AUTHOR=Kurita Yuki , Urakawa Tomokazu , Araki Osamu 

TITLE=Theta phase coherence in visual mismatch responses involved in access processing to visual awareness

JOURNAL=Frontiers in Human Neuroscience

VOLUME=17

YEAR=2023

URL=https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/human-neuroscience/articles/10.3389/fnhum.2023.1051844

DOI=10.3389/fnhum.2023.1051844

ISSN=1662-5161

ABSTRACT=<p><bold>Introduction:</bold> The electroencephalographic brain response to a deviation from the preceding sequential regularity of visual events, called visual mismatch negativity (vMMN), is well known to reflect automatic visual change detection. Our preliminary study showed a significant correlation between the enhancement of the vMMN amplitude and facilitation of perceptual alternation in binocular rivalry when the deviant stimulus was presented unconsciously. This implies that the vMMN is relevant to access processing, in which the unconscious stimulus is consciously perceived. Recent studies have reported that theta band oscillation evoked by a deviant stimulus is involved in evoking vMMN. However, it has not been clarified whether theta band oscillation associated with vMMN is also relevant to access processing.</p><p><bold>Methods:</bold> We analyzed the correlations between event-related spectral perturbation (ERSP) and inter-trial phase coherence (ITPC) in the theta band and the proportion of perceptual alternation from before to after the presentation of deviation in the same experimental paradigm as in our previous study.</p><p><bold>Results:</bold> We found that an increase in ITPC in the theta band tended to correlate with facilitation of perceptual alternation in binocular rivalry when the deviant was presented unconsciously, but there was no significant correlation in ERSP.</p><p><bold>Discussion:</bold> The results suggest that theta phase coherence underlying the visual mismatch process is relevant to the access processing.</p>