Voluntary action modulates the brain response to rule-violating events indexed by visual mismatch negativity

An event-related brain potential (ERP) component called visual mismatch negativity (MMN) is automatically elicited when sequential rules inherent in a visual stimulus sequence are violated. To elucidate whether the visual MMN-generating processes are strictly determined in a bottom-up (i.e., stimulus-driven) manner, or can be modulated by top-down control, we investigated whether or not visual MMN is affected by prior information about the occurrence of rule violation derived from the participant׳s voluntary action. The participants were required to produce a visual stimulus sequence by pressing one button frequently (about 90%) and another button infrequently (10%) in random order; an oddball sequence consisting of repetition-rule-conforming and -violating stimuli in Experiment 1 and a more complex sequence consisting of change-rule-conforming and -violating stimuli in Experiment 2. Frequently-performed button presses triggered rule-conforming stimuli (81%), but occasionally rule-violating stimuli (9%). In contrast, infrequently-performed button presses triggered rule-violating stimuli (9%), but occasionally rule-conforming stimuli (1%). The results showed that visual MMN was elicited by rule-violating stimuli triggered by frequently-performed button presses, while it was not elicited by physically the same rule-violating stimuli triggered by infrequently-performed button presses. That is, visual MMN was strongly affected by action-based prior information about the occurrence of rule violation. This result suggests that the visual MMN-generating processes can be flexibly controlled in a top-down manner, so that rule violation that can carry significant information is selectively detected.