basefrekvensneglect

Basefrekvensneglect, or base frequency neglect, is a term used in cognitive and auditory science to describe a bias in processing that underweights the base or fundamental frequency component of an auditory signal relative to its higher-frequency harmonics. The phenomenon can influence judgments of pitch, timbre, and speech intonation, particularly when the fundamental is attenuated, masked, or absent in the signal.

The word basefrekvensneglect combines the concept of a base or fundamental frequency with neglect, and the form is drawn from Scandinavian linguistic usage where terms for auditory and perceptual phenomena are sometimes constructed in this way. In English-language neuroscience, the term is not widely standardized and appears mainly in discussions within niche or preparatory literature rather than as a broadly adopted technical label.

Possible mechanisms proposed for basefrekvensneglect include the perceptual salience of higher harmonics, cognitive heuristics that simplify auditory scenes by emphasizing more prominent spectral components, and adaptive processes in noisy environments. The effect can manifest as underestimation or distortion of perceived pitch, misclassification of musical tones, or biased interpretation of speech prosody when the fundamental frequency is weak or missing. It is related to, but distinct from, the well-known missing fundamental phenomenon, since neglect refers to the processing bias rather than a purely acoustic effect.

Evidence for basefrekvensneglect remains limited and primarily theoretical. If validated, the concept could have implications for audio signal processing, hearing-aid design, music education, and automatic music or speech analysis, where accurate decoding of base frequency is important. Related concepts include pitch perception, spectral tilt, and auditory attention. Further empirical work is needed to establish clear definitions and boundaries for this proposed phenomenon.