A Phase Principle for Complex-Frequency Analysis and Its Implications in Auditory Theory

A filtering scheme that utilizes the phase-frequency characteristic of a filter is shown to have certain advantages for analyzing signals, such as speech, which are produced by shock or noise excitation of a physical system having one or more resonances. The phase principle is shown to be particularly well suited to neural mechanisms of inhibition and facilitation, and evidence is presented that such a principle may be used by the ear to achieve its analysis of the sound that it receives.