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Temporal window of integration of auditory information in the human brain

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  01 September 1998

HIROOKI YABE ,
MARI TERVANIEMI ,
JANNE SINKKONEN ,
MINNA HUOTILAINEN ,
RISTO J. ILMONIEMI  and
RISTO NÄÄTÄNEN
HIROOKI YABE
Affiliation:
Cognitive Brain Research Unit, Department of Psychology, University of Helsinki, Helsinki, Finland Department of Neuropsychiatry, Hirosaki University School of Medicine, Hirosaki, Japan
MARI TERVANIEMI
Affiliation:
Cognitive Brain Research Unit, Department of Psychology, University of Helsinki, Helsinki, Finland
JANNE SINKKONEN
Affiliation:
Cognitive Brain Research Unit, Department of Psychology, University of Helsinki, Helsinki, Finland BioMag Laboratory, Medical Engineering Centre, Helsinki University Central Hospital, Helsinki, Finland
MINNA HUOTILAINEN
Affiliation:
Cognitive Brain Research Unit, Department of Psychology, University of Helsinki, Helsinki, Finland
RISTO J. ILMONIEMI
Affiliation:
BioMag Laboratory, Medical Engineering Centre, Helsinki University Central Hospital, Helsinki, Finland
RISTO NÄÄTÄNEN
Affiliation:
Cognitive Brain Research Unit, Department of Psychology, University of Helsinki, Helsinki, Finland
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Abstract

A deviation in the acoustic environment activates an automatic change-detection system based on a memory mechanism that builds a neural trace representing the preceding sounds. The present study revealed that the auditory-cortex mechanisms underlying this sensory memory integrate acoustic events over time, producing a perception of a unitary auditory event. We recorded magnetic responses (MMNm) to occasional stimulus omissions in trains of stimuli presented at a constant stimulus-onset asynchrony (SOA) that was, in different blocks, either shorter or longer in duration than the assumed length of the temporal window of integration. A definite MMNm was elicited by stimulus omission only with the three shortest SOAs used: 100, 125, and 150 ms, but not with 175 ms. Thus, 160–170 ms was estimated as the length of the temporal window used by the central auditory system in integrating successive auditory input into auditory event percepts.

Keywords

Temporal window of integrationAuditory event-related potentialsMEGMismatch negativityMemory traceOmission
Type
BRIEF REPORT
Information
Psychophysiology , Volume 35 , Issue 5 , September 1998 , pp. 615 - 619
Copyright
© 1998 Society for Psychophysiological Research

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