Visual mismatch negativity is sensitive to symmetry as a perceptual category

Abstract

Keywords: perceptual categorization, automatic change detection AbstractWe investigated the sensitivity of visual mismatch negativity (vMMN) to an abstract and nonsemantic category, the vertical mirror symmetry. Event-related potentials were recorded to random and symmetric square patterns, delivered in passive oddball paradigm (participants played a video game). In one of the conditions, symmetric patterns were frequent (standard) stimuli and the random patterns were infrequent (deviant) stimuli, in the other condition the probabilities were reversed. We compared the ERPs to symmetric stimuli as deviants and as standards, and similarly, the ERPs to the random deviants and random standards. As the difference between the ERPs to random deviant and random standard stimuli a posterior negativity emerged in two latency ranges (112-120-ms and 284-292-ms). These negativities were considered as visual mismatch negativity (vMMN) components.We suggest the two vMMN components are organized in cascade error signals. However, there was no significant difference between the ERPs to the symmetric deviants and symmetric standards.Emergence of vMMN to the deviant random stimuli is considered as a deviation of a perceptual category (in the symmetric standard's sequence presented). Accordingly, random stimuli acquired no perceptual category, for this reason the symmetric deviant (in the random standard's sequence presented) elicited no vMMN.The results show that the memory system underlying visual mismatch negativity is capable of coding perceptual categories such as bilateral symmetry, even if the stimulus patterns are unrelated to the ongoing behavior.

Is it a face of a woman or a man? Visual mismatch negativity is sensitive to gender category

“…No category-specific difference appeared to left half-field stimulation. VMMN appeared to be sensitive to symmetry as perceptual category (Kecskés-Kovács et al, 2013), hand laterality (Stefanics and Czigler, 2012), and vMMN emerged to deviant facial emotions (Stefanics and Czigler, 2012). The question to be answered in relation to such vMMN results is whether these effects are based on the activation of a common set of physical features, or the stimuli activate the category code, and this code has a top-down effect on stimulus processing.…”

“…Results of a number of studies provide evidence that the sensitivity of vMMN is not restricted to the detection of infrequent changes of elementary features; vMMN is elicited by deviant sequential relationships (Kimura et al, 2011), and the conjunction of visual deviant features (Winkler et al, 2005). Furthermore, it has been shown that the system underlying vMMN is sensitive to perceptual categorization in the color domain (Athanasopoulos et al, 2010; Clifford et al, 2010; Mo et al, 2011), and in Gestalt organization, like vertical symmetry (Kecskés-Kovács et al, 2013), and laterality of human hands as a category (Stefanics and Czigler, 2012). …”

Asymmetry of automatic change detection shown by the visual mismatch negativity: An additional feature is identified faster than missing features

“…The task was to maneuver a spaceship across a canyon, and catch objects with green color and avoid objects with red color. To perform properly, a continuous central fixation was needed (for more details, see Kecskés-Kovács et al, 20132). …”

“…In a recent study, in a sequence of standard symmetric patterns, infrequent random patterns (deviants) elicited vMMN, but when the roles of the stimulus categories were reversed, no vMMN emerged (Kecskés-Kovács et al, 20132). This result was interpreted as a category-related effect: a sequence of symmetric patterns elicited a perceptual category, and the regular presentation of this category was violated by the random deviant.…”

Oscillatory characteristics of the visual mismatch negativity: what evoked potentials aren't telling us

“…Such violations can take the form of simple physical changes in the stimulus properties, e.g., a change in pitch of an acoustic stimulus (Paavilainen et al, 1993), to abstract deviations in the relationships between stimuli, e.g., missing a step in a musical scale (Brattico et al, 2006), or a non-symmetrical stimulus in a sequence of symmetrical stimuli (Kecskés-Kovács et al, 2012). Since its first description (Näätänen et al, 1978; Näätänen and Michie, 1979) it has become an established tool in the investigation of sensory processing and attention, and a marker of cognitive decline across a variety of conditions (see Näätänen et al, 2011 for a review).…”