Visual mismatch negativity and stimulus-specific adaptation: the role of stimulus complexity

• Published in: Experimental brain research Vol. 237; no. 5; pp. 1179 - 1194
• Main Authors: Kojouharova, Petia, File, Domonkos, Sulykos, István, Czigler, István
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Berlin/Heidelberg Springer Berlin Heidelberg 01-05-2019; Springer; Springer Nature B.V
• Subjects: Analysis; Biomedical and Life Sciences; Biomedicine; Brain research; Coding theory; Elaboration (Memory); Enterprise resource planning; Event-related potentials; Latency; Memory; Mismatch negativity; Neurology; Neurosciences; Research Article; Sensory adaptation; Visual masking; Visual stimuli; Stimulus-specific adaptation; Stimulus complexity; Visual mismatch negativity; Automatic deviant detection
• ISSN: 0014-4819; 1432-1106
• DOI: 10.1007/s00221-019-05494-2

The present study investigated the function of the brain activity underlying the visual mismatch negativity (vMMN) event-related potential (ERP) component. Snowflake patterns (complex stimuli) were presented as deviants and oblique bar patterns (simple stimuli) as standards, and vice versa in a passive oddball paradigm. Control (equiprobable) sequences of either complex shape patterns or oblique bar patterns with various orientations were also presented. VMMN appeared as the difference between the ERP to the oddball deviant and the ERP to the control (deviant
minus
control ERP difference). Apart from the shorter latency of the vMMN to the oblique bar pattern as deviant, vMMN to both deviants was similar, i.e., there was no amplitude difference. We attributed the function of the brain processes underlying vMMN to the detection of the infrequent stimulus type (also represented in memory) instead of a call for further processing (a possibility for acquiring more precise representation) of the deviant. An unexpected larger adaptation (control
minus
standard ERP difference) to the snowflake pattern was also obtained. We suggest that this was due to the acquisition of a more elaborate memory representation of the more complex stimulus.