title: Top-down effects can modify the initially stimulus-driven auditory organization.
abstract: We recorded event-related potentials (ERPs) and magnetic fields (ERFs) of the human brain to determine whether top-down control could modulate the initial organization of sound representations in the auditory cortex. We presented identical sound stimulation and manipulated top-down processes by instructing participants to either ignore the sounds (Ignore condition), to detect pitch changes (Attend-pitch condition), or to detect violations of a repeating tone pattern (Attend-pattern condition). The ERP results obtained in the Attend-pattern condition dramatically differed from those obtained with the other two task instructions. The magnetoencephalogram (MEG) findings were fully compatible, showing that the neural populations involved in detecting pattern violations differed from those involved in detecting pitch changes. The results demonstrate a top-down effect on the sound representation maintained in auditory cortex.
authors.affiliation: Department of Otolaryngology, Albert Einstein College of Medicine, 1410 Pelham Parkway S, Bronx, NY 10461, USA. esussman@balrog.aecom.yu.edu
authors.forename: Elyse
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Sussman
authors.forename: István
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Winkler
authors.forename: Minna
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Huotilainen
authors.forename: Walter
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Ritter
authors.forename: Risto
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Näätänen
mesh_terms: D000161:Acoustic Stimulation; D000328:Adult; D001307:Auditory Perception / Q000502:physiology*; D004192:Discrimination, Psychological / Q000502:physiology; D005071:Evoked Potentials; D005072:Evoked Potentials, Auditory / Q000502:physiology*; D006801:Humans; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging; D015225:Magnetoencephalography; D008606:Mental Processes / Q000502:physiology*; D010897:Pitch Discrimination / Q000502:physiology; D012016:Reference Values