Novelty Processing in the Auditory System: Detection, Adaptation or Expectation?

Abstract

A gentle introduction to the theoretical debate regarding pre-attentive auditory novelty processing and its two main biological signs: the mismatch negativity (MMN) and stimulus-specific adaptation (SSA). We present three conceptual frameworks: (1) the detection hypothesis, a cognitive account derived from the study of the MMN; (2) the adaptation hypothesis, a more neurophysiologically-grounded approach mainly inspired by SSA data; and (3) the expectation hypothesis, a recent integrative explanation based on the predictive processing. We review the core tenets of these three hypotheses, highlighting their strengths, debating their conflicting notions, contrasting them with empirical studies and exposing their limitations.