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Mismatch Negativity Is Not Always Modulated by Lexicality.

Stephen Politzer-Ahles¹, Suyeon Im^1,2

¹Department of Chinese and Bilingual Studies, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University, Hong Kong, Hong Kong.

Frontiers in Human Neuroscience

|November 16, 2020

Summary

Lexicality does not reliably influence the mismatch negativity (MMN) brain response. Two experiments found that real words did not elicit larger MMNs than pseudowords, challenging previous assumptions in auditory processing research.

Keywords:

Mandarin event-related potentials lexical access mismatch negativity tone alternation

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Area of Science:

Psycholinguistics
Auditory Neuroscience
Cognitive Science

Background:

The mismatch negativity (MMN) is an auditory event-related potential sensitive to acoustic changes.
Previous research suggests lexicality influences MMN amplitude, with real words eliciting larger responses than pseudowords.
This presumed lexicality effect is a key factor in understanding auditory deviance detection.

Purpose of the Study:

To investigate whether lexicality reliably affects MMN amplitude.
To challenge the assumption that real words elicit larger MMNs than pseudowords.
To examine MMN responses to pseudowords differing acoustically from real words by tone or by segment.

Main Methods:

Two experiments were conducted with human participants (N=48 and N=36).
Participants listened to auditory stimuli including real words and pseudowords.
MMN amplitude was measured in response to deviant stimuli compared to standard stimuli.

Main Results:

Experiment 1: Real-word deviants did not elicit larger MMNs than pseudoword deviants when the acoustic difference was identical.
Experiment 2: Pseudowords differing from real words by tone or by at least one segment did not elicit smaller MMNs.
Neither experiment supported the hypothesis that lexicality influences MMN amplitude.

Conclusions:

The findings challenge the long-held assumption that wordhood reliably impacts MMN amplitude.
Lexicality may not be a consistent factor influencing auditory deviance detection.
Further research is needed to understand the factors governing MMN responses to speech sounds.