Surprising sequential effects on MMN.
The mismatch negativity (MMN) is conceptualized as a confidence-weighted error signal elicited when a deviation violates the predicted next-state based on regularity. The mechanisms underpinning its generation remain contentious. Smaller MMN response is a robust finding in schizophrenia and reduced amplitude may implicate impairment in prediction-error signalling. An enriched understanding of factors that influence MMN size in healthy people is a prerequisite for translating the relevance of reduced MMN in schizophrenia. This paper features two studies designed to explore factors that impact MMN in healthy individuals. Study 1 confirms that MMN amplitude does not faithfully reflect transition statistics and is susceptible to order-driven bias. In study 2, we demonstrate that an order-driven bias remains despite repeated encounters with sound sequences. These data demonstrate that factors that impact on MMN size in non-clinical groups are not fully understood and that some mechanisms driving relevance filtering are likely influenced by 'top-down' expectations.
School of Psychology, University of Newcastle, Australia.
Jade D
JD
Frost
Research Centre for Natural Sciences, MTA, Institute of Cognitive Neuroscience and Psychology, Budapest, Hungary.
István
I
Winkler
School of Psychology, University of Newcastle, Australia.
Alexander
A
Provost
School of Psychology, University of Newcastle, Australia. Electronic address: Juanita.Todd@newcastle.edu.au.
Juanita
J
Todd
D000161:Acoustic Stimulation / Q000379:methods*; D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D001307:Auditory Perception / Q000502:physiology*; D015982:Bias; D005072:Evoked Potentials, Auditory / Q000502:physiology*; D005260:Female; D064368:Healthy Volunteers; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D055815:Young Adult
Auditory; Bias; Context; ERP; First-impressions; Mismatch negativity; Schizophrenia