The quest for the genuine visual mismatch negativity (vMMN): Event‐related potential indications of deviance detection for low‐level visual features

A recent meta-analysis emphasises that meditation can improve attention in healthy adults (Sedlmeier et al., 2012). The findings of a study by Cahn and Polich (2009) suggests that there is an effect of a meditative state on three event-related potential (ERP) brain markers of low-level auditory attention in expert meditators: the N1, the P2, and the P3a. The current study built on these findings by examining the trait and state effects of meditation on the passive auditory mismatch negativity (MMN), N1, and P2 ERPs. We found that the MMN was significantly larger in meditators than non-meditators regardless of whether they were meditating or not (a trait effect), and that the N1 was significantly attenuated during meditation in non-meditators but not meditators (an interaction between trait and state). These outcomes suggest that low-level attention is superior in long-term meditators in general. In contrast, low-level attention is reduced in non-meditators when they are asked to meditate for the first time, possibly due to cognitive overload.

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Electrophysiological correlates of the interplay between low-level visual features and emotional content during word reading

10.31234/osf.io/2sv3t ◽

2018 ◽

Author(s):

Sebastian Schindler ◽

Antonio Schettino ◽

Gilles Pourtois

Keyword(s):

Word Processing ◽

Word Reading ◽

Electrophysiological Study ◽

Semantic Content ◽

Stimulus Onset ◽

Event Related Potential ◽

Visual Features ◽

Low Contrast ◽

Attentional Processes ◽

Low Level

Processing affectively charged visual stimuli typically results in increased amplitude of specific event-related potential (ERP) components. Low-level features similarly modulate electrophysiological responses, with amplitude changes proportional to variations in stimulus size and contrast. However, it remains unclear whether emotion-related amplifications during visual word processing are necessarily intertwined with changes in specific low-level features or, instead, may act independently.In this pre-registered electrophysiological study, we varied font size and contrast of neutral and negative words while participants were monitoring their semantic content. We examined ERP responses associated with early sensory and attentional processes as well as later stages of stimulus processing. Results showed amplitude modulations by low-level visual features early on following stimulus onset – i.e., P1 and N1 components –, while the LPP was independently modulated by these visual features. Independent effects of size and emotion were observed only at the level of the EPN. Here, larger EPN amplitudes for negative were observed only for small high contrast and large low contrast words. These results suggest that early increase in sensory processing at the EPN level for negative words is not automatic, but bound to specific combinations of low-level features, occurring presumably via attentional control processes.

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A Critical Review of the Deviance Detection Theory of Mismatch Negativity

NeuroSci ◽

10.3390/neurosci2020011 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 2 (2) ◽

pp. 151-165

Author(s):

Jamie A. O’Reilly ◽

Amonrat O’Reilly

Keyword(s):

Mismatch Negativity ◽

Primary Source ◽

Detection Theory ◽

Event Related Potential ◽

Oddball Paradigm ◽

Memory Representation ◽

Widespread Application ◽

Auditory Oddball ◽

Deviance Detection ◽

Processing Theory

Mismatch negativity (MMN) is a component of the difference waveform derived from passive auditory oddball stimulation. Since its inception in 1978, this has become one of the most popular event-related potential techniques, with over two-thousand published studies using this method. This is a testament to the ingenuity and commitment of generations of researchers engaging in basic, clinical and animal research. Despite this intensive effort, high-level descriptions of the mechanisms theorized to underpin mismatch negativity have scarcely changed over the past four decades. The prevailing deviance detection theory posits that MMN reflects inattentive detection of difference between repetitive standard and infrequent deviant stimuli due to a mismatch between the unexpected deviant and a memory representation of the standard. Evidence for these mechanisms is inconclusive, and a plausible alternative sensory processing theory considers fundamental principles of sensory neurophysiology to be the primary source of differences between standard and deviant responses evoked during passive oddball stimulation. By frequently being restated without appropriate methods to exclude alternatives, the potentially flawed deviance detection theory has remained largely dominant, which could lead some researchers and clinicians to assume its veracity implicitly. It is important to have a more comprehensive understanding of the source(s) of MMN generation before its widespread application as a clinical biomarker. This review evaluates issues of validity concerning the prevailing theoretical account of mismatch negativity and the passive auditory oddball paradigm, highlighting several limitations regarding its interpretation and clinical application.

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Meditation and auditory attention: An ERP study of meditators and non-meditators

10.7287/peerj.preprints.2318v1 ◽

2016 ◽

Author(s):

Britta Biedermann ◽

Peter de Lissa ◽

Yatin Mahajan ◽

Vince Polito ◽

Nicholas A Badcock ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Mismatch Negativity ◽

Meta Analysis ◽

Healthy Adults ◽

Event Related Potential ◽

Auditory Attention ◽

Low Level ◽

Cognitive Overload ◽

First Time

A recent meta-analysis emphasises that meditation can improve attention in healthy adults (Sedlmeier et al., 2012). The findings of a study by Cahn and Polich (2009) suggests that there is an effect of a meditative state on three event-related potential (ERP) brain markers of low-level auditory attention in expert meditators: the N1, the P2, and the P3a. The current study built on these findings by examining the trait and state effects of meditation on the passive auditory mismatch negativity (MMN), N1, and P2 ERPs. We found that the MMN was significantly larger in meditators than non-meditators regardless of whether they were meditating or not (a trait effect), and that the N1 was significantly attenuated during meditation in non-meditators but not meditators (an interaction between trait and state). These outcomes suggest that low-level attention is superior in long-term meditators in general. In contrast, low-level attention is reduced in non-meditators when they are asked to meditate for the first time, possibly due to cognitive overload.

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Impact of lower- vs. upper-hemifield presentation on automatic colour-deviance detection: A visual mismatch negativity study

Brain Research ◽

10.1016/j.brainres.2012.07.016 ◽

2012 ◽

Vol 1472 ◽

pp. 89-98 ◽

Cited By ~ 11

Author(s):

Dagmar Müller ◽

Urte Roeber ◽

István Winkler ◽

Nelson Trujillo-Barreto ◽

István Czigler ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Mismatch Negativity ◽

Visual Mismatch Negativity ◽

Deviance Detection

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sLORETA Source Localisation of Visual Mismatch Negativity in Dyslexic Children During Malay Orthographical Lexicon Stimulations

Malaysian Journal of Medical Sciences ◽

10.21315/mjms2020.27.5.4 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 27 (5) ◽

pp. 36-42

Author(s):

Siti Atiyah Ali ◽

Tahamina Begum ◽

Faruque Reza ◽

Nor Asyikin Fadzil ◽

Faiz Mustafar

Keyword(s):

Decision Making ◽

Frontal Lobe ◽

Mismatch Negativity ◽

Lexical Processing ◽

Occipital Lobe ◽

Event Related Potential ◽

Electromagnetic Tomography ◽

Source Localisation ◽

Visual Mismatch Negativity ◽

Grand Average

Background: While there are studies on visual lexical processing in other languages among dyslexics, no studies were done in the Malay language. The origin of visual lexical processing might be different in the Malay language. We aimed to detect the source localisation of visual mismatch negativity (vMMN) during Malay orthographic lexicon stimulations, employing an event-related potential (ERP) study. Methods: Twelve dyslexic and twelve non-dyslexic children participated in this study. They pushed button ‘1’ when they saw real (meaningful) Malay words and button ‘2’ for pseudowords (meaningless). The source localisation of vMMN was performed in the grand average waveform by applying the standardised low-resolution brain electromagnetic tomography (sLORETA) method using Net Station software. Results: Left occipital (BA17) and left temporal (BA37) lobes were activated during real words in the non-dyslexic and dyslexic children, respectively. During pseudowords, BA18 and BA17 areas of the left occipital lobe were activated in the non-dyslexic and dyslexic children, separately. vMMN sources were found at the left temporal (BA37) and right frontal (BA11) lobes in nondyslexic and dyslexic children, respectively. Conclusion: Right frontal lobe is the decision-making area where vMMN source was found in dyslexic children. We concluded that dyslexic children required the decision-making area to detect Malay real and pseudowords.

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Mismatch negativity and N2b attenuation as an indicator for dysfunction of the preattentive and controlled processing for deviance detection in schizophrenia: a topographic event-related potential study

Schizophrenia Research ◽

10.1016/s0920-9964(98)00116-9 ◽

1999 ◽

Vol 35 (2) ◽

pp. 141-156 ◽

Cited By ~ 46

Author(s):

Kiyoto Kasai ◽

Kazuaki Okazawa ◽

Kazuyuki Nakagome ◽

Ken-Ichi Hiramatsu ◽

Akinobu Hata ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Mismatch Negativity ◽

Event Related Potential ◽

Deviance Detection ◽

Controlled Processing ◽

Potential Study

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Visual temporal window of integration as revealed by the visual mismatch negativity event-related potential to stimulus omissions

Brain Research ◽

10.1016/j.brainres.2006.05.034 ◽

2006 ◽

Vol 1104 (1) ◽

pp. 129-140 ◽

Cited By ~ 29

Author(s):

István Czigler ◽

István Winkler ◽

Lívia Pató ◽

Anna Várnagy ◽

Júlia Weisz ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Mismatch Negativity ◽

Event Related Potential ◽

Temporal Window ◽

Visual Mismatch Negativity

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ERPs and deviance detection: Visual mismatch negativity to repeated visual stimuli

Neuroscience Letters ◽

10.1016/j.neulet.2006.03.018 ◽

2006 ◽

Vol 401 (1-2) ◽

pp. 178-182 ◽

Cited By ~ 60

Author(s):

István Czigler ◽

Júlia Weisz ◽

István Winkler

Keyword(s):

Mismatch Negativity ◽

Visual Stimuli ◽

Visual Mismatch Negativity ◽

Deviance Detection

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Audiovisual Events in Sensory Memory

Journal of Psychophysiology ◽

10.1027/0269-8803.21.34.231 ◽

2007 ◽

Vol 21 (3-4) ◽

pp. 231-238 ◽

Cited By ~ 7

Author(s):

Julien Besle ◽

Anne Caclin ◽

Romaine Mayet ◽

Claude Delpuech ◽

Françoise Lecaignard ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Auditory System ◽

Mismatch Negativity ◽

Occipital Cortex ◽

Event Related Potential ◽

Sensory Memory ◽

Visual Features ◽

Auditory Event ◽

Auditory Sensory Memory ◽

Memory Representations ◽

Auditory Features

The functional properties of the auditory sensory memory have been extensively studied using the mismatch negativity (MMN) component of the auditory event-related potential (ERP) and its magnetic counterpart recorded using magneto-encephalography (MEG). It has been found that distinct auditory features (such as frequency or intensity) are encoded separately in sensory memory. Nevertheless, the conjunction of these features (auditory “gestalts”) can also be encoded in auditory sensory memory. Here we investigated how auditory and visual features of bimodal events are represented in sensory memory by recording audiovisual MMNs in two different audiovisual oddball paradigms. The results of a first ERP experiment showed that the sensory memory representations of auditory and visual features of audiovisual events lie within the temporal and occipital cortex, respectively, yet with possible interactions between the processing of the unimodal features. In a subsequent MEG experiment, we found some evidence that audiovisual feature conjunctions could also be represented in sensory memory. These results, thus, extend to the audiovisual domain a number of properties of sensory memory already established within the auditory system.

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