Illusory continuity of tones

An ascending tone is interrupted by a noise burst, but is perceptually continuous.
Example of illusory continuity stimulus: discontinuous rising tone. The tone sounds continuous to some listeners.

The illusory continuity of tones is the auditory illusion caused when a tone is interrupted for a short time, during which a narrow band of noise is played. The noise has to be of a sufficiently high level to effectively mask the gap, unless it is a gap transfer illusion. Whether the tone is of constant, rising or decreasing pitch, the ear perceives the tone as continuous if the discontinuity is masked by noise. Because the human ear is very sensitive to sudden changes, however, it is necessary for the success of the illusion that the amplitude of the tone in the region of the discontinuity not decrease or increase too abruptly.[1] While the inner mechanisms of this illusion is not well understood, there is evidence that supports activation of primarily the auditory cortex is present.[2]

  1. ^ Riecke, Lars; van Opstal, A. John; Formisano, Elia (2008-01-01). "The auditory continuity illusion: A parametric investigation and filter model". Perception & Psychophysics. 70 (1): 1–12. doi:10.3758/PP.70.1.1. hdl:2066/70818. ISSN 1532-5962. PMID 18306956.
  2. ^ Bidelman, Gavin M.; Patro, Chhayakanta (2016-09-01). "Auditory perceptual restoration and illusory continuity correlates in the human brainstem". Brain Research. 1646: 84–90. doi:10.1016/j.brainres.2016.05.050. ISSN 0006-8993. PMID 27241211. S2CID 4944150.