Maturation of frontal and temporal components of mismatch negativity (MMN)in children

The mismatch negativity (MMN) response of auditory ERPs in adults appears t o result from several overlapping components involving both frontal and tem poral brain areas. Our aim was to test whether a similar configuration coul d be observed in children, and to examine the maturation rates of the diffe rent components. MMN (standard tones: 1000 Hz, deviants: 1100 Hz) was recor ded from 28 scalp electrodes in 24 healthy children aged from 5 to 10 and i n eight adults for comparison. Scalp current density analysis revealed both temporal and frontal components in children of all ages as well as in adul ts. Moreover the amplitudes of the temporal components were significantly g reater in children than in adults, whereas the frontal components were simi lar at all ages. The results strongly suggest that MMN is mediated by at le ast two separate neural systems, and that the frontal system matures earlie r than the sensory-specific system. NeuroReport 11:3109-3112 (C) 2000 Lippi ncott Williams & Wilkins.