title: Electrophysiological evidence implicates automatic low-level feature detectors in perceptual asymmetry.
abstract: Perceptual asymmetry has been demonstrated behaviorally using frequency modulated (FM) stimuli: a modulated tone is easier to detect among unmodulated distracters than the converse. We demonstrate perceptual asymmetry for FM tones in the mismatch negativity (MMN) component of the event-related potential, regardless of whether the participant attends to the tones. These results suggest that perceptual asymmetry reflects the automatic activation of low-level feature detectors in the auditory system.
authors.affiliation: Department of Experimental Psychology, University of Oxford, South Parks Road, OX1 3UD, UK. dorothy.bishop@psy.ox.ac.uk
authors.forename: D V M
authors.initials: DV
authors.lastname: Bishop
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: O'reilly
authors.forename: G M
authors.initials: GM
authors.lastname: McArthur
mesh_terms: D000161:Acoustic Stimulation / Q000379:methods; D000328:Adult; D001288:Attention / Q000502:physiology*; D001303:Auditory Cortex / Q000502:physiology; D003265:Contingent Negative Variation; D004307:Dose-Response Relationship, Radiation; D004569:Electroencephalography; D005072:Evoked Potentials, Auditory / Q000502:physiology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D010897:Pitch Discrimination / Q000502:physiology*; D011930:Reaction Time / Q000502:physiology; D013997:Time Factors