The MMN as a viable and objective marker of auditory development in CI users

Abstract

In the present article, we review the studies on the use of the mismatch negativity (MMN) as a tool for an objective assessment of cochlear-implant (CI) functioning after its implantation and as a function of time of CI use. The MMN indexes discrimination of different sound stimuli with a precision matching with that of behavioral discrimination and can therefore be used as its objective index. Importantly, these measurements can be reliably carried out even in the absence of attention and behavioral responses and therefore they can be extended to populations that are not capable of behaviorally reporting their perception such as infants and different clinical patient groups. In infants and small children with CI, the MMN provides the only means for assessing the adequacy of the CI functioning, its improvement as a function of time of CI use, and the efficiency of different rehabilitation procedures. Therefore, the MMN can also be used as a tool in developing and testing different novel rehabilitation procedures. Importantly, the recently developed multi-feature MMN paradigms permit the objective assessment of discrimination accuracy for all the different auditory dimensions (such as frequency, intensity, and duration) in a short recording time of about 30 min. Most recently, such stimulus paradigms have been successfully developed for an objective assessment of music perception, too.

Enhancing Working Memory Based on Mismatch Negativity Neurofeedback in Subjective Cognitive Decline Patients: A Preliminary Study

“…Some of our results are inconsistent with the previous data, and the discrepancy may be caused by different paradigm parameters of the experimental design (Chang et al, 2014 , 2017 ). Considering that the MMN index discrimination of various sound stimuli can result from a rigid matching similar to behavioral discrimination, the MMN signals are associated with the magnitude of deviation and involve perceptual discriminability (Näätänen et al, 2017 ). In SCD patients, auditory discrimination is different because we observed that the auditory frequency discrimination threshold ranges from 1,200 to 300 Hz.…”

The CI MuMuFe – A New MMN Paradigm for Measuring Music Discrimination in Electric Hearing

“…A salient horizontal eye movement component was visually identified and removed in 9 of 11 CI users and 10 of the 14 NH. For each CI user, one to eight CI artifact components were visually identified and removed, based on whether their topographical centroids were located above the implant site (Viola et al, 2011;Näätänen et al, 2017) and their waveforms were distinguishable from ordinary auditory evoked responses and neurophysiological oscillations.…”

“…Statistical analysis on the MMN difference waves was conducted by following the clinical conventions of obtaining the average Fz electrode amplitude (Duncan et al, 2009;Näätänen et al, 2017) across a 30 ms time window centered on the feature-specific negative peak in the grand average ERP waveform (Näätänen et al, 2017). With the current stimulus paradigm and population samples, similar but slightly differing featurespecific MMN peak latencies were measured for each feature across groups: 148 ms for intensity, 156 ms for pitch, 132 ms for rhythm, and 152 ms for timbre MMN.…”

“…EEG offers the opportunity to investigate auditory function with a high temporal resolution by recording eventrelated brain potentials (ERPs). Especially one ERP, the mismatch negativity (MMN) response, has proven to be a reliable and objective marker for CI users' ability to accurately discriminate auditory stimuli (for a review see Näätänen et al, 2017). The MMN is a neural response elicited when a sensory input does not match the predicted pattern.…”

“…In CI users, MMN responses typically show trends of smaller amplitudes and longer latencies compared to NH controls (Titterington et al, 2003;Kelly, 2005;Roman, 2005;Timm et al, 2014). It should be emphasized, however, that some studies have been unable to demonstrate reliable MMN responses in CI users which may be attributed to reduced recruitment of the auditory cortex as a consequence of prelingual hearing loss and/or long duration of deafness (Zhang, 2011;Petersen et al, 2013;Näätänen et al, 2017).…”