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The Journal of Neuroscience, October 14, 2009, 29(41):13074-13078; doi:10.1523/JNEUROSCI.1708-09.2009

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Brief Communications
Processing of Auditory Location Changes after Horizontal Head Rotation

Christian F. Altmann,^1,2,3 * Esther Wilczek,^1 * and Jochen Kaiser¹

¹Institute of Medical Psychology, Goethe University, 60528 Frankfurt am Main, Germany, ²International Young Scientists Career Development Organization, Graduate School of Medicine, Kyoto University, Kyoto 606-8501, Japan, and ³Human Brain Research Center, Graduate School of Medicine, Kyoto University, Kyoto 606-8507, Japan

Correspondence should be addressed to Christian F. Altmann, International Young Scientists Career Development Organization, Career-Path Promotion Unit for Young Life Scientists, Graduate School of Medicine, Kyoto University, Yoshida Konoe-cho, Sakyo-ku, Kyoto 606-8501, Japan. Email: c.altmann{at}kt5.ecs.kyoto-u.ac.jp

Under natural conditions, our sound localization capabilities enable us to move constantly while keeping a stable representation of our auditory environment. However, since most auditory studies focus on head-restrained conditions, it is still unclear whether neurophysiological markers of auditory spatial processing reflect representation in a head-centered or an allocentric coordinate system. Therefore, we used human electroencephalography to test whether the spatial mismatch negativity (MMN) as a marker of spatial change processing is elicited by changes of sound source position in terms of a head-related or an allocentric coordinate system. Subjects listened to a series of virtually localized band-passed noise tones and were occasionally cued visually to conduct horizontal head movements. After these head movements, we presented deviants either in terms of a head-centered or an allocentric coordinate system. We observed significant MMN responses to the head-related deviants only but a change-related novelty P3-like component for both head-related and allocentric deviants. These results thus suggest that the spatial MMN is associated with a representation of auditory space in a head-related coordinate system and that the integration of motor output and auditory input possibly occurs at later stages of the auditory "where" processing stream.

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Received April 6, 2009; revised Aug. 20, 2009; accepted Sept. 15, 2009.

Correspondence should be addressed to Christian F. Altmann, International Young Scientists Career Development Organization, Career-Path Promotion Unit for Young Life Scientists, Graduate School of Medicine, Kyoto University, Yoshida Konoe-cho, Sakyo-ku, Kyoto 606-8501, Japan. Email: c.altmann{at}kt5.ecs.kyoto-u.ac.jp

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