Distraction in a visual multi-deviant paradigm: Behavioral and event-related potential effects

Orientation and contrast deviance examined: Contrast effects mimic deviant-related negativity yet neither produce the canonical neural correlate of prediction error

The visual mismatch negativity (vMMN) is a negative-going event-related potential (ERP) component that is largest somewhere between 100 and 300 ms after the onset of an unpredictable visual event (i.e., a deviant) in an otherwise predictable sequence of visual events (i.e., standards). Many have argued that the vMMN allows us to monitor our ever-changing visual environment for deviants critical to our survival. Recently, however, it has become unclear whether unpredicted changes in low-level features of visual input, like orientation, can evoke the vMMN. I address this by testing isolated orientation changes, to confirm recent findings, and isolated contrast changes, to determine whether other low-level features of visual input do not evoke the vMMN in a traditional oddball paradigm. Eighteen participants saw sequences of rare, unanticipated, and different deviant stimuli, interspersed among frequent, anticipated, and identical standard stimuli. Stimuli were Gabor patches. Neither deviant produced a vMMN. Therefore, changes in low-level visual properties of well-controlled stimuli-a stimulus in which one property can be manipulated while all others remain unaffected-like Gabor patches do not yield a vMMN.

Distraction by violation of sensory predictions: Functional distinction between deviant sounds and unexpected silences

It has been established that participants performing a continuous categorization task respond significantly slower following the presentation of unexpected, task-irrelevant, auditory stimuli, compared to a repetitive (standard) sound. Evidence indicates that such distraction emerges because of the violation of sensory predictions. This has typically been studied by measuring the impact of replacing the repeated sound by a different sound on rare and unpredictable trials. Here, we examine the impact of a different type of violation: the mere omission of the standard sound. Capitalizing upon the recent finding that deviant sounds exert distinct effects on response times as a function of whether participants produced or withheld a response on the previous trial, we present the results of an experiment seeking to disentangle two potential effects of sound omission: deviance distraction and the removal of an unspecific warning signal. The results indicate that deviant sound and the unexpected omission of the standard sound impact response times through, at least partially, distinct mechanisms. Deviant sounds affect performance by triggering the orienting of attention towards a new sensory input. Sound omissions, in contrast, appear to affect performance in part because responses no longer benefit from an unspecific warning signal to prepare for action.

Processing Self-Related Information Under Non-attentional Conditions Revealed by Visual MMN

Mismatch negativity (MMN) of event-related potentials (ERPs) is a biomarker reflecting the preattentional change detection under non-attentional conditions. This study was performed to explore whether high self-related information could elicit MMN in the visual channel, indicating the automatic processing of self-related information at the preattentional stage. Thirty-five participants were recruited and asked to list 25 city names including the birthplace. According to the difference of relevance reported from the participants, we divided names of the different cities into high (birthplace as deviants), medium (Xi’an, where participants’ university is located, as deviants), and low (totally unrelated cities as standard stimuli) self-related information. Visual MMN (vMMN) was elicited by high self-related information but not by medium self-related information, with an occipital–temporal scalp distribution, indicating that, under non-attentional condition, high self-related information can be effectively processed automatically in the preattentional stage compared with low self-related information. These data provided new electrophysiological evidence for self-related information processing.

Visual mismatch negativity elicited by semantic violations in visual words

The remarkable rapidity and effortlessness of speech perception and word reading by skilled listeners or readers suggest implicit or automatic mechanisms underlying language processing. In speech perception, the implicit mechanisms are reflected by the auditory mismatch negativity (MMN) response, suggesting that phonemic, lexical, semantic, and syntactic information are automatically and rapidly processed in the absence of focused attention. In visual word reading, implicit orthographic and lexical processing are reflected by visual mismatch negativity (vMMN), the visual counterpart of auditory MMN. The semantic processing of spoken words is reflected by MMN. This study investigated whether semantic processing is also reflected by vMMN. For this purpose, visual Chinese words belonging to different semantic categories (color, taste, and action) were presented to participants in oddball paradigms. A set of words belonging to the same semantic category was frequently presented as standards; a word belonging to a different semantic category was presented sporadically as deviant. Participants were instructed to perform a visual cross-change detection task and ignore the words. Significant vMMN was elicited in Experiments 1 to 3, in which the deviant word carried a semantic radical that overtly indicated the word's semantic category information. The vMMNs were most prominent around 260 ms after word onset, were parieto-occipital distributed, and were significantly left-hemisphere lateralized, suggesting rapid semantic processing of the visual words' category-related information. No significant vMMN was elicited in Experiment 4, in which the deviant word did not carry any semantic radicals. Thus, the semantic radical, which has a high frequency of occurrence because it is carried by many words, may be critical for the elicitation of vMMN.

Visual mismatch negativity and representational momentum: Their possible involvement in the same automatic prediction

To maintain real-time interaction with a dynamically changing visual object, the brain is thought to automatically predict the next state of the object based on the pattern of its preceding changes. A behavioral phenomenon known as representational momentum (RM: forward displacement of the remembered final state of an object along its preceding change pattern) and an electrophysiological phenomenon known as visual mismatch negativity (VMMN: an event-related brain potential component that is elicited when an object suddenly deviates from its preceding change pattern) have each indicated the existence of such automatic predictive processes. However, there has been no direct investigation of whether or not these phenomena are involved in the same predictive processes. To address this issue, the present study examined the correlation between RM and VMMN by using a hybrid paradigm in which both phenomena can be measured for the rotation of a bar. The results showed that the magnitudes of RM and VMMN were positively correlated; participants who exhibited greater RM along the regular rotation of a bar tended to show greater VMMN in response to sudden reversal embedded in the regular rotation of a bar. This result provides empirical support for the hypothesis that RM and VMMN may be involved in the same automatic predictive processes. Due to the methodological limitations of a correlation analysis, this hypothesis has to be carefully tested in future studies that examine the relationship between RM and VMMN from multiple perspectives.

Visual mismatch negativity is unaffected by top-down prediction of the timing of deviant events

Visual mismatch negativity (VMMN) is an event-related brain potential component that is automatically elicited by infrequent (deviant) stimuli that are inserted among frequent (standard) stimuli (i.e., an oddball sequence). Although the elicitation of VMMN is basically determined in a stimulus-driven manner, it can be modulated by top-down control. In a previous study using a "patterned" oddball sequence, where deviant (D) stimuli were regularly inserted among standard (S) stimuli (i.e., repetitions of an SSSSD pattern), VMMN was largely reduced when participants noticed the SSSSD pattern and actively predicted both the identity and timing of the deviant stimuli compared to when they did not notice the SSSSD pattern and did not form such active prediction. The present study further investigated whether or not active prediction of only the timing of deviant stimuli is sufficient for the reduction of VMMN. With the patterned oddball sequence with one deviant (here, deviant stimuli were fixed throughout the block), VMMN was reduced when the participants noticed the SSSSD pattern and actively predicted both the identity and timing of deviant stimuli (i.e., replication of the previous finding). In contrast, with the patterned oddball sequence with two deviants (deviant stimuli were randomly varied between two possibilities), VMMN was not significantly reduced when the participants noticed the SSSSD pattern and actively predicted only the timing of deviant stimuli. These results suggest that active prediction of only the timing of deviant stimuli is not sufficient to reduce VMMN.

Food words distract the hungry: Evidence of involuntary semantic processing of task-irrelevant but biologically-relevant unexpected auditory words

Rare changes in a stream of otherwise repeated task-irrelevant sounds break through selective attention and disrupt performance in an unrelated visual task by triggering shifts of attention to and from the deviant sound (deviance distraction). Evidence indicates that the involuntary orientation of attention to unexpected sounds is followed by their semantic processing. However, past demonstrations relied on tasks in which the meaning of the deviant sounds overlapped with features of the primary task. Here we examine whether such processing is observed when no such overlap is present but sounds carry some relevance to the participants’ biological need to eat when hungry. We report the results of an experiment in which hungry and satiated participants partook in a cross-modal oddball task in which they categorized visual digits (odd/even) while ignoring task-irrelevant sounds. On most trials the irrelevant sound was a sinewave tone (standard sound). On the remaining trials, deviant sounds consisted of spoken words related to food (food deviants) or control words (control deviants). Questionnaire data confirmed state (but not trait) differences between the two groups with respect to food craving, as well as a greater desire to eat the food corresponding to the food-related words in the hungry relative to the satiated participants. The results of the oddball task revealed that food deviants produced greater distraction (longer response times) than control deviants in hungry participants while the reverse effect was observed in satiated participants. This effect was observed in the first block of trials but disappeared thereafter, reflecting semantic saturation. Our results suggest that (1) the semantic content of deviant sounds is involuntarily processed even when sharing no feature with the primary task; and that (2) distraction by deviant sounds can be modulated by the participants’ biological needs.

The semantic aftermath of distraction by deviant sounds: Crosstalk interference is mediated by the predictability of semantic congruency

Rare changes in a stream of otherwise repeated task-irrelevant sounds break through selective attention and disrupt performance in an unrelated visual task. This deviance distraction effect emerges because deviant sounds violate the cognitive system's predictions. In this study we sought to examine whether predictability also mediate the so-called semantic effect whereby behavioral performance suffers from the clash between the involuntary semantic evaluation of irrelevant sounds and the voluntary processing of visual targets (e.g., when participants must categorize a right visual arrow following the presentation of the deviant sound "left"). By manipulating the conditional probabilities of the congruent and incongruent deviant sounds in a left/right arrow categorization task, we elicited implicit predictions about the upcoming target and related response. We observed a linear increase of the semantic effect with the proportion of congruent deviant trials (i.e., as deviant sounds increasingly predicted congruent targets). We conclude that deviant sounds affect response times based on a combination of crosstalk interference and two types of prediction violations: stimulus violations (violations of predictions regarding the identity of upcoming irrelevant sounds) and semantic violations (violations of predictions regarding the target afforded by deviant sounds). We report a three-parameter model that captures all key features of the observed RTs. Overall, our results fit with the view that the brain builds forward models of the environment in order to optimize cognitive processing and that control of one's attention and actions is called upon when predictions are violated. This article is part of a Special Issue entitled SI: Prediction and Attention.

Different effects of alcohol on automatic detection of colour, location and time change: a mismatch negativity study

The effects of alcohol on pre-attentive processing have been well studied in the past decades. However, the majority of studies focus on pre-attentive auditory processing and only a few studies have examined the effects of alcohol on visual processing. This study investigates the effects of alcohol on automatic pre-attentive processing of visual changes in colour, location and duration. We compared the mean amplitudes and the amplitude decline ratios of visual mismatch negativity (vMMN) responses elicited for small and large changes in image colour, location and duration in 12 individuals under the influence of alcohol and in a placebo condition. The vMMN amplitudes for changes in location and duration significantly decreased in the alcohol condition as compared with the placebo condition, and the magnitude of decrease was not related to the magnitude of change in the deviant stimuli. However, the amplitude of colour vMMN, in the alcohol condition, did not change significantly compared to the placebo condition. These results show that pre-attentive visual processing is impaired by alcohol, and that this impairment may be feature-specific. In addition, this impairment was not related to the magnitude of stimuli change.

Visual mismatch negativity: a predictive coding view

An increasing number of studies investigate the visual mismatch negativity (vMMN) or use the vMMN as a tool to probe various aspects of human cognition. This paper reviews the theoretical underpinnings of vMMN in the light of methodological considerations and provides recommendations for measuring and interpreting the vMMN. The following key issues are discussed from the experimentalist's point of view in a predictive coding framework: (1) experimental protocols and procedures to control "refractoriness" effects; (2) methods to control attention; (3) vMMN and veridical perception.

Impairment in preattentive processing among patients with hypertension revealed by visual mismatch negativity

Objective. Patients with hypertension show deficits in cognitive function. However, the neural mechanisms underlying the preattentive information processing in hypertensive patients are poorly understood. We seek to investigate whether hypertensive patients have impairments in preattentive information processing. Methods. We compared visual mismatch negativity (vMMN) between 15 hypertensive patients and 15 age-matched healthy controls, which was elicited by the change of visual duration randomly presented in both peripheral visual fields. In addition, the global cognitive function for all participants was assessed with Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE). Results. The vMMN in deviant-standard comparison was observed at occipital-temporal regions. Compared with normal healthy controls, the amplitude of vMMN was significantly decreased in hypertensive patients (P < 0.05). Meanwhile, the vMMN peak latency was delayed in the hypertensive group (P < 0.05). However, the MMSE scores of patients with hypertension were not significantly different from those of controls (P > 0.05), and there was no significant correlation between the mean amplitude of vMMN and SBP, DBP, and MMSE in hypertensive individuals, respectively. Conclusions. These data indicate dysfunction of automatically change detection processing in patients with hypertension. Moreover, the changes of vMMN provide a more objective and reliable assessment for cognitive impairment in hypertensive patients.

Object-related regularities are processed automatically: evidence from the visual mismatch negativity

One of the most challenging tasks of our visual systems is to structure and integrate the enormous amount of incoming information into distinct coherent objects. It is an ongoing debate whether or not the formation of visual objects requires attention. Implicit behavioral measures suggest that object formation can occur for task-irrelevant and unattended visual stimuli. The present study investigated pre-attentive visual object formation by combining implicit behavioral measures and an electrophysiological indicator of pre-attentive visual irregularity detection, the visual mismatch negativity (vMMN) of the event-related potential. Our displays consisted of two symmetrically arranged, task-irrelevant ellipses, the objects. In addition, there were two discs of either high or low luminance presented on the objects, which served as targets. Participants had to indicate whether the targets were of the same or different luminance. In separate conditions, the targets either usually were enclosed in the same object or in two different objects (standards). Occasionally, the regular target-to-object assignment was changed (deviants). That is, standards and deviants were exclusively defined on the basis of the task-irrelevant target-to-object assignment but not on the basis of some feature regularity. Although participants did not notice the regularity nor the occurrence of the deviation in the sequences, task-irrelevant deviations resulted in increased reaction times. Moreover, compared with physically identical standard displays deviating target-to-object assignments elicited a negative potential in the 246–280 ms time window over posterio-temporal electrode positions which was identified as vMMN. With variable resolution electromagnetic tomography (VARETA) object-related vMMN was localized to the inferior temporal gyrus. Our results support the notion that the visual system automatically structures even task-irrelevant aspects of the incoming information into objects.