Neural processing of sensory stimuli is modulated by context. Responses to predictable stimuli are suppressed, while responses to unexpected stimuli are increased. Enhanced responses to unpredictable stimuli are prediction errors, which increase the salience of, and guide attention toward, unexpected stimuli, a mechanism key for survival. We use systems neuroscience methods of optogenetics and chemogenetics to study the content and generation mechanisms of auditory prediction errors from single neurons to the evoked ‘mismatch negativity’ response.
Relevant paper:
Hockley A, Bohorquez LH, Malmierca MS (2025) Top-down prediction signals from the medial prefrontal cortex govern auditory cortex prediction errors. Cell Reports. 10.1016/j.celrep.2025.115538