Do categorical representations modulate early automatic visual processing? A visual mismatch-negativity study

INTRODUCTION: Hypoxia is an ever-present threat in tactical aviation and gained recent attention due to its putative role in physiological episodes. Previous work has demonstrated that hypoxia negatively impacts a variety of sensory, cognitive, and motor systems. In particular, the visual system is one of the earliest systems affected by hypoxia. While the majority of previous studies have relied on self-report and behavioral testing, the use of event-related potentials as a novel tool to monitor responses to low oxygen in humans has recently been investigated. Specifically, ERP components that are evoked passively in response to unattended changes in background sensory stimulation have been explored.METHOD: Subjects (N 28) completed a continuous visuomotor tracking task while EEG was recorded. During the tracking task, a series of standard color checkerboard patterns were presented in the periphery while occasionally a deviant color checkerboard was presented. The visual mismatch negativity (MMN) component was assessed in response to the deviant compared to the standard stimuli. Subjects completed two sessions in counterbalanced order that only differed by the oxygen concentration breathed (10.6% vs. 20.4%).RESULTS: Results demonstrated a significant reduction in the amplitude of the visual MMN under hypoxic compared to normoxic conditions, showing a 50% reduction in amplitude during hypoxia. Our results suggest that during low-oxygen exposure the ability to detect environmental changes and process sensory information is impaired.DISCUSSION: The visual MMN may represent an early and reliable predictor of sensory and cognitive deficits during hypoxia exposure, which may be of great use to the aviation community.Blacker KJ, Seech TR, Funke ME, Kinney MJ. Deficits in visual processing during hypoxia as evidenced by visual mismatch negativity. Aerosp Med Hum Perform. 2021; 92(5):326332.

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Visual mismatch negativity highlights abnormal preattentive visual processing in Alzheimer??s disease

Neuroreport ◽

10.1097/01.wnr.0000223383.42295.fa ◽

2006 ◽

Vol 17 (9) ◽

pp. 887-890 ◽

Cited By ~ 21

Author(s):

Andrea Tales ◽

Stuart Butler

Keyword(s):

Visual Processing ◽

Mismatch Negativity ◽

Visual Mismatch Negativity

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Involvement of Visual Mismatch Negativity in Access Processing to Visual Awareness

Frontiers in Human Neuroscience ◽

10.3389/fnhum.2021.757411 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 15 ◽

Author(s):

Yuki Kurita ◽

Tomokazu Urakawa ◽

Osamu Araki

Keyword(s):

Change Detection ◽

Visual Stimulus ◽

Binocular Rivalry ◽

Visual Processing ◽

Mismatch Negativity ◽

Visual Awareness ◽

Stimulus Onset ◽

Oddball Paradigm ◽

Visual Mismatch Negativity ◽

Visual Change Detection

Psychophysiological studies with electroencephalography, focusing on the dynamical aspect of neural correlate of consciousness, reported that visual awareness negativity and P3 enhancement are observed at a latency, 200–300 ms after the visual stimulus onset, when the visual stimulus is consciously perceived. However, access processing to visual awareness (APVA) immediately before conscious perception still remains at the earlier stage of visual sensory processing, though there is little known regarding this subject. The present study hypothesized that visual mismatch negativity (vMMN), which reflects automatic change detection at a latency of 130–250 ms, might be involved in the APVA. In a previous study, vMMN was reported to be evoked by the deviant stimulus that is not consciously perceived in binocular rivalry. To clarify whether the visual change detection affects APVA, we conducted a modified experiment of oddball paradigm on binocular rivalry. The results showed a significant correlation between enhancement of vMMN amplitude and facilitation of perceptual alternation when the unconscious deviant was presented. This implies that vMMN is relevant to the APVA, which is a novel role of vMMN. In early visual processing, the attentional mechanism associated with vMMN is suggested to play an important role in unconscious neural processing at an earlier stage of visual awareness.

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Corrigendum to “Visual mismatch negativity highlights abnormal pre-attentive visual processing in mild cognitive impairment and Alzheimer's disease” [Neuropsychologia 46 (5) (2008) 1224–1232]

Neuropsychologia ◽

10.1016/j.neuropsychologia.2010.09.016 ◽

2010 ◽

Vol 48 (14) ◽

pp. 4174

Author(s):

Andrea Tales ◽

Judy Haworth ◽

Gordon Wilcock ◽

Philip Newton ◽

Stuart Butler

Keyword(s):

Alzheimer’S Disease ◽

Alzheimer's Disease ◽

Cognitive Impairment ◽

Mild Cognitive Impairment ◽

Visual Processing ◽

Mismatch Negativity ◽

Visual Mismatch Negativity

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Automatic Change Detection in Older and Younger Women: A Visual Mismatch Negativity Study

Gerontology ◽

10.1159/000488588 ◽

2018 ◽

Vol 64 (4) ◽

pp. 318-325 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

István Sulykos ◽

Zsófia Anna Gaál ◽

István Czigler

Keyword(s):

Visual Processing ◽

Mismatch Negativity ◽

Stimulus Change ◽

Age Groups ◽

The Elderly ◽

Event Related Potential ◽

Visual Mismatch Negativity ◽

Age Related ◽

Latency Range ◽

Age Related Changes

Background: In comparison to controlled (attentional) processing, relatively little is known about the age-related changes of the earlier (preattentive) processes. An event-related potential (ERP) index of preattentive (automatic) visual processing, the visual mismatch negativity (vMMN) is a good candidate for analyzing age-related differences in the automatic processing of visual events. Objective: So far results concerning age-related changes in vMMN have been equivocal. Our aim was to develop a method resulting in a reliable vMMN in a paradigm short enough to use in the applied field. Methods: We investigated an older (mean age: 66.4 years, n = 15) and a younger (mean age: 22.4 years, n = 15) group of healthy women. ERPs were obtained for checkerboard onset patterns in a passive oddball condition (during which participants performed a tracking task). One of the checkerboards was frequent (standard; p = 0.8), and the other was rare (deviant; p = 0.2). Results: vMMN emerged over posterior locations in the latency range of 100–300 ms in both age groups. The amplitude of the earlier part of the vMMN was similar in the older and the younger participants, but latency was longer in the older group. The later part of the vMMN was slightly diminished in the elderly. Conclusion: Automatic detection of violated sequential regularities, reflected by the vMMN, emerged in the two age groups (earlier vMMN). However, detection of stimulus change, a preattentive visual process delayed in the elderly, and identification of the specific change was compromised in the older participants.

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