erregbarkeit des ergotrophischen Systems und gleichzeitiger Hemmung des trophotrophischen Systems charakterisiert. Entsprechende Änderungen der Erregbarkeit werden im Zustand der trophotrophischen Umstimmung beobachtet. Mit stärkerer Reizung des ergotrophischen Systems—im zweiten Stadium der ergotrophischen Umstimmung — treten Umkehrungsvorgänge (reversal) auf. Ein Reiz, der im Kontrollversuch einen trophotrophischen Erfolg hat, ruft eine ergotrophische Antwort unter den Bedingungen der ergotrophischen Umstimmung hervor. Streicheln zum Beispiel ruft im zweiten Stadium der ergotrophischen Umstimmung eine Wutreaktion hervor, und neutrale Reize, die im Kontrollversuch keine Wirkung ausüben, rufen während ergotrophischer Umstimmung eine ergotrophische und während trophotrophischer Umstimmung eine trophotrophische Reaktion hervor. Die Veränderungen der Erregbarkeit gelten auch für bedingte Reize. Im Gegensatz zu dem ersten und zweiten Stadium der Umstimmung, in dem ergotrophische und trophotrophische Prozesse Reziprozität zeigen, treten im dritten Umstimmungsstadium ergotrophische und trophotrophische Entladungen gleichzeitig auf. Es wird angenommen, daß in diesem hohen Grade von Umstimmung die ergotrophische Erregung in das trophotrophische System überfließt. Gleichzeitig treten pathologische Symptome auf (Neurose, Halluzinationen). Obwohl Änderungen im inneren Milieu durch hypothalamische und hypophyseale Entladungen verursacht werden und die Umstimmung und emotionale Erregbarkeit beeinflussen, wird das durch nervöse Prozesse regulierte ergotrophisch-trophotrophische Gleichgewicht als Hauptfaktor angesehen, der Stimmung und Gefühlserregung bestimmt.

     

Neuropsychological problem-solving skills in the elderly

This article describes the performance of a representative sample of 110 participants aged from 65 to 75 years. Participants completed the Trail-Making Test, Tactual Performance Test, and Booklet Category Test. Results confirmed that previously established cutoff scores used to determine impairment are not appropriate for this age group. Significant sex differences were found for the Tactual Performance Test and Booklet Category Test. Mean scores presented in this article provide useful normative standards for the three aforementioned tasks when given to patients aged from 65 to 75 years.     

Differential relationships in the association of the Big Five personality traits with positive mental health and psychopathology

According to the two continua model of mental health, psychopathology and positive mental health (emotional, psychological, and social well-being) are related but distinct continua. This study investigates the two continua model by examining whether psychopathology and positive mental health show differential associations with the Big Five personality traits. The paper draws on data of the representative LISS panel (CentERdata). Participants (N = 1161; age 18-88) filled out questionnaires on personality, psychopathology, and positive mental health. Personality traits were differentially related to psychopathology and positive mental health, supporting the two continua model. Emotional stability (reversed neuroticism) is the main correlate of psychopathology, whereas the personality traits extraversion and agreeableness are uniquely associated with positive mental health.     

The visual field paradox: a theoretical account on the reafference principle providing a common frame for the homogeneity and inhomogeneity of visual representation

Observations on the structure of the visual field and its central representation lead to a paradox. A functional dissociation is indicated in oculomotor or attentional control when different response modes are observed as a function of stimulus eccentricity. Alternatively, constancy of brightness throughout the visual field suggests its homogeneity. This paradox can be resolved, if perceptual and motor processes are not conceived of being controlled by separate neuronal mechanisms, but are interconnected within one frame of reference. The reafference principle allows to formulate such a common frame as it integrates afferent and efferent processes. On the basis of this concept, the visual field paradox can be interpreted as not being a paradox at all, but a necessary condition for optimal information processing.     

Quo Vadis,Dottore? Religious,Philosophical and Medical Perspectives on the Quest for Immortality

Journal of Religion and Health - In the daily practice of medicine, health care providers oftentimes confront the dilemma of offering ‘maximum care’ based on available technologies and...     

Duration perception in crossmodally-defined intervals

How humans perform duration judgments with multisensory stimuli is an ongoing debate. Here, we investigated how sub-second duration judgments are achieved by asking participants to compare the duration of a continuous sound to the duration of an empty interval in which onset and offset were marked by signals of different modalities using all combinations of visual, auditory and tactile stimuli. The pattern of perceived durations across five stimulus durations (ranging from 100 ms to 900 ms) follows the Vierordt Law. Furthermore, intervals with a sound as onset (audio-visual, audio-tactile) are perceived longer than intervals with a sound as offset. No modality ordering effect is found for visualtactile intervals. To infer whether a single modality-independent or multiple modality-dependent time-keeping mechanisms exist we tested whether perceived duration follows a summative or a multiplicative distortion pattern by fitting a model to all modality combinations and durations. The results confirm that perceived duration depends on sensory latency (summative distortion). Instead, we did not find evidence for multiplicative distortions. The results of the model and the behavioural data support the concept of a single time-keeping mechanism that allows for judgments of durations marked by multisensory stimuli.