Sensory attenuation prevails when controlling for temporal predictability of self- and externally generated tones

Sensory attenuation of self-produced, compared to physically identical but externally produced events is a classical finding in research on perception in action. The most prominent model to explain this effect draws on an internal forward model generating predictions about action outcomes, efference copies, during action planning and initiation. Even though this finding has a long tradition in psychology and neuroscience, several studies have highlighted methodological limitations which open the door for alternative explanations of sensory attenuation effects, most notably in terms of temporal prediction. Here we present an experimental design which carefully controls for this confounding factor. Crucially, we observed the auditory N1 component of the event-related potential to be attenuated for self-generated tones as compared to externally generated tones even when a predictive cue (a bar that is continuously filling up) allows for identical temporal predictability of both events. These findings suggest that voluntary actions do indeed involve a unique, predictive component, affecting the perceptual processing of ensuing events. [Display omitted] •Temporal predictability is a major confound in many studies on sensory attenuation.•We introduce a design to control for this factor with a dynamic predictive cue.•Self-generated tones were attenuated despite equal predictability of external tones.•We suggest a functional separation of different event related potential components.