These cells were identical to those used by Gallo and Armstrong, J. Neuroscience in 1995, Vol 15: 394ff. KRX-0401 ic50 “
“Many studies have investigated auditory processing of

the subject’s own name (SON). Also because of its countless repetitions during lifetime, the SON is intrinsically meaningful to individuals. In fact, among auditory stimuli, the own name is considered the most powerful stimulus which captures attention without any voluntary effort, as for example demonstrated in the classical “cocktail party” phenomenon (Holeckova et al., 2006, Mack et al., 2002 and Moray, 1959), or by its residual processing during non-conscious states such as sleep (Perrin et al., 1999 and Portas et al., 2000). EEG studies have shown that the

presentation of the SON evokes larger “P300” (Berlad and Pratt, 1995) or “P3” responses (Folmer and Yingling, 1997) than other first names, which is to be expected, as the P3 is the most significant event-related potential that is known to be related to the processing of relevant or “target” stimuli (Donchin and Cohen, 1967). In the frequency domain, only recently responses to SON have been studied. It has been reported that alpha (8–12 Hz) and Selleckchem p38 MAPK inhibitor theta (4–7 Hz) activity reflect attentional and/or memory processes (Fingelkurts et al., 2002, Klimesch, 1999 and Klimesch, 2012). The evaluation of on-going oscillatory activity in response to SON stimuli can therefore shed light on involved cognitive functions. With respect to event-related response Tamura et al. (2012) found stronger theta event-related synchronization

(ERS) to the SON which they interpreted as attentional engagement. Other recent studies found a decrease in alpha power in response to SON presentation which the authors likewise interpreted below in terms of enhanced alertness or increased active processing due to release of inhibition (Höller et al., 2011 and Ruby et al., 2013). Interestingly, also in patients suffering from a disorder of consciousness (DOC) or locked in syndrome (LIS) it is known that the salient SON can still evoke a significant brain response. Surprisingly not only minimally conscious state (MCS) but even supposedly unaware vegetative state/unresponsive wakefulness syndrome (VS/UWS) patients (Perrin et al., 2006) seem to be able to differentiate their own name from other names. A similar study by Fischer in line with these findings reports that some DOC patients, irrespective of their diagnosis, are able to process SON stimuli when they are presented as deviant stimuli in a stream of tones. The authors suggest that the processing of stimulus novelty might prove preservation of some cognitive function independent of conscious awareness (Fischer et al., 2010). Because of its self-relevance and its emotional content, the SON is preferentially processed in the right hemisphere together with other personally relevant information (Adolphs et al., 1996 and Perrin et al., 2005; Schwartz et al.