[Moving sound source discrimination in humans (mismatch negativity and psychophysics)]

Ability to discriminate the moving sound sources with different dynamic properties was studied in humans. The auditory motion was simulated by introducing variable interaural time differences into the deviant stimuli. The electrophysiological experiment explored mismatch negativity elicited by the abrupt sound shift taken as deviant against gradual sound motion taken as standard. The psychoacoustic procedure revealed that these stimuli were not differentiated behaviorally. Nevertheless, the significant mismatch negativities were obtained. It was also established that the mismatch negativity was not influenced by the direction of sound motion. The results obtained are discussed from the point of view of actual theories of moving sound localization. The findings are in line with the hypothesis that mismatch negativity should not be considered as a direct index of behavioral discrimination accuracy.