Towards the possible clinical application of the mismatch negativity component of event-related potentials.

The mismatch negativity (MMN) is an event-related potential component that signifies neurophysiological processing of fine acoustic differences. The MMN indicates attention-independent change detection, reflects auditory sensory memory and provides a physiological measure of difference sensitivity. This paper will provide an overview of current research where results gained by MMN testing in different patient groups were central to the interpretation of an assumed abnormality of processing or storing acoustic features.