Cited by 168Neural dynamics and brain functionNeuroscience and Music PerceptionEmbodied and Extended Cognition

Modelling trial-by-trial changes in the mismatch negativity

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Lieder, Falk, Daunizeau, Jean, Garrido, Marta I., Friston, Karl J., Stephan, Klaas E.·2013·PLoS Computational Biology

Abstract

The mismatch negativity (MMN) is a differential brain response to violations of learned regularities. It has been used to demonstrate that the brain learns the statistical structure of its environment and predicts future sensory inputs. However, the algorithmic nature of these computations and the underlying neurobiological implementation remain controversial. This article introduces a mathematical framework with which competing ideas about the computational quantities indexed by MMN responses can be formalized and tested against single-trial EEG data. This framework was applied to five major theories of the MMN, comparing their ability to explain trial-by-trial changes in MMN amplitude. Three of these theories (predictive coding, model adjustment, and novelty detection) were formalized by linking the MMN to different manifestations of the same computational mechanism: approximate Bayesian inference according to the free-energy principle. We thereby propose a unifying view on three distinct theories of the MMN. The relative plausibility of each theory was assessed against empirical single-trial MMN amplitudes acquired from eight healthy volunteers in a roving oddball experiment. Models based on the free-energy principle provided more plausible explanations of trial-by-trial changes in MMN amplitude than models representing the two more traditional theories (change detection and adaptation). Our results suggest that the MMN reflects approximate Bayesian learning of sensory regularities, and that the MMN-generating process adjusts a probabilistic model of the environment according to prediction errors.

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  • Electrophysiological studies investigating neural responses to deviant stimuli, such as the mismatch negativity, suggest a hierarchical organization of prediction and prediction error signaling.

    “Electrophysiological studies investigating neural responses to deviant stimuli, such as the mismatch negativity (MMN), suggest a hierarchical organization of prediction and PE signaling (32–34).”

    From The Predictive Coding Account of Psychosis (2018) · cites this paper as [34]

  • Predictive coding theory provides a more plausible model than the sensory memory hypothesis or the adaptation hypothesis.

    “Several studies have shown that the predictive coding theory not only explains MMN (22) but also provides a more plausible model than the sensory memory hypothesis or the adaptation hypothesis (23).”

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Research works printed but not linked: 3

  1. [46]Greenstein B, Greenstein A (2000) Color Atlas of Neuroscience: Neuroanatomy and Neurophysiology (Thieme Flexibook). Thieme
  2. [80]Friston K (2010) The free-energy principle: a unified brain theory? Nature Reviews Neuroscience 11: 127– 138. 20068583
  3. [82]Näätänen R, Tervaniemi M, Sussman E, Paavilainen P, Winkler I (2001) “Primitive intelligence” in the auditory cortex. Trends in Neurosciences 24: 283– 288. 11311381

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Authors
Lieder, F., Daunizeau, J., Garrido, M. I., Friston, K. J., & Stephan, K. E.
Affiliations
  • University of Zurich (CH)
  • The University of Queensland (AU)
  • Wellcome Centre for Human Neuroimaging (GB)
Corresponding author
Lieder, Falk
Venue
PLoS Computational Biology
Published
2013-02-21
Volume
9
Issue
2
Pages
e1002911
ISSN
  • 1553-734X (ISSN-L)
  • 1553-7358
OpenAlex
W1975232326
Cited by
168
References
87
Citations by year
2026: 11 · 2025: 11 · 2024: 17 · 2023: 11 · 2022: 21 · 2021: 16 · 2020: 13 · 2019: 11 · 2018: 11 · 2017: 7 · 2016: 10 · 2015: 6 · 2014: 14 · 2013: 9
FWCI
7.10
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
Locations
  • PLoS Computational Biology (publishedVersion, cc-by)
  • Europe PMC (PubMed Central) (publishedVersion, cc-by)
  • PubMed Central (publishedVersion, cc-by)
  • PubMed (publishedVersion)
  • Zurich Open Repository and Archive (University of Zurich) (acceptedVersion, cc-by)
  • DOAJ (DOAJ: Directory of Open Access Journals) (submittedVersion, cc-by-sa)
  • UCL Discovery (University College London) (submittedVersion)
  • Minerva Access (University of Melbourne) (submittedVersion, cc-by)
  • Repository for Publications and Research Data (ETH Zurich) (submittedVersion, cc-by)
  • Zurich Open Repository and Archive (University of Zurich) (submittedVersion, cc-by)
  • ETH Zürich Research Collection (cc-by)
  • Zurich Open Repository and Archive (University of Zurich)
Funders
  • Wellcome Trust (091593, 088130)
  • SystemsX.ch
Topics
  • Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Cognitive Neuroscience › Neural dynamics and brain function
  • Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Cognitive Neuroscience › Neuroscience and Music Perception
  • Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Cognitive Neuroscience › Embodied and Extended Cognition
Keywords
mismatch negativity, predictive coding, model modification, novelty detection, free energy principle, approximate Bayesian inference, statistical learning, prediction error, single-trial EEG, change detection, sensory adaptation
MeSH terms
Acoustic Stimulation, Adult, Bayes Theorem, Electroencephalography, Evoked Potentials, Auditory, Female, Humans, Learning, Male, Models, Neurological, Neurons, Signal Processing, Computer-Assisted, Models, Statistical

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