随着皮层诱发电位技术的日趋成熟，越来越多的研究通过失匹配反应来客观评估婴幼儿听觉中枢系统发育情况，本文综述了失匹配反应的前注意成分正性-失匹配反应和晚期辨别负波的基本特点及其在婴幼儿中的研究进展，为婴幼儿听觉加工机制的深入研究提供思路。.

Objective: To investigate the early auditory discrimination of vowels, consonants and lexical tones in prelingually-deafened children with cochlear implants (CI) using auditory event-related potentials. Methods: Nineteen prelingually-deafened CI children and 19 normal hearing (NH) children were recruited in this study. A multi-deviant oddball paradigm was constructed using the monosyllable/ta1/as the standard stimulus and monosyllables/tu1/,/te1/, /da1/,/ra1/,/ta4/and/ta2/as the deviant stimuli. The event-related potentials evoked by vowel, consonant and lexical tone contrasts were recorded and analyzed in the two groups. Results: NH children showed robust mismatch negativities (MMNs) to vowel, consonant and lexical tone contrasts (P<0.05), whereas CI children only showed positive mismatch responses (pMMRs) and P3a responses to the vowel (P<0.05) and consonant contrasts (P<0.05) and no significant event-related potential to the lexical tone contrasts (P>0.05). The longer pMMR and P3a peak latencies (P<0.01) but similar amplitudes (P>0.05) were found in CI children than in NH children. CI children showed weaker phase synchronization of θ oscillations than NH children (P<0.05). The duration of CI use was positively correlated with the scores of Categories of Auditory Performance (CAP) (P=0.004), Speech Intelligibility Rate (SIR) (P=0.044) and Meaningful Auditory Integration Scale (MAIS) (P=0.001) in CI children. Conclusions: Prelingually-deafened CI children can process vowels and consonants at an early stage. However, their ability of processing speech, especially lexical tones, is still more immature compared with their NH peers. The event-related potentials could be objective electrophysiological indicators reflecting the maturity of CI children\'s auditory speech functions. Long-term CI use is beneficial for prelingually-deafened children to improve auditory and speech performance.
目的： 利用听觉事件相关电位评估语前聋儿童人工耳蜗（cochlear implant，CI）植入者对元音、辅音和声调的早期听觉加工能力。 方法： 2021年2月到2024年2月期间招募19例语前聋CI儿童（男12例、女7例，年龄3~8岁，平均6.0岁）和19例听力正常（normal hearing，NH）儿童（男12例、女7例，年龄4~9岁，平均6.8岁）。使用单音节/ta1/作为标准刺激，/tu1/，/te1/，/da1/，/ra1/，/ta4/和/ta2/作为偏差刺激，构建多偏差oddball范式。记录并分析两组儿童由元音、辅音和声调变化诱发的事件相关电位。应用SPSS 24.0软件对数据进行统计学分析。 结果： NH儿童对元音、辅音和声调变化均表现出显著的失匹配负波（mismatch negativity，MMN）（P<0.05），而CI儿童对元音和辅音变化仅表现出正向失匹配反应（positive mismatch response，pMMR）（P<0.05）和P3a反应（P<0.05），且未对声调变化表现出任何事件相关电位（P>0.05）。与NH儿童相比，CI儿童的pMMR和P3a潜伏期更长（P<0.01），两组间幅值差异无统计学意义（P>0.05）。时频分析显示，CI儿童的θ频段神经振荡同步性较NH儿童低（P<0.05）。相关性分析显示，CI儿童的CI使用时间与听觉能力分级量表（Categories of Auditory Performance，CAP）（P=0.004）、言语可懂度分级量表（Speech Intelligibility Rate，SIR）（P=0.044）和有意义听觉整合量表（Meaningful Auditory Integration Scale，MAIS）（P=0.001）得分呈正相关。 结论： 语前聋CI儿童对元音和辅音具备一定的早期听觉加工能力，但与同龄NH儿童相比，语前聋CI儿童对语音尤其是声调的加工能力仍不成熟。事件相关电位可作为反映CI儿童听觉言语功能成熟度的客观电生理指标。坚持长期佩戴CI有助于语前聋儿童听觉言语能力的提高。.

BACKGROUND: Segments and tone are important sub-syllabic units that play large roles in lexical processing in tonal languages. However, their roles in lexical processing remain unclear, and the event-related potential (ERP) technique will benefit the exploration of the cognitive mechanism in lexical processing.
METHODS: The high temporal resolution of ERP enables the technique to interpret rapidly changing spoken language performances. The present ERP study examined the different roles of segments and tone in Mandarin Chinese lexical processing. An auditory priming experiment was designed that included five types of priming stimuli: consonant mismatch, vowel mismatch, tone mismatch, unrelated mismatch, and identity. Participants were asked to judge whether the target of the prime-target pair was a real Mandarin disyllabic word or not.
RESULTS: Behavioral results including reaction time and response accuracy and ERP results were collected. Results were different from those of previous studies that showed the dominant role of consonants in lexical access in mainly non-tonal languages like English. Our results showed that consonants and vowels play comparable roles, whereas tone plays a less important role than do consonants and vowels in lexical processing in Mandarin.
CONCLUSIONS: These results have implications for understanding the brain mechanisms in lexical processing of tonal languages.

The auditory system can selectively attend to the target source in complex environments, the phenomenon known as the \"cocktail party\" effect. However, the spatiotemporal dynamics of electrophysiological activity associated with auditory selective spatial attention (ASSA) remain largely unexplored. In this study, single-source and multiple-source paradigms were designed to simulate different auditory environments, and microstate analysis was introduced to reveal the electrophysiological correlates of ASSA. Furthermore, cortical source analysis was employed to reveal the neural activity regions of these microstates. The results showed that five microstates could explain the spatiotemporal dynamics of ASSA, ranging from MS1 to MS5. Notably, MS2 and MS3 showed significantly lower partial properties in multiple-source situations than in single-source situations, whereas MS4 had shorter durations and MS5 longer durations in multiple-source situations than in single-source situations. MS1 had insignificant differences between the two situations. Cortical source analysis showed that the activation regions of these microstates initially transferred from the right temporal cortex to the temporal-parietal cortex, and subsequently to the dorsofrontal cortex. Moreover, the neural activity of the single-source situations was greater than that of the multiple-source situations in MS2 and MS3, correlating with the N1 and P2 components, with the greatest differences observed in the superior temporal gyrus and inferior parietal lobule. These findings suggest that these specific microstates and their associated activation regions may serve as promising substrates for decoding ASSA in complex environments.

Considerable work has investigated similarities between the processing of music and language, but it remains unclear whether typical, genuine music can influence speech processing via cross-domain priming. To investigate this, we measured ERPs to musical phrases and to syntactically ambiguous Chinese phrases that could be disambiguated by early or late prosodic boundaries. Musical primes also had either early or late prosodic boundaries and we asked participants to judge whether the prime and target have the same structure. Within musical phrases, prosodic boundaries elicited reduced N1 and enhanced P2 components (relative to the no-boundary condition) and musical phrases with late boundaries exhibited a closure positive shift (CPS) component. More importantly, primed target phrases elicited a smaller CPS compared to non-primed phrases, regardless of the type of ambiguous phrase. These results suggest that prosodic priming can occur across domains, supporting the existence of common neural processes in music and language processing.

It is not clear whether the brain can detect changes in native and non-native speech sounds in both unattended and attended conditions, but this information would be important to understand the nature of potential native language advantage in speech perception. We recorded event-related potentials (ERPs) for changes in duration and in Chinese lexical tone in a repeated vowel /a/ in native speakers of Finnish and Chinese in passive and active listening conditions. ERP amplitudes reflecting deviance detection (mismatch negativity; MMN and N2b) and attentional shifts towards changes in speech sounds (P3a and P3b) were investigated. In the passive listening condition, duration changes elicited increased amplitude in the MMN latency window for both standard and deviant sounds in the Finnish speakers compared to the Chinese speakers, but no group differences were observed for P3a. In passive listening to lexical tones, P3a was increased in amplitude for both standard and deviant stimuli in Chinese speakers compared to Finnish speakers, but the groups did not differ in MMN. In active listening, both tone and duration changes elicited N2b and P3b, but the groups differed only in pattern of results for the deviant type. The results thus suggest an overall increased sensitivity to native speech sounds, especially in passive listening, while the mechanisms of change detection and attentional shifting seem to work well for both native and non-native speech sounds in the attentive mode.

Time discrimination, a critical aspect of auditory perception, is influenced by numerous factors. Previous research has suggested that musical experience can restructure the brain, thereby enhancing time discrimination. However, this phenomenon remains underexplored. In this study, we seek to elucidate the enhancing effect of musical experience on time discrimination, utilizing both behavioral and electroencephalogram methodologies. Additionally, we aim to explore, through brain connectivity analysis, the role of increased connectivity in brain regions associated with auditory perception as a potential contributory factor to time discrimination induced by musical experience. The results show that the music-experienced group demonstrated higher behavioral accuracy, shorter reaction time, and shorter P3 and mismatch response latencies as compared to the control group. Furthermore, the music-experienced group had higher connectivity in the left temporal lobe. In summary, our research underscores the positive impact of musical experience on time discrimination and suggests that enhanced connectivity in brain regions linked to auditory perception may be responsible for this enhancement.

BACKGROUND: Magnetoencephalography (MEG) is a non-invasive imaging technique for directly measuring the external magnetic field generated from synchronously activated pyramidal neurons in the brain. The optically pumped magnetometer (OPM) is known for its less expensive, non-cryogenic, movable and user-friendly custom-design provides the potential for a change in functional neuroimaging based on MEG.
METHODS: An array of OPMs covering the opposite sides of a subject\'s head is placed inside a magnetically shielded room (MSR) and responses evoked from the auditory cortices are measured.
RESULTS: High signal-to-noise ratio auditory evoked response fields (AEFs) were detected by a wearable OPM-MEG system in a MSR, for which a flexible helmet was specially designed to minimize the sensor-to-head distance, along with a set of bi-planar coils developed for background field and gradient nulling. Neuronal current sources activated in AEF experiments were localized and the auditory cortices showed the highest activities. Performance of the hybrid optically pumped magnetometer-magnetoencephalography/electroencephalography (OPM-MEG/EEG) system was also assessed.
CONCLUSIONS: The multi-channel OPM-MEG system performs well in a custom built MSR equipped with bi-planar coils and detects human AEFs with a flexible helmet. Moreover, the similarities and differences of auditory evoked potentials (AEPs) and AEFs are discussed, while the operation of OPM-MEG sensors in conjunction with EEG electrodes provides an encouraging combination for the exploration of hybrid OPM-MEG/EEG systems.

BACKGROUND: Cortical thickness (CT) alterations, mismatch negativity (MMN) reductions, and cognitive deficits are robust findings in first-episode psychosis (FEP). However, most studies focused on medicated patients, leaving gaps in our understanding of the interrelationships between CT, MMN, neurocognition, and psychosocial functioning in unmedicated FEP. This study aimed to employ multiple mediation analysis to investigate potential pathways among these variables in unmedicated drug-naïve FEP.
METHODS: We enrolled 28 drug-naïve FEP and 34 age and sex-matched healthy controls. Clinical symptoms, neurocognition, psychosocial functioning, auditory duration MMN, and T1 structural magnetic resonance imaging data were collected. We measured CT in the superior temporal gyrus (STG), a primary MMN-generating region.
RESULTS: We found a significant negative correlation between MMN amplitude and bilateral CT of STG (CT_STG) in FEP (left: r = -.709, P < .001; right: r = -.612, P = .008). Multiple mediation models revealed that a thinner left STG cortex affected functioning through both direct (24.66%) and indirect effects (75.34%). In contrast, the effects of the right CT_STG on functioning were mainly mediated through MMN and neurocognitive pathways.
CONCLUSIONS: Bilateral CT_STG showed significant association with MMN, and MMN plays a mediating role between CT and cognition. Both MMN alone and its interaction with cognition mediated the effects of structural alterations on psychosocial function. The decline in overall function in FEP may stem from decreased CT_STG, leading to subsequent MMN deficits and neurocognitive dysfunction. These findings underline the crucial role of MMN in elucidating how subtle structural alterations can impact neurocognition and psychosocial function in FEP.

Objective:To study the characteristics of Mismatch negativity（MMN） in normal hearing patients of different ages, and to compare the MMN of normal hearing subjects at different ages to explore the differences in MMN between different ages. Methods:MMN test was performed on both ears using the classic Oddball mode. A frequency of 1 000 Hz（standard stimuli） and 2 000 Hz（deviant stimuli） was used to evoked the MMN. According to different age groups: the juvenile group（7-17 years old）, the youth group（18-44 years old）, the middle-aged group（45-59 years old）, and the elderly group（60-75 years old）, with 25 cases in each group. The MMN characteristics of normal hearing subjects in different age groups were analyzed statistically and the differences between groups were compared. All subjects underwent pure tone threshold test, tympanic reactance test and ABR test before MMN test. Results:MMN waveform could be elicited from both ears of 100 subjects. Among them, the average latency of the juvenile group was（159.70±20.34） ms while the average amplitude was（4.34±2.26） μV, For the youth group, the average latency was（166.01±28.67） ms and the average amplitude was（3.70±2.28） μV. Then in the middle-aged group, the average latency was（175.16±37.24） ms, meanwhile, the average amplitude was（2.69±0.84） μV. Finally, the elderly group has an average latency of（178.03±14.37） ms and an average amplitude of（2.11±0.70） μV. Therefore, there was no statistical difference in latency and amplitude between all groups（P>0.05）, and there was no statistical difference in latency and amplitude between left and right ears among all subjects as a whole（P>0.05）. However, when the left and right ears of all groups were compared, it was found that the latency between the left and right ears of the Juvenile group had statistical significance（P<0.05）, and the amplitude difference was not statistically significant（P>0.05）, while the latency and amplitude differences between the left and right ears of other groups had no statistical significance（P>0.05）. There were also no significant differences in latency and amplitude between men and women（P>0.05）. Conclusion:There was no statistically significant difference in the latency and amplitude of mismatched negative among normal hearing subjects of different ages, and no statistically significant difference in the MMN latency and amplitude between the left and right ears of subjects and between men and women. Therefore, the study inferred that the auditory cerebral cortex of subjects aged 7-75 years old maintained a stable state for a long time after maturity, and the latency and amplitude of mismatched negative waves were relatively stable. It is not affected by age, gender and ear side, and can stably reflect the auditory cortex function of the subjects. It has broad application prospects in clinical practice, and provides a reliable detection means for future research on the changes of the auditory cerebral cortex of patients, which is worthy of our further research and clinical promotion.
目的：研究不同年龄段正常听力者失匹配负波（mismatch negativity，MMN）特点，同时对不同年龄段正常听力者MMN进行比较，探讨不同年龄段之间MMN差异。 方法：采用经典的oddball模式对受试者双耳进行MMN测试，标准刺激和偏差刺激分别为1 000 Hz和2 000 Hz的短纯音。根据不同年龄段分组：未成年组（7～17岁）、青年组（18～44岁）、中年组（45～59岁）、老年组（60～75岁），每组均25例。统计分析不同年龄段正常听力者MMN特点并比较组间差异。所有受试者在进行MMN测试前均进行纯音听阈检查、鼓室导抗检查和听性脑干反应检查。 结果：100例受试者均可正常引出MMN波形图，未成年组：平均潜伏期为（159.70±20.34） ms，平均波幅为（4.34±2.26）μV；青年组：平均潜伏期为（166.01±28.67） ms，平均波幅为（3.70±2.28）μV；中年组：平均潜伏期为（175.16±37.24） ms，平均波幅为（2.69±0.84）μV；老年组：平均潜伏期为（178.03±14.37） ms，平均波幅为（2.11±0.70）μV，各组潜伏期及波幅差异无统计学意义（P>0.05）；同时所有受试者左右耳比较时发现左右耳之间潜伏期及波幅差异无统计学意义（P>0.05），但对各个组左右耳进行比较时发现未成年组左右耳之间潜伏期差异有统计学意义（P<0.05），波幅差异无统计学意义（P>0.05），其余组左右耳之间潜伏期及波幅差异均无统计学意义（P>0.05），男女之间潜伏期及波幅差异均无统计学意义（P>0.05）。 结论：不同年龄段正常听力者间听觉失匹配负波潜伏期及波幅差异无统计学意义，受试者左右耳间、男女间MMN潜伏期及波幅无明显统计学差异，故推断7～75岁的人群听觉大脑皮层自发育成熟后长期维持在稳定的状态，其听觉失匹配负波的潜伏期及波幅比较稳定，不受年龄、性别、耳侧的影响，能够稳定地反映受试者的听觉皮层功能状态，在临床上有较广阔的应用前景，为今后研究患者的听觉大脑皮层变化提供一项可靠的检测手段，值得进一步研究并在临床上推广使用。.