Test–retest reliability of mismatch negativity for duration, frequency and intensity changes

Objectives: The test–retest reliabilities of the mismatch negativity (MMN) elicited by deviances in sound duration, frequency, and intensity were compared. Methods: The MMN was recorded with a 64-channel electroencephalograph (EEG) from 15 healthy adult subjects in two sessions over intervals of 1–27 days. During the recordings, subjects watched a silent movie while they were presented with one long stimulus sequence consisting of 6 types of tones. The standard tone (P=0.8) of 75 ms in duration consisted of 3 lowest harmonic partials with 500 Hz as the fundamental frequency. Each of the 5 different deviant tones was presented with P=0.04: frequency deviants (±5%, ±10%), duration deviants (−66%, −33%), and intensity deviants (−15 dB). Results: The 66% duration decrement elicited MMN with the most replicable amplitude (r=0.78) and latency (r=0.76) among the deviances tested. Conclusions: Since these reliabilities considerably exceed those reported previously, these data support the use of the duration decrement deviance presented with spectrally rich tones while investigating the integrity of the patients’ cognitive brain functions using the MMN.