title: Mismatch negativity (MMN), the deviance-elicited auditory deflection, explained.
abstract: The current review constitutes the first comprehensive look at the possibility that the mismatch negativity (MMN, the deflection of the auditory ERP/ERF elicited by stimulus change) might be generated by so-called fresh-afferent neuronal activity. This possibility has been repeatedly ruled out for the past 30 years, with the prevailing theoretical accounts relying on a memory-based explanation instead. We propose that the MMN is, in essence, a latency- and amplitude-modulated expression of the auditory N1 response, generated by fresh-afferent activity of cortical neurons that are under nonuniform levels of adaptation.
authors.affiliation: Department of Biomedical Engineering and Computational Science, Helsinki University of Technology, Espoo, Finland. patrick.may@tkk.fi
authors.forename: Patrick J C
authors.initials: PJ
authors.lastname: May
authors.forename: Hannu
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Tiitinen
mesh_terms: D000161:Acoustic Stimulation; D000223:Adaptation, Psychological / Q000502:physiology; D000339:Affect / Q000502:physiology; D001303:Auditory Cortex / Q000502:physiology; D001307:Auditory Perception / Q000502:physiology*; D001309:Auditory Threshold; D004569:Electroencephalography / Q000523:psychology*; D005072:Evoked Potentials, Auditory / Q000502:physiology*; D006801:Humans; D008568:Memory / Q000502:physiology; D009473:Neuronal Plasticity / Q000502:physiology