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Is there pre-attentive memory-based comparison of pitch?

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  06 July 2001

THOMAS JACOBSEN  and
ERICH SCHRÖGER
THOMAS JACOBSEN
Affiliation:
Institut für Allgemeine Psychologie, Universität Leipzig, Germany
ERICH SCHRÖGER
Affiliation:
Institut für Allgemeine Psychologie, Universität Leipzig, Germany
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Abstract

The brain's responsiveness to changes in sound frequency has been demonstrated by an overwhelming number of studies. Change detection occurs unintentionally and automatically. It is generally assumed that this brain response, the so-called mismatch negativity (MMN) of the event-related brain potential or evoked magnetic field, is based on the outcome of a memory-comparison mechanism rather than being due to a differential state of refractoriness of tonotopically organized cortical neurons. To the authors' knowledge, however, there is no entirely compelling evidence for this belief. An experimental protocol controlling for refractoriness effects was developed and a true memory-comparison-based brain response to pitch change was demonstrated.

Keywords

Mismatch negativity (MMN)Change-detectionSensory memory
Type
SPECIAL REPORT
Information
Psychophysiology , Volume 38 , Issue 4 , July 2001 , pp. 723 - 727
Copyright
2001 Society for Psychophysiological Research

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