| Article ID | Journal | Published Year | Pages | File Type |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 3046508 | Clinical Neurophysiology | 2008 | 14 Pages |
ObjectiveThe present study aimed at adapting a multi-deviant auditory distraction paradigm for a comprehensive screening of functions of voluntary and involuntary auditory attention.MethodsSubjects performed phonetic discrimination on lateralized consonant–vowel syllables in a distraction paradigm in which task-irrelevant deviances occurred on different syllable features. Behavioral performance and event-related potentials (ERPs) were measured within a multi-deviant (frequency, location, and duration deviants, p = 0.11 each) and a classic single-deviant design (frequency deviants only, p = 0.11). Additionally, ERP effects obtained in an active and a passive multi-deviant condition were compared.ResultsBehavioral and electrophysiological deviance-related effects were rather similar in the multi-deviant and the single-deviant paradigm. Furthermore, the comparison to the passive listening condition revealed a marked effect of voluntary attention on sensory processing of the syllables.ConclusionsThe multi-deviant distraction paradigm provides a gain in time compared to the classic single-deviant distraction paradigm which is not accompanied by a loss in the strength of the effects. Inclusion of a passive listening condition enables the additional evaluation of effects of voluntary attention.SignificanceThe present multi-deviant distraction paradigm creates an important step towards a tool suited to investigate involuntary and voluntary attention in selected groups of patients during the processing of task-relevant and task-irrelevant auditory information across different acoustic dimensions.
