Abstract:

Pre-attentive processing is a cognitive process that takes place before attention and is independent of consciousness. It reflects the unconscious, automatic aspects of brain processing. Mismatch negativity (MMN) is the most commonly used indicator of pre-attentive processing. MMN amplitude reduction has emerged as one of the important clinical indices for psychiatric diseases such as schizophrenia and depression. The main research paradigms of MMN include oddball paradigm and multi-feature paradigm. Music training has dramatic effects on the structure and function of human brains, such as increasing grey matter volume and improving attention and memory functions. Music training also has a significant impact on MMN, which is reflected in the paradigms constructed by different acoustic features. Future research should compare the impacts of oriental music and western music on MMN, explore a more ecologically valid research paradigm, and reveal the impact and mechanism of music training on MMN in the elderly.

Key words: music training, pre-attentive processing, MMN