Brief natural sounds in the passive oddball paradigm: good temporal control plus ecological validity
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1
Institute for Psychology, Hungarian Academy of Sciences, Hungary
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2
Institute for Psychology I, University of Leipzig, Germany
The use of simple, artificial sounds in auditory experiments allows for rigorous temporal control of the auditory information flow. Experiments using such stimuli, on the other hand, may not reflect the way auditory processing unfolds in natural auditory settings. A straightforward solution to this problem is the utilization of natural sounds. This, however, often leads to a loss of control over the timing of sensory information.
In the present study, we used a passive oddball paradigm featuring very brief (20 ms long), easily distinguishable, dynamic natural sounds. The brief duration guarantees that the relevant auditory information is delivered wholly within the same 20 ms interval for all stimuli. Two of the sounds were presented as standards (45-45% probability), the other two as deviants (5-5%) in random sequences. Sound roles were randomized between the experimental blocks individually for each young adult participant. Stimulus onset asynchrony (SOA) was 1500 ms.
The deviants elicited mismatch negativity and late discriminative negativity (LDN). No N1-effect was present, which suggests that the brief duration combined with dynamic spectral properties causes insignificant refractoriness-effects at the present SOA. The elicitation of LDN in an adult group can be attributed to the complexity of the paradigm: multiple natural sounds presented as standards and deviants provide a richer auditory environment than most studies investigating auditory processing. These results might indicate that LDN elicitation in adults might depend on high stimulation complexity. This interpretation suggests that paradigms in which an LDN is registered in children but not in adults may be perceived as being more complex by children than by adults. This notion supports the hypothesis that LDN may reflect higher-order sound change processing.
Conference:
MMN 09
Fifth Conference on Mismatch Negativity (MMN) and its Clinical and Scientific Applications, Budapest, Hungary, 4 Apr - 7 Apr, 2009.
Presentation Type:
Poster Presentation
Topic:
Poster Presentations
Citation:
Horváth
J,
Roeber
U and
Schroger
E
(2009). Brief natural sounds in the passive oddball paradigm: good temporal control plus ecological validity.
Conference Abstract:
MMN 09
Fifth Conference on Mismatch Negativity (MMN) and its Clinical and Scientific Applications.
doi: 10.3389/conf.neuro.09.2009.05.126
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Received:
26 Mar 2009;
Published Online:
26 Mar 2009.
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Correspondence:
János Horváth, Institute for Psychology, Hungarian Academy of Sciences, Budapest, Hungary, horvath@cogpsyphy.hu