Subject: [AUDITORY] Sad news: Prof. Dr. Risto N=?UTF-8?Q?=C3=A4=C3=A4t=C3=A4nen_?=has passed away From: =?UTF-8?Q?Istv=c3=a1n_Winkler?= <winkler.istvan@xxxxxxxx> Date: Mon, 23 Oct 2023 15:28:08 +0200Dear Colleagues, With deep sadness I inform you that prof Dr. Risto N=C3=A4=C3=A4t=C3=A4ne= n passed away=20 two weeks ago. Risto N=C3=A4=C3=A4t=C3=A4nen was a pioneer of employing brain measures=20 (electroencephalography) to address questions of experimental=20 psychology. He is best known for his discovery of the mismatch=20 negativity (MMN) event-related brain potential (ERP) component, which=20 allows the study of auditory sensory discrimination, memory, predictive=20 coding, as well as passive attention, although he has also significantly=20 contributed to our knowledge about the early effects of selective=20 attention. The wide variety of clinical and non-clinical applications of=20 MMN made it one of the most widely studied ERPs in psychophysiology. Risto N=C3=A4=C3=A4t=C3=A4nen has not only formed and directed one of the= most=20 influential research groups on auditory sensory cognition in his own=20 country, the Cognitive Brain Research Unit at the Helsinki University,=20 Finland, but was a central figure of the international research=20 community, such as having served as the President of the Society for=20 Psychophysiological Research. He has tutored, guided, and inspired=20 generations of young psychologists and neuroscientists. Having been one of his international PhD students then collaborating and=20 discussing with him for over three decades, I have learned from him how=20 to conduct research in a theoretically meaningful and methodologically=20 sound way. I also got to know him as a generous and caring person, a=20 true father figure helping young researchers not only to become good=20 scientist but also to find their own way doing it. I deeply feel the loss of him for myself, the international community of=20 auditory researchers, and science itself. Istv=C3=A1n Winkler