Mismatch Negativity Event-related Potential Research Articles

The auditory mismatch negativity reflects accelerated aging in adults with Down’s syndrome

AbstractBackgroundAlzheimer’s disease (AD) affects nearly the entirety of the Down’s Syndrome population (DS) with a prevalence of 75% by the time they reach their 60s. The early symptoms of dementia in DS may reflect frontal lobe vulnerability to amyloid deposition. The Mismatch Negativity (MMN) is a frontocentral event‐related potential (ERP) component elicited by auditory violations. Predictive coding postulates that the brain creates neural predictions about future events by compiling statistical regularities from incoming stimuli. Within the MMN network, the MMN results from the failure of higher frontotemporal nodes to predict the incoming sensory input, which results in changes of coupling between the sensory and the frontotemporal cortices. In the typically developing (TD) population, the MMN response has been found to decrease with age. With a cross‐sectional and longitudinal study, we assessed whether the MMN reflects premature neurological aging in DS and whether it predicts cognitive decline one year later.MethodThe MMN ERP and the MMN Global‐Field Power (GFP) were elicited with an auditory global‐local task and recorded with high‐density EEG in 36 DS adults and in 39 age‐matched TD controls. Cognitive impairment was measured in DS with the neuropsychological battery CAMCOG‐DS. One year later, 34 adults with DS underwent a follow‐up administration of the CAMCOG‐DS. Linear models tested whether the MMN predicted age in the two groups. Linear and curvilinear models tested whether the MMN obtained at the first time‐point was predictive of cognitive decline one year later as measured by changes in CAMCOG‐DS scores.ResultIn the cross sectional phase, an interaction between the MMN amplitude, both expressed in ERP and GFP, and group was found. In particular, MMN amplitude predicted age in DS but not in TD. On the other hand, neither amplitude nor latency of the MMN predicted cognitive decline one year later.ConclusionOur study shows that in our cohort the MMN amplitude reflects accelerated aging in DS but not in TD, suggesting that MMN amplitude may be a sensitive marker of early onset AD in the DS population. On the other hand, neither MMN amplitude or latency predicts cognitive decline one year later.

Targeted α7 Nicotinic Acetylcholine Receptor Treatment for the Modulation of Speech MMN in Schizophrenia: An Optimized CDP-Choline and Galantamine Combination Approach Personalized to Baseline-Deviance Detection Levels

α7 nicotinic acetylcholine receptors (nAChR) pathophysiology is associated with sensory and cognitive dysfunction in schizophrenia (SCZ), a multigenic neurodevelopmental disorder. The mismatch negativity event-related potential (MMN-ERP) is sensitive to early deviance detection and sensory memory processing, which are impaired in SCZ and their non-affected relatives. Improvement in MMN amplitudes is associated with clinical and functional outcomes, making this ERP an ideal endophenotype to assess novel pharmacological treatments. As genetics, smoking status, personality, and functioning level were emphasized as trait factors underlying response variability to pharmacological therapies and specific α7 nAChR agonists, the MMN use for participant baseline electrophysiological response stratification is an increasingly applied strategy demonstrating converging evidence of deviance detection improvements in SCZ. Evidence for sensory processing improvements mediated by α7 nAChR-agonists and considering this receptor’s fast desensitization rate, a novel optimized approach combining CDP-choline (a selective α7 agonist) with galantamine (a nAChR positive allosteric modulator) was shown to increase deviance detection in healthy low-baseline groups.

Extracting Phonetic Features From Natural Classes: A Mismatch Negativity Study of Mandarin Chinese Retroflex Consonants.

How speech sounds are represented in the brain is not fully understood. The mismatch negativity (MMN) has proven to be a powerful tool in this regard. The MMN event-related potential is elicited by a deviant stimulus embedded within a series of repeating standard stimuli. Listeners construct auditory memory representations of these standards despite acoustic variability. In most designs that test speech sounds, however, this variation is typically intra-category: All standards belong to the same phonetic category. In the current paper, inter-category variation is presented in the standards. These standards vary in manner of articulation but share a common phonetic feature. In the standard retroflex experimental block, Mandarin Chinese speaking participants are presented with a series of “standard” consonants that share the feature [retroflex], interrupted by infrequent non-retroflex deviants. In the non-retroflex standard experimental block, non-retroflex standards are interrupted by infrequent retroflex deviants. The within-block MMN was calculated, as was the identity MMN (iMMN) to account for intrinsic differences in responses to the stimuli. We only observed a within-block MMN to the non-retroflex deviant embedded in the standard retroflex block. This suggests that listeners extract [retroflex] despite significant inter-category variation. In the non-retroflex standard block, because there is little on which to base a coherent auditory memory representation, no within-block MMN was observed. The iMMN to the retroflex was observed in a late time-window at centro-parieto-occipital electrode sites instead of fronto-central electrodes, where the MMN is typically observed, potentially reflecting the increased difficulty posed by the added variation in the standards. In short, participants can construct auditory memory representations despite significant acoustic and inter-category phonological variation so long as a shared phonetic feature binds them together.

Reliability of mismatch negativity event-related potentials in a multisite, traveling subjects study

ObjectiveTo determine the optimal methods for measuring mismatch negativity (MMN), an auditory event-related potential (ERP), and quantify sources of MMN variance in a multisite setting. MethodsReliability of frequency, duration, and double (frequency + duration) MMN was determined from eight traveling subjects, tested on two occasions at eight laboratory sites. Deviant-specific variance components were estimated for MMN peak amplitude and latency measures using different ERP processing methods. Generalizability (G) coefficients were calculated using two-facet (site and occasion), fully-crossed models and single-facet (occasion) models within each laboratory to assess MMN reliability. ResultsG-coefficients calculated from two-facet models indicated fair (0.4 < G<=0.6) duration MMN reliability at electrode Fz, but poor (G < 0.4) double and frequency MMN reliability. Single-facet G-coefficients averaged across laboratory resulted in improved reliability (G > 0.5). MMN amplitude reliability was greater than latency reliability, and reliability with mastoid referencing significantly outperformed nose-referencing. ConclusionsEEG preprocessing methods have an impact on the reliability of MMN amplitude. Within site MMN reliability can be excellent, consistent with prior single site studies. SignificanceWith standardized data collection and ERP processing, MMN can be reliably obtained in multisite studies, providing larger samples sizeswithin rare patient groups.

Reliability of mismatch negativity event-related potentials in a multisite, traveling subjects study

Reliability of mismatch negativity event-related potentials in a multisite, traveling subjects study

Stability of mismatch negativity event-related potentials in a multisite study

Stability of mismatch negativity event-related potentials in a multisite study

Increased MMN amplitude following passive perceptual learning with LTP-like rapid stimulation

An important feature of perception is plasticity, enabling the acquisition of new perceptual representations to facilitate responding to regular stimuli in the environment. The auditory system has shown capacity for plasticity into adulthood, allowing the perceptual discrimination abilities to be improved by training. It has been suggested that a certain form of passive learning using rapid sensory stimulation can lead to plasticity in the sensory cortex through mechanisms similar to long-term potentiation. Here we demonstrate using electroencephalography that brief rapid auditory stimulation (2 min, 13 Hz) with a sinusoidal tone (1025 Hz) led to increased discriminability of the stimulated tone from a standard tone (1000 Hz) as indexed by mismatch negativity event-related potential. This shows that perceptual learning with brief exposure can cause plastic changes similar to long-term training.

Transitional Probabilities Are Prioritized over Stimulus/Pattern Probabilities in Auditory Deviance Detection: Memory Basis for Predictive Sound Processing.

Representations encoding the probabilities of auditory events do not directly support predictive processing. In contrast, information about the probability with which a given sound follows another (transitional probability) allows predictions of upcoming sounds. We tested whether behavioral and cortical auditory deviance detection (the latter indexed by the mismatch negativity event-related potential) relies on probabilities of sound patterns or on transitional probabilities. We presented healthy adult volunteers with three types of rare tone-triplets among frequent standard triplets of high-low-high (H-L-H) or L-H-L pitch structure: proximity deviant (H-H-H/L-L-L), reversal deviant (L-H-L/H-L-H), and first-tone deviant (L-L-H/H-H-L). If deviance detection was based on pattern probability, reversal and first-tone deviants should be detected with similar latency because both differ from the standard at the first pattern position. If deviance detection was based on transitional probabilities, then reversal deviants should be the most difficult to detect because, unlike the other two deviants, they contain no low-probability pitch transitions. The data clearly showed that both behavioral and cortical auditory deviance detection uses transitional probabilities. Thus, the memory traces underlying cortical deviance detection may provide a link between stimulus probability-based change/novelty detectors operating at lower levels of the auditory system and higher auditory cognitive functions that involve predictive processing. Our research presents the first definite evidence for the auditory system prioritizing transitional probabilities over probabilities of individual sensory events. Forming representations for transitional probabilities paves the way for predictions of upcoming sounds. Several recent theories suggest that predictive processing provides the general basis of human perception, including important auditory functions, such as auditory scene analysis. Our results demonstrate that the memory traces underlying cortical deviance detection form a link between stimulus probability-based change/novelty detectors operating at lower levels of the auditory system and higher auditory cognitive functions that involve predictive processing.

Levels of attention and task difficulty in the modulation of interval duration mismatch negativity.

Time perception has been described as a fundamental skill needed to engage in a number of higher level cognitive processes essential to successfully navigate everyday life (e.g., planning, sequencing, etc.) Temporal processing is often thought of as a basic neural process that impacts a variety of other cognitive processes. Others, however, have argued that timing in the brain can be affected by a number of variables such as attention and motivation. In an effort to better understand timing in the brain at a basic level with minimal attentional demands, researchers have often employed use of the mismatch negativity (MMN). MMN, specifically duration MMN (dMMN) and interval MMN (iMMN) have been popular methods for studying temporal processing in populations for which attention or motivation may be an issue (e.g., clinical populations, early developmental studies). There are, however, select studies which suggest that attention may in fact modify both temporal processing in general and the MMN event-related potential. It is unclear the degree to which attention affects MMN or whether the effects differ depending on the complexity or difficulty of the MMN paradigm. The iMMN indexes temporal processing and is elicited by introducing a deviant interval duration amid a series of standards. A greater degree of difference in the deviant from the standard elicits a heightened iMMN. Unlike past studies, in which attention was intentionally directed toward a closed-captioned move, the current study had participants partake in tasks involving varying degrees of attention (passive, low, and high) with varying degrees of deviants (small, medium, and large) to better understand the role of attention on the iMMN and to assess whether level of attention paired with changes in task difficulty differentially influence the iMMN electrophysiological responses. Data from 19 subjects were recorded in an iMMN paradigm. The amplitude of the iMMN waveform showed an increase with attention, particularly for intervals that were the most distinct from a standard interval (p < 0.02). Results suggest that the role of attention on the iMMN is complex. Both the degree of attention paid as well as the level of difficulty of the MMN task likely influence the neuronal response within a timing network. These results suggest that electrophysiological perception of time is modified by attention and that the design of the iMMN study is critical to minimize the possible confounding effects of attention. In addition, the implications of these results for future studies assessing interval duration-based MMN in clinical populations is also addressed.

The separate and combined effects of monoamine oxidase A inhibition and nicotine on the mismatch negativity event related potential

The mismatch negativity (MMN) auditory event-related potential (ERP) has been extensively studied as a potential biomarker for abnormal auditory processing in schizophrenia (SZ), a population which exhibits abnormally high smoking rates. The relationship between nicotinic activation and cognition in SZ may be related to underlying nicotinic and NMDA receptor dysfunction within the disease. However, transient cognitive improvements via smoking in patients may also result from monoamine oxidase (MAO) inhibition, achieved through tobacco smoke. In 24 healthy non-smoking males, we investigated the separate and combined effects of nicotine and MAO-A inhibition via moclobemide (75mg) on the optimal-5 variation of the MMN paradigm. No significant drug effects were observed in our total sample, however, stratification of individuals into low (N=12) and high (N=12) baseline MMN amplitude groups revealed increases in duration MMN amplitude relative to placebo by nicotine, as well as moclobemide, but not after the combination of the two. Because previous research has shown there was no effect of monoamine modulation on MMN, this study shows an unexpected effect of moclobemide on duration MMN.

Auditory cortical and hippocampal local-field potentials to frequency deviant tones in urethane-anesthetized rats: An unexpected role of the sound frequencies themselves

The human brain can automatically detect auditory changes, as indexed by the mismatch negativity of event-related potentials. The mechanisms that underlie this response are poorly understood. We recorded primary auditory cortical and hippocampal (dentate gyrus, CA1) local-field potentials to serial tones in urethane-anesthetized rats. In an oddball condition, a rare (deviant) tone (p=0.11) randomly replaced a repeated (standard) tone. The deviant tone was either lower (2200, 2700, 3200, 3700Hz) or higher (4300, 4800, 5300, 5800Hz) in frequency than the standard tone (4000Hz). In an equiprobability control condition, all nine tones were presented at random (p=0.11). Differential responses to deviant tones relative to the standard tone were found in the auditory cortex and the dentate gyrus but not in CA1. Only in the dentate gyrus, the responses were found to be standard- (i.e., oddball condition-) specific. In the auditory cortex, the sound frequencies themselves sufficed to explain their generation. These findings tentatively suggest dissociation among non-contextual afferent, contextual afferent and auditory change detection processes. Most importantly, they remind us about the importance of strict control of physical sound features in mismatch negativity studies in animals.

Validation of the Emotiv EPOC EEG system for research quality auditory event-related potentials in children.

Background. Previous work has demonstrated that a commercial gaming electroencephalography (EEG) system, Emotiv EPOC, can be adjusted to provide valid auditory event-related potentials (ERPs) in adults that are comparable to ERPs recorded by a research-grade EEG system, Neuroscan. The aim of the current study was to determine if the same was true for children.Method. An adapted Emotiv EPOC system and Neuroscan system were used to make simultaneous EEG recordings in nineteen 6- to 12-year-old children under “passive” and “active” listening conditions. In the passive condition, children were instructed to watch a silent DVD and ignore 566 standard (1,000 Hz) and 100 deviant (1,200 Hz) tones. In the active condition, they listened to the same stimuli, and were asked to count the number of ‘high’ (i.e., deviant) tones.Results. Intraclass correlations (ICCs) indicated that the ERP morphology recorded with the two systems was very similar for the P1, N1, P2, N2, and P3 ERP peaks (r = .82 to .95) in both passive and active conditions, and less so, though still strong, for mismatch negativity ERP component (MMN; r = .67 to .74). There were few differences between peak amplitude and latency estimates for the two systems.Conclusions. An adapted EPOC EEG system can be used to index children’s late auditory ERP peaks (i.e., P1, N1, P2, N2, P3) and their MMN ERP component.

Does Sequence Foreknowledge or Concurrent Task Affect First-Impression Bias in Mismatch Negativity?

Event Abstract Back to Event Does Sequence Foreknowledge or Concurrent Task Affect First-Impression Bias in Mismatch Negativity? Jade D. Frost1*, Kelly McDonnell1, Alexander L. Provost1 and Juanita Todd1 1 University of Newcastle, Psychology, Australia The auditory system accumulates evidence about regularity across varying timescales to model predictions about subsequent sound. The evoked-potential component mismatch-negativity (MMN) is elicited upon detection of any pattern-deviation and reflects a ‘prediction-error’. MMN amplitude is proportional to ‘confidence’ in underlying predictions; MMN is largest when patterns are very stable. Using a ‘multi-timescale’ paradigm, we have consistently demonstrated that MMN amplitude does not faithfully reflect sequence stability but instead succumbs to a ‘first-impression bias’ that is coupled to initial tone roles. In the paradigm participants hear two-tone sequences in which tones alternate roles of standard (p = .875) and deviant (p = .125). In stable sequences, roles alternate every 2.4min (480 tones per block; 420-standard, 60-deviant). In unstable sequences, roles alternate every 0.8min (160 tones per block; 140-standard, 20-deviant). The first-impression bias refers to the observation that only MMN in the first stimulus configuration show the expected stability-modulation (stable>unstable). To date all multi-timescale paradigms have been presented while participants have no knowledge of the sequence structure and watch a silent movie. In this study, we attempted to disrupt the bias by modifying engagement of higher-level brain areas in monitoring longer-term patterns thought to underpin it. The primacy bias pattern did not occur when participants performed a demanding concurrent N-Back task (study-1) or were first informed about the sequence structure (study-2) before watching a silent movie. Our results are interpreted as evidence that engagement of higher-order brain areas is required to make predictions about patterning over longer timescales. References Friston, K. (2005). A theory of cortical responses. Philos Trans R Soc Lond B Biol Sci, 360, 815-836. Owen, A. M., McMillan, K. M., Laird, A. R., & Bullmore, E. (2005). N-back working memory paradigm: A meta-analysis of normative functional neuroimaging studies.Human Brain Mapping, 25, 46-59. Mullens, D., Woodley, J., Whitson, L., Provost, A., Heathcote, A., Winkler, I., & Todd, J. (2014). Altering the primacy bias—How does a prior task affect mismatch negativity? Psychophysiology, 51, 437-445. Todd, J., Provost, A., Cooper, G. (2011). Lasting first impressions: A conservative bias in automatic filters of the acoustic environment. Neuropsychologia, 49, 3399-3405. Todd, J., Heathcote, A., Mullens, D., Whitson, L. R., Provost, A., & Winkler, I. (2013). What controls gain in gain control? Mismatch negativity (MMN), priors and system biases. Brain topography, 1-12. Winkler, I., Karmos, G., & Näätänen, R. (1996). Adaptive modeling of the unattended acoustic environment reflected in the mismatch negativity event-related potential. Brain research, 742, 239-252. Keywords: context, Bias, First-impressions, auditory, Mismatch Negativity., ERP/EEG, predictive coding, salience coding, Prediction error Conference: ASP2015 - 25th Annual Conference of the Australasian Society for Psychophysiology, Sydney, Australia, 2 Dec - 4 Dec, 2015. Presentation Type: Poster Presentation Topic: Psychophysiology Citation: Frost JD, McDonnell K, Provost AL and Todd J (2015). Does Sequence Foreknowledge or Concurrent Task Affect First-Impression Bias in Mismatch Negativity?. Conference Abstract: ASP2015 - 25th Annual Conference of the Australasian Society for Psychophysiology. doi: 10.3389/conf.fnhum.2015.219.00044 Copyright: The abstracts in this collection have not been subject to any Frontiers peer review or checks, and are not endorsed by Frontiers. They are made available through the Frontiers publishing platform as a service to conference organizers and presenters. The copyright in the individual abstracts is owned by the author of each abstract or his/her employer unless otherwise stated. Each abstract, as well as the collection of abstracts, are published under a Creative Commons CC-BY 4.0 (attribution) licence (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/) and may thus be reproduced, translated, adapted and be the subject of derivative works provided the authors and Frontiers are attributed. For Frontiers’ terms and conditions please see https://www.frontiersin.org/legal/terms-and-conditions. Received: 28 Sep 2015; Published Online: 30 Nov 2015. * Correspondence: Miss. Jade D Frost, University of Newcastle, Psychology, Newcastle, New South Wales, 2300, Australia, jade.frost@uon.edu.au Login Required This action requires you to be registered with Frontiers and logged in. To register or login click here. Abstract Info Abstract The Authors in Frontiers Jade D Frost Kelly McDonnell Alexander L Provost Juanita Todd Google Jade D Frost Kelly McDonnell Alexander L Provost Juanita Todd Google Scholar Jade D Frost Kelly McDonnell Alexander L Provost Juanita Todd PubMed Jade D Frost Kelly McDonnell Alexander L Provost Juanita Todd Related Article in Frontiers Google Scholar PubMed Abstract Close Back to top Javascript is disabled. Please enable Javascript in your browser settings in order to see all the content on this page.

Neurophysiological investigation of phonological input: Aging effects and development of normative data

The current study investigated attended and unattended auditory phoneme discrimination using the P300 and Mismatch Negativity event-related potentials (ERPs). Three phonemic contrasts present in the Dutch language were compared. Additionally, auditory word recognition was investigated by presenting rare pseudowords among frequent words. Two main goals were: (1) obtain normative data for ERP latencies (ms) and amplitudes (μV) and (2) examine aging influences. Seventy-one healthy subjects (21–83years) were included. During phoneme discrimination aging was associated with increased latencies and decreased amplitudes. However, a discrepancy between attended and unattended processing, as well as between phonemic contrasts, was found. During word recognition aging only had an impact on ERPs elicited by real words, indicating that mainly semantic processes were altered leaving lexical processes unharmed. Early sensory-perceptual processes, reflected by N100 and P50, were free from aging influences. In future, neurophysiological normative data can be applied in the evaluation of acquired language disorders.

Auditory stimulus discrimination recorded in dogs, as indicated by mismatch negativity (MMN)

Dog cognition research tends to rely on behavioural response, which can be confounded by obedience or motivation, as the primary means of indexing dog cognitive abilities. A physiological method of measuring dog cognitive processing would be instructive and could complement behavioural response. Electroencephalogram (EEG) has been used in humans to study stimulus processing, which results in waveforms called event-related potentials (ERPs). One ERP component, mismatch negativity (MMN), is a negative deflection approximately 160-200 ms after stimulus onset, which may be related to change detection from echoic sensory memory. We adapted a minimally invasive technique to record MMN in dogs. Dogs were exposed to an auditory oddball paradigm in which deviant tones (10% probability) were pseudo-randomly interspersed throughout an 8 min sequence of standard tones (90% probability). A significant difference in MMN ERP amplitude was observed after the deviant tone in comparison to the standard tone, t5 = -2.98, p = 0.03. This difference, attributed to discrimination of an unexpected stimulus in a series of expected stimuli, was not observed when both tones occurred 50% of the time, t1 = -0.82, p > 0.05. Dogs showed no evidence of pain or distress at any point. We believe this is the first illustration of MMN in a group of dogs and anticipate that this technique may provide valuable insights in cognitive tasks such as object discrimination.

The effect of a movie soundtrack on auditory event-related potentials in children, adolescents, and adults

Objective To determine if an audible movie soundtrack has a degrading effect on the auditory P1, N1, P2, N2, or mismatch negativity (MMN) event-related potentials (ERPs) in children, adolescents, or adults. Methods The auditory ERPs of 36 children, 32 young adolescents, 19 older adolescents, and 10 adults were measured while they watched a movie in two conditions: with an audible soundtrack and with a silent soundtrack. Results In children and adolescents, the audible movie soundtrack had a significant impact on amplitude, latency or split-half reliability of the N1, P2, N2, and MMN ERPs. The audible soundtrack had minimal impact on the auditory ERPs of adults. Conclusions These findings challenge previous claims that an audible soundtrack does not degrade the auditory ERPs of children. Further, the reliability of the MMN is poorer than P1, N1, P2, and N2 peaks in both sound-off and sound-on conditions. Significance Researchers should be cautious about using an audible movie soundtrack when measuring auditory ERPs in younger listeners.

Auditory event related potentials as tools to reveal cognitive late effects in childhood cancer patients

Objective The purpose of this study was to analyze event related potentials mismatch negativity (MMN) and P3a in childhood cancer patients at the time of diagnosis (Study 1) and after treatment (Study 2) to evaluate their clinical usefulness in screening potential treatment-related neurotoxicity. Methods The MMN and P3a to phonetic stimuli were examined in 27 childhood cancer patients with age- and sex-matched controls. Neuropsychological tests were also studied. Results The MMN peak amplitude was attenuated in the patient group at Study 1. Between the studies, poorer enhancement of the MMN peak amplitude correlated with deterioration in the Verbal intelligence quotient (IQ) in leukaemia patients. In addition, prolongation of the MMN peak latency correlated significantly with deterioration in the Full Scale and Performance IQ in the patient group. Deterioration in the Arithmetic subtest and Performance IQ correlated negatively with the age at diagnosis. Conclusions The MMN changes between the studies associated with deterioration in the neuropsychological tests indicating that the method could be clinically useful. The performance of the younger patients was more likely to deteriorate during the treatment. Significance Changes in the MMN response during cancer treatment seem to be of clinical importance as indicates of the cognitive outcome of childhood cancer patients.

Visual mismatch negativity for changes in orientation – a sensory memory‐dependent response

It remains unclear whether the mismatch negativity of event-related potentials (ERPs) in vision resembles its auditory counterpart in terms of memory relatedness. We recorded ERPs to visual bars in adult humans engaged in an auditory task. In one condition, a bar ('standard') repeated at 400- or 1100-ms non-stimulated intervals was rarely (P = 0.1) replaced by another bar of a different orientation ('deviant'). In the other condition (400-ms intervals), the occurrences of the standards were replaced by 10 (P = 0.1 each) bars of different orientations, including that of the deviant ('control-deviant'). Deviants shifted ERPs towards negative polarity relative to standards in occipital electrodes and towards positive polarity in frontal electrodes at 185-205 ms post-stimulus but only when 400-ms non-stimulated intervals were applied. Furthermore, the shift existed even relative to ERPs to control-deviants. The findings suggest that, as in audition, vision supports the detection of voluntarily unattended changes per se within the constraints of sensory memory. The findings also pave the way for the future exploration of both intact and impaired memory-based visual processing and memory capacity.

Reliable mismatch negativity event-related potentials for tones presented with a concurrent video soundtrack

Reliable mismatch negativity event-related potentials for tones presented with a concurrent video soundtrack

The functional anatomy of the MMN: A DCM study of the roving paradigm

Using dynamic causal modelling (DCM), we have presented provisional evidence to suggest: (i) the mismatch negativity (MMN) is generated by self-organised interactions within a hierarchy of cortical sources [Garrido, M.I., Kilner, J.M., Kiebel, S.J., Stephan, K.E., Friston, K.J., 2007. Dynamic causal modelling of evoked potentials: a reproducibility study. NeuroImage 36, 571–580] and (ii) the MMN rests on plastic change in both extrinsic (between-source) and intrinsic (within source) connections (Garrido et al., under review). In this work we re-visit these two key issues in the context of the roving paradigm. Critically, this paradigm allows us to discount any differential response to differences in the stimuli per se, because the standards and oddballs are physically identical. We were able to confirm both the hierarchical nature of the MMN generation and the conjoint role of changes in extrinsic and intrinsic connections. These findings are consistent with a predictive coding account of repetition–suppression and the MMN, which gracefully accommodates two important mechanistic perspectives; the model-adjustment hypothesis [Winkler, I., Karmos, G., Näätänen, R., 1996. Adaptive modelling of the unattended acoustic environment reflected in the mismatch negativity event-related potential. Brain Res. 742, 239–252; Näätänen, R., Winkler, I., 1999. The concept of auditory stimulus representation in cognitive neuroscience. Psychol Bull 125, 826–859; Sussman, E., Winkler, I., 2001. Dynamic sensory updating in the auditory system. Brain Res. Cogn Brain Res. 12, 431–439] and the adaptation hypothesis [May, P., Tiitinen, H., Ilmoniemi, R.J., Nyman, G., Taylor, J.G., Näätänen, R., 1999. Frequency change detection in human auditory cortex. J. Comput. Neurosci. 6, 99–120; Jääskeläinen, I.P., Ahveninen, J., Bonmassar, G., Dale, A.M., Ilmoniemi, R.J., Levänen, S., Lin, F.H., May, P., Melcher, J., Stufflebeam, S., Tiitinen, H., Belliveau, J.W., 2004. Human posterior auditory cortex gates novel sounds to consciousness. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U. S. A. 101, 6809–6814].