Biology subjects

Euler, M.

Publications and source records attributed to Euler, M..

3 recordsLinked to original sources

bioRxiv2026

Mismatch Negativity and General Cognitive Ability - A Meta-Analysis

Intelligence or general cognitive ability (GCA) is fundamental to human behavior and cognition. It impacts important life outcomes like educational success and even health and longevity have been related to differences in GCA. Understanding the biological basis of such individual variations presents a crucial goal of neuroscience. The mismatch negativity (MMN) is an event-related brain potential that can be measured when, within a series of frequent standard stimuli, rare deviants are presented, and is suggested to reflect conscious (active) or unconscious (passive) detection processes of the brain. Importantly, variations in MMN amplitude and latency have been linked to differences in GCA. Yet findings vary considerably. This preregistered meta-analysis provides a comprehensive and structured overview of the current state of research. Following the study selection process in accordance with the PRISMA guidelines, and the rating of study design quality with the Study Design and Implementation Assessment Device for Individual Difference Research (DIAD-ID), the association between GCA and MMN amplitude and latency was examined in 695 healthy adults across 13 included studies. The estimated across-sample associations between MMN and GCA were small, but significant (MMN amplitude GCA: r = -0.08, MMN latency GCA: r = -0.13; p < 0.05) and moderators were identified. Between-sample heterogeneity was moderate, with no evidence of publication bias. Our findings suggest that higher cognitive ability is associated with slightly stronger and faster MMN responses. However, the low estimated across-sample effect sizes and the small number of included studies also highlight the need for more research.

neuroscience↗

bioRxiv2026

Human Cognitive Ability and the P300 Event-Related Brain Potential

Human intelligence is essential to understand complex ideas, to engage in various forms of reasoning, to learn from experience, and to adapt to new situations by taking thought. The P300 event-related brain potential has been related to intelligence scores and thus represents as a promising biomarker of general cognitive ability. However, empirical results are characterized by enormous heterogeneity, and a quantitative assessment of this literature is lacking. This preregistered meta-analysis provides the first systematic overview of neuroscientific studies that have examined associations between general cognitive ability and the P300 in healthy adult participants. Out of 5641 articles screened, 49 studies with up to 381 effects were eligible for PRISMA-based meta-analytic comparison. Study quality was evaluated using a novel Study Design and Implementation Assessment Device, which we developed particularly for Individual Difference Research (DIAD-ID) and provide together with our analysis code as free online resources to support future meta-analyses. Confirming our hypotheses, a small but significant positive across-study association was observed for general cognitive ability and P300 amplitudes (r = .13; 95%-CI [.06, .19]), while a significant negative across-study association was revealed for P300 latencies (r = -.18; 95%-CI [-.24, -.13]). Study heterogeneity was substantial, and sub-analyses highlighted potential moderators such as type of the task during EEG recording. We discuss limitations, open questions, and provide concrete guidelines for future research on the neurobiological underpinnings of individual differences in cognitive ability.

neuroscience↗

bioRxiv2022

Intelligence and Visual Mismatch Negativity: Is Pre-Attentive Visual Discrimination Related to General Cognitive Ability?

Electroencephalography (EEG) has been used for decades to identify neurocognitive processes related to intelligence. Evidence is accumulating for associations with neural markers of higher-order cognitive processes (e.g., working memory); however, whether associations are specific to complex processes or also relate to earlier processing stages remains unclear. Addressing these issues has implications for improving our understanding of intelligence and its neural correlates. The mismatch negativity (MMN) is an event-related brain potential (ERP) that is elicited when, within a series of frequent standard stimuli, rare deviant stimuli are presented. As stimuli are typically presented outside the focus of attention, the MMN is suggested to capture automatic pre-attentive discrimination processes. However, the MMN and its relation to intelligence has largely only been studied in the auditory domain, thus preventing conclusions about the involvement of automatic discrimination processes in humans dominant sensory modality vision. Electroencephalography was recorded from 50 healthy participants during a passive visual oddball task that presented simple sequence violations as well as deviations within a more complex hidden pattern. Signed area amplitudes and fractional area latencies of the visual mismatch negativity (vMMN) were calculated with and without Laplacian transformation. Correlations between vMMN and intelligence (Ravens Advanced Progressive Matrices) were of negligible to small effect sizes, differed critically between measurement approaches, and Bayes Factors provided anecdotal to substantial evidence for the absence of an association. We discuss differences between the auditory and visual MMN, the implications of different measurement approaches, and offer recommendations for further research in this evolving field. HIGHLIGHTS- Testing whether intelligence is related to automatic visual discrimination - Visual mismatch negativity (vMMN) as a neural indicator of pre-attentive processing - No association between intelligence and vMMN amplitudes or latencies - Critical differences between auditory and visual MMN? - Results partly depend on different measurement approaches

neuroscience↗