The visually-based control of self-motion is a challenging task, requiring – if needed – immediate adjustments to keep on track. Accordingly, it would appear advantageous if the processing of self-motion direction (heading) was predictive, thereby accelerating the encoding of unexpected changes, and un-impaired by attentional load. We tested this hypothesis by recording EEG in humans and macaque monkeys with similar experimental protocols.

Subjects viewed a random dot pattern simulating self-motion across a ground plane in an oddball EEG paradigm. Standard and deviant trials differed only in their simulated heading direction (forward-left vs. forward-right). Event-related potentials (ERPs) were compared in order to test for the occurrence of a visual mismatch negativity (vMMN), a component that reflects preattentive and likely also predictive processing of sensory stimuli. Analysis of the ERPs revealed signatures of a prediction mismatch for deviant stimuli in both humans and monkeys. In humans, a MMN was observed starting 110 ms after self-motion onset. In monkeys, peak response amplitudes following deviant stimuli were enhanced compared to the standard already 100 ms after self-motion onset. We consider our results strong evidence for a preattentive processing of visual self-motion information in humans and monkeys, allowing for ultrafast adjustments of their heading direction.

基于视觉的自我运动控制是一项具有挑战性的任务，如果需要，需要立即调整以保持正常运行。因此，如果自运动方向（航向）的处理是可预测的，这将显得有利，从而加速对意外变化的编码，并且不受注意力负荷的影响。我们通过用类似的实验方案记录人类和猕猴的脑电图来验证这一假设。

受试者在古怪的脑电图范式中观察了一个随机点图案，该图案模拟地平面上的自我运动。标准试验和偏差试验仅在模拟航向方向（左前与右前）上有所不同。事件相关电位 (ERP) 进行了比较，以测试视觉错配负性 (vMMN) 的发生，该组件反映了预注意和可能的感觉刺激的预测处理。对 ERP 的分析揭示了人类和猴子对异常刺激的预测不匹配的特征。在人类中，自运动开始后 110 毫秒开始观察到 MMN。在猴子中，异常刺激后的峰值响应幅度与自运动开始后 100 毫秒的标准相比有所增强。