Sex Related Differences in the Detection of Stimulus Deviancy

Document Type

Article

Publication Date

2003

Keywords

Auditory oddball, Sex, Event-related potential, Novelty, MMN, P2, N2

Digital Object Identifier (DOI)

https://doi.org/10.1016/S0167-8760(03)00042-4

Abstract

The effect of sex on neural mechanisms of auditory mismatch detection was examined using dense sensor array (128 channel) event-related potential recordings (ERPs). ERPs of 32 right-handed subjects (16 males) were recorded to frequent (85%, 880 Hz) and infrequent (15%, 1480 Hz) tones. There were no sex differences in mismatch negativity (80–180 ms), however, the fronto-central P2 (180–260 ms) was less positive in males (F=12.56, P<0.005) and the N2 (260–340 ms) was more negative in males (F=6.28, P<0.05). The increased negativity in males spanning the P2 and N2 may index a top–down process of attention bias towards novelty. This result supports the hypothesis of an adaptive, sexually dimorphic processing of novel events in humans.

Was this content written or created while at USF?

Yes

Citation / Publisher Attribution

International Journal of Psychophysiology, v. 48, issue 3, p. 285-292.

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