Sensory attenuation prevails when controlling for temporal predictability of self- and externally generated tones

Area of Science:

• Cognitive Neuroscience
• Psychology of Action
• Perception Research

Background:

• Sensory attenuation is a well-established phenomenon where self-produced events are perceived less intensely than identical externally produced events.
• The leading explanation involves internal forward models predicting sensory consequences (effe rence copies) of planned actions.
• Methodological limitations, particularly concerning temporal predictability, have prompted alternative explanations for sensory attenuation.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate sensory attenuation while rigorously controlling for temporal prediction.
• To determine if unique predictive mechanisms of voluntary action contribute to sensory attenuation.
• To differentiate between internal forward model predictions and temporal cueing in explaining sensory attenuation.

Main Methods:

• An experimental design was implemented to equalize temporal predictability for both self-generated and externally generated auditory stimuli.
• A continuously filling bar served as a predictive cue, allowing for precise temporal anticipation of auditory events.
• Event-related potentials (ERPs), specifically the auditory N1 component, were measured to assess neural processing differences.

Main Results:

• The auditory N1 component was significantly attenuated for self-generated tones compared to externally generated tones.
• This attenuation persisted even when temporal predictability was matched between self- and externally-generated events.
• The findings indicate that temporal predictability alone does not account for the observed sensory attenuation.

Conclusions:

• Voluntary actions possess a unique predictive mechanism that influences perceptual processing.
• Sensory attenuation is not solely explained by temporal prediction, supporting the role of internal forward models in action perception.
• These results underscore the distinct neural processing associated with self-initiated actions and their sensory consequences.