Selective attention increases the temporal precision of the auditory N100 event-related potential

Hear Res. 2007 Aug;230(1-2):73-9. doi: 10.1016/j.heares.2007.04.004. Epub 2007 Jun 2.

Abstract

Selective attention increases the amplitude of the averaged N100 event-related potential (ERP). This increase may result from more neurons responding to the stimulus or from the same number of neurons better synchronised with the stimulus, or both. We investigated the synchronization mechanism using a new response latency jitter measurement algorithm that performed well for all the signal-to-noise ratios obtained in the experiment. We found that the significantly increased N100 amplitude is accounted for by a significantly decreased latency jitter variance for the attended stimuli.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Acoustic Stimulation
  • Adolescent
  • Adult
  • Algorithms
  • Attention*
  • Auditory Pathways / physiology*
  • Auditory Perception*
  • Auditory Threshold
  • Electroencephalography
  • Evoked Potentials, Auditory*
  • Female
  • Humans
  • Male
  • Reaction Time
  • Time Factors