Existence of pure negative prediction error neurons in auditory cortex

Determine whether there exist neurons in auditory cortex that exclusively encode negative prediction errors, responding selectively to the omission of expected auditory stimuli without responding to other deviant events such as frequency changes.

Background

Recent recordings in rodent auditory cortex identified omission-responsive neurons under very short interstimulus intervals; however, these neurons also responded to frequency deviants, casting doubt on the existence of neurons that exclusively encode negative prediction errors.

Establishing the presence or absence of pure negative prediction error neurons in auditory cortex is critical for testing models that posit distinct neural populations for positive and negative error signaling.