Magnetoencephalographic recordings demonstrate attentional modulation of mismatch-related neural activity in human auditory cortex

Author(s): Hillyard, S. A., Gallen, C. C., Hampson, S. R., Bloom, F. E.

Journal/Book: Psychophysiology. 1998; 35: 40 West 20TH Street, New York, NY 10011-4211. Cambridge Univ Press. 283-292.

Abstract: It is widely agreed that the negative brain potential elicited at 150-200 ms by a deviant, less intense sound in a repetitive series can be modulated by attention. To investigate whether this modulation represents a genuine attention effect on the mismatch negativity (MMN) arising from auditory cortex or attention-related activity from another brain region, we recorded both the MMN and the mismatch magnetic field (MMF) elicited by such deviants in a dichotic listening task. Deviant tones in the attended ear elicited a sizable MMF that was well modeled as a dipolar source in auditory cortex. Both the MMN and MMF to unattended-ear deviants were highly attenuated. These findings support the view that the MMN/MMF elicited in auditory cortex by intensity deviants, and thus the underlying feature-analysis and mismatch-detection processes, are not strongly automatic but rather can be gated or suppressed if attention is strongly focused elsewhere.

Note: Article Woldorff MG, Univ Texas, Hlth Sci Ctr, Res Imaging Ctr, 7703 Floyd Curl Dr, San Antonio,TX 78240 USA

Keyword(s): MEG; MMN; MMF; ERP; mismatch negativity; attention; EVENT-RELATED POTENTIALS; INTERMODAL SELECTIVE ATTENTION; BRAIN POTENTIALS; CORTICAL ACTIVITY; NEGATIVITY MMN; VISUAL-STIMULI; PITCH CHANGES; RESPONSES; FREQUENCY; MEMORY

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