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Zusammenfassung:
Predictive timing in cognition and action is a prerequisite for the effective interaction between an individual and the environment. Predictive timing implies some internal representation of temporal structure, probably generated by cerebellar and basal ganglia temporal processing systems (for a review see Buhusi and Meck, 2005). In turn, this representation of temporal structure could be instrumental in synchronizing cognitive processes and the allocation of cognitive recourses with external events. For example, Dynamic Attending Theory (DAT, Large and Jones, 1999) proposes that attention can be modeled as a self-sustained oscillation capable of entrainment, i.e., unidirectional coupling or “locking-into” the temporal structure of sensory input. In the current study, we used the high temporal resolution of the Electroencephalogram (EEG) to explore the impact of temporal grouping and temporal regularity in sensory input on the auditory mismatch negativity (MMN) and P3b event-related-potentials (ERPs). The MMN is associated with the pre-attentive processing of a deviant event embedded in a sequence of standard events, whereas the P3b reflects attentive processing of such event (for reviews see Linden, 2005; Polich, 2007; Näätänen et al., 2007). The P3b, but not the MMN component was sensitive to temporal regularity, while both ERPs differed as a function of deviant position within a stimulus group. The specific pattern of results provides evidence for dissociable pre-attentive and attention-dependent temporal processing systems, and an impact of temporal structure on cognitive
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processes. Open questions concern the implications of these results for the processing of more complex signals and what temporal parameters could be applicable to optimize the observed effects.
