Temporal regularity facilitates higher‐order sensory predictions in fast auditory sequences

Abstract

Does temporal regularity facilitate prediction in audition? To test this, we recorded human event-related potentials to frequent standard tones and infrequent pitch deviant tones, pre-attentively delivered within isochronous and anisochronous (20% onset jitter) rapid sequences. Deviant tones were repeated, either with high or low probability. Standard tone repetition sets a first-order prediction, which is violated by deviant tone onset, leading to a first-order prediction error response (Mismatch Negativity). The response to highly probable deviant repetitions is, however, attenuated relative to less probable repetitions, reflecting the formation of higher-order sensory predictions. Results show that temporal regularity is required for higher-order predictions, but does not modulate first-order prediction error responses. Inverse solution analyses (Variable Resolution Electrical Tomography; VARETA) localized the error response attenuation to posterior regions of the left superior temporal gyrus. In a control experiment with a slower stimulus rate, we found no evidence for higher-order predictions, and again no effect of temporal information on first-order prediction error. We conclude that: (i) temporal regularity facilitates the establishing of higher-order sensory predictions, i.e. 'knowing what next', in fast auditory sequences; (ii) first-order prediction error relies predominantly on stimulus feature mismatch, reflecting the adaptive fit of fast deviance detection processes.

Hierarchy of prediction errors for auditory events in human temporal and frontal cortex

“…This "primacy effect" suggests a long-term memory of the initial standard. Other studies found that, for fast, isochronous sequences (SOA = 150 ms), two MMNs occur for a pair of deviants only when some deviants also occur alone (41,42), suggesting that, when the second deviant is highly expected, MMN is attenuated. This expectancy suppression seems to be dissociable from pure repetition suppression (43).…”

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“…the update of priors at fast time scales). Furthermore, the extraction of larger units can exploit the sensitivity of simple physiological processes such as repetition suppression to changes in stimulus statistics (Summerfield et al, 2008), so that two successive stimulus tokens are processed as one if the repeated token is predictable (Tavano, Widmann, Bendixen, Trujillo-Barreto, & Schr€ oger, 2014).…”

“…This Special Issue brings together researchers and experts from the fields of linguistics, cognitive neuroscience and biological psychology with the goal of distinguishing the effects of inherently predictive neural mechanisms (knowing "when") from the effects of stimulusdriven probabilistic expectancies (knowing "what next"). Inherently predictive mechanisms track the quasi-periodic nature of speech segments over time and account for the point in time of the next salient stimulus or stimulus feature, while variations in stimulus probabilities can be used to anticipate the identity of upcoming events (Schwartze, Tavano, Schr€ oger, & Kotz, 2012;Tavano et al, 2014). For instance, the quasi-periodic opening and closing of the mouth during articulation, together with the concurrent movements of the articulators (e.g.…”

From random to regular: neural constraints on the emergence of isochronous rhythm during cultural transmission

“…, 1989). In this regard, temporal regularity optimizes temporal integration mechanisms (Tavano et al , 2014). Small temporal deviations are more easily detected in isochronous than irregular temporal patterns.…”