Single-trial event-related potentials and the orienting reflex to monaural tones

We aimed to clarify the event-related potentials (ERPs) involved in elicitation and habituation of the orienting reflex (OR), seeking parallels with two autonomic measures reflecting different stages in OR-related processing. Participants were presented with 8 unexpected innocuous novel tones to one ear at long variable inter-stimulus intervals, and horizontal eye movement in the direction of the ear of stimulation was taken as a behavioural measure of the OR. Skin conductance, heart rate, and 19 EEG channels were also recorded. Single-trial ERPs were decomposed using principal components analysis for intervals covering the early N1 complex and the late positive complex (LPC). Eye movements at trial 1 showed significant directional differences with ear of stimulation, and this difference reduced over trials, providing behavioural evidence of OR elicitation and habituation. Electrodermal responses, Processing Negativity, and the Novelty P3 showed substantial main effects of trials, suggesting their close links to the OR. Cardiac deceleration and Component 1 of the N1 complex showed no change over trials, suggesting their association in marking the transient onset of each stimulus. Component 3 of the N1 complex, P3a, P3b, and early and late Slow Waves showed only topographic changes over trials, and their dominant continuation over the stimulus sequence rules them out as OR markers. Theory development is required to clarify the non-OR role of the LPC. These results point to the usefulness of a sequential-processing approach to the OR in accommodating the range of subcomponents in the ERP. These data also illustrate the value of single-trial ERP analysis in simple paradigms with very long inter-stimulus intervals.

Research highlights
► Monaural auditory stimuli produced eye movements in the direction of the stimulus.
► These habituated with repetition—behavioural evidence of the orienting reflex.
► Electrodermal and cardiac deceleration responses showed different trials effects.
► Single-trial ERP components in the N1 and LPC ranges paralleled these differences.