PRACTICAL ISSUES IN THE CLINICAL-APPLICATION OF MISMATCH NEGATIVITY

The mismatch negativity (MMN) recordings provide an objective measure of the preattentive, automatic auditory discrimination function. This article deals with issues central to the recording of the MMN and the interpretation of the results for clinical and electrodiagnostic purpo ses. The methods of acquiring as pure an MMN response as possible, i.e ., one not contaminated by auditory cortical responses reflecting othe r functions, are discussed first. Second, other technical questions as sociated with the recording are reported on, e.g., what MMN parameters should be recorded and how, what is the smallest recordable MMN respo nse, and what is the repeatability of the MMN recordings. Then, the ef fect of various physiological factors on the MMN (age, alertness, gend er, topographic distribution of the MMN) is considered. The correlatio n between auditory discrimination performance and the MMN amplitude, o bserved in normal population, is dealt with. Finally, there is a short concluding overview on clinical findings of MMN recordings and discus sion on their electrodiagnostic applications.