%0 Journal Article
%T Tracking the habituation of the event-related EEG potential in automatic change detection using an auditory two-tone oddball paradigm.
%A Wagner-Altendorf TA
%A Rein M
%A Skeries VM
%A Cirkel A
%A Münte TF
%A Heldmann M
%J Cereb Cortex
%V 34
%N 4
%D 2024 Apr 1
%M 38615240
%F 4.861
%R 10.1093/cercor/bhae157
%X The mismatch negativity and the P3a of the event-related EEG potential reflect the electrocortical response to a deviant stimulus in a series of stimuli. Although both components have been investigated in various paradigms, these paradigms usually incorporate many repetitions of the same deviant, thus leaving open whether both components vary as a function of the deviant's position in a series of deviant stimuli-i.e. whether they are subject to qualitative/quantitative habituation from one instantiation of a deviant to the next. This is so because the detection of mismatch negativity/P3a in the event-related EEG potential requires an averaging over dozens or hundreds of stimuli, i.e. over many instantiations of the deviant per participant. The present study addresses this research gap. We used a two-tone oddball paradigm implementing only a small number of (deviant) stimuli per participant, but applying it to a large number of participants (n > 230). Our data show that the mismatch negativity amplitude exhibits no decrease as a function of the deviant's position in a series of (standard and) deviant stimuli. Importantly, only after the very first deviant stimulus, a distinct P3a could be detected, indicative of an orienting reaction and an attention shift, and thus documenting a dissociation of mismatch negativity and P3a.