Preattentive extraction of abstract feature conjunctions from auditory stimulation as reflected by the mismatch negativity (MMN).
Brain mechanisms extracting invariant information from varying auditory inputs were studied using the mismatch-negativity (MMN) brain response. We wished to determine whether the preattentive sound-analysis mechanisms, reflected by MMN, are capable of extracting invariant relationships based on abstract conjunctions between two sound features. The standard stimuli varied over a large range in frequency and intensity dimensions following the rule that the higher the frequency, the louder the intensity. The occasional deviant stimuli violated this frequency-intensity relationship and elicited an MMN. The results demonstrate that preattentive processing of auditory stimuli extends to unexpectedly complex relationships between the stimulus features.
Paavilainen
P
P
Department of Psychology, University of Helsinki, Finland. Petri.Paavilainen@Helsinki.Fi
Simola
J
J
Jaramillo
M
M
Näätänen
R
R
Winkler
I
I
D000161:Acoustic Stimulation; D000328:Adult; D001288:Attention / Q000502:physiology*; D001307:Auditory Perception / Q000502:physiology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male