The error-related negativity (ERN) and psychopathology: toward an endophenotype

Brief training in mindfulness may normalize a blunted error-related negativity in chronically depressed patients

The error-related negativity (ERN), an evoked-potential that arises in response to the commission of errors, is an important early indicator of self-regulatory capacities. In this study we investigated whether brief mindfulness training can reverse ERN deficits in chronically depressed patients. The ERN was assessed in a sustained attention task. Chronically depressed patients (n = 59) showed significantly blunted expression of the ERN in frontocentral and frontal regions, relative to healthy controls (n = 18). Following two weeks of training, the patients (n = 24) in the mindfulness condition showed a significantly increased ERN magnitude in the frontal region, but there were no significant changes in patients who had received a resting control (n = 22). The findings suggest that brief training in mindfulness may help normalize aberrations in the ERN in chronically depressed patients, providing preliminary evidence for the responsiveness of this parameter to mental training.

Respond, don't react: The influence of mindfulness training on performance monitoring in older adults

A sizeable body of literature demonstrates positive effects of mindfulness training on brain, behavior, and psychological processes in both novice and expert practitioners as compared to non-meditators. However, only more recently has research begun to examine the specific mechanisms by which mindfulness exerts these effects. In the current study, we used event-related potentials (error-related negativity (ERN), error positivity (Pe)) to test the hypothesis that performance monitoring is one such mechanism. We conducted a randomized controlled trial in healthy older adults (n = 36), relevant because markers of performance monitoring are known to decline with normal aging. Compared to an active control condition, mindfulness participants showed an increase in the ERN, without an increase in the Pe. Participants in both groups reported a reduction in self-report of anxiety and self-judgment of one's own mental functioning, indicating the subjective impression of benefit from each intervention type. The current results are important insofar as they support the purported self-regulatory functions of mindfulness (i.e., learning to respond, not react), as well as demonstrating that such positive effects can be obtained in an older adult sample, both of which have important implications for intervention.

Neural responses to perturbations in visual and auditory metronomes during sensorimotor synchronization

Tapping in synchrony to an isochronous rhythm involves several key functions of the sensorimotor system including timing, prediction and error correction. While auditory sensorimotor synchronization (SMS) has been well studied, much less is known about mechanisms involved in visual SMS. By comparing error correction in auditory and visual SMS, it can be determined if the neural mechanisms for detection and correction of synchronization errors are generalized or domain specific. To study this problem, we measured EEG while subjects tapped in synchrony to separate visual and auditory metronomes that both contained small temporal perturbations to induce errors. The metronomes had inter-onset intervals of 600 ms and the perturbations where of 4 kinds: ± 66 ms to induce period corrections, and ± 16 ms to induce phase corrections. We hypothesize that given the less precise nature of visual SMS, error correction to perturbed visual flashing rhythms will be more gradual than with the equivalent auditory perturbations. Additionally, we expect this more gradual error correction will be reflected in the visual evoked potentials. Our findings indicate that the visual system is only capable of more gradual phase corrections to even the larger induced errors. This is opposed to the swifter period correction of the auditory system to large induced errors. EEG data found the peak N1 auditory evoked potential is modulated by the size and direction of an induced error in line with previous research, while the P1 visual evoked potential was only effected by the large late-coming perturbations resulting in reduced peak latency. Looking at the error response EEG data, an Error Related Negativity (ERN) and related Error Positivity (pE) was found only in the auditory + 66 condition, while no ERN or pE were found in any of the visual perturbation conditions. In addition to the ERPs, we performed a dipole source localization and clustering analysis indicating that the anterior cingulate was active in the error detection of the perturbed stimulus for both auditory and visual conditions in addition to being involved in producing the ERN and pE induced by the auditory + 66 perturbation. Taken together, these results confirm that the visual system is less developed for synchronizing and error correction with flashing rhythms by its more gradual error correction. The reduced latency of the P1 to the visual + 66 suggests that the visual system can detect these errors, but that detection does not translate into any meaningful improvement in error correction. This indicates that the visual system is not as tightly coupled to the motor system as the auditory system is for SMS, suggesting the mechanisms of SMS are not completely domain general.

Error-related Brain Activity as a Treatment Moderator and Index of Symptom Change during Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy or Selective Serotonin Reuptake Inhibitors

Increased neural error monitoring, as measured by the error-related negativity (ERN), is a transdiagnostic neurobiological marker of anxiety. To date, little is known about whether the ERN can inform the choice between first-line anxiety disorder treatments and whether the ERN changes following treatment completion. The aim of the study was to therefore assess whether the ERN is a treatment moderator and index of symptom change during cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT) or selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs). Participants included adult volunteers (M age=25.8±8.5; 67% female) with principal anxiety disorders (n=60) or no lifetime history of Axis I psychopathology (ie, healthy controls; n=26). A flanker task was used to elicit the ERN at baseline and 12 weeks later, following either CBT or SSRIs in the patient sample. Results indicated that baseline ERN was a significant treatment moderator such that a more enhanced baseline ERN was associated with greater reduction in anxiety symptoms within individuals who received CBT but not SSRIs. Results also revealed that the ERN increased pre- to post-treatment among patients randomized to SSRIs, but remained stable among patients randomized to CBT and healthy controls. Together, these novel findings highlight that ERN may help guide treatment decisions regarding engagement in CBT or SSRIs, especially among individuals with an enhanced ERN. The findings also suggest that SSRIs have the capacity to alter individual differences in the ERN, providing evidence that the ERN is not entirely static in patients with anxiety disorders.

Comparing Self-Regulation-Associated Event Related Potentials in Preschool Children with and without High Levels of Disruptive Behavior

Deficient self-regulation plays a key role in the etiology of early onset disruptive behavior disorders and signals risk for chronic psychopathology. However, to date, there has been no research comparing preschool children with and without high levels of disruptive behavior using Event Related Potentials (ERPs) associated with specific self-regulation sub-processes. We examined 15 preschool children with high levels of disruptive behavior (35 % female) and 20 peers with low disruptive behavior (50 % female) who completed a Go/No-go task that provided emotionally valenced feedback. We tested whether 4 ERP components: the Error Related Negativity, the Error Positivity, the Feedback Related Negativity, and the No-go N2, differed in preschool children with and without high levels of disruptive behavior. Preschoolers with high levels of disruptive behavior showed less differentiation between the Error Positivity and corresponding waveforms following correct responses at posterior sites. Preschoolers with high and low disruptive behavior also showed differences in Go/No-go N2 waveform amplitudes across electrodes. These findings suggest that preschool children with high levels of disruptive behavior may show abnormal brain activity during certain self-regulation sub-processes, informing potential advances in conceptualizing and treating early disruptive behavior.

Effects of the FITKids physical activity randomized controlled trial on conflict monitoring in youth

The present study investigated the effect of a 9-month physical activity (PA) intervention on children's cardiorespiratory fitness levels and neuroelectric indices of conflict monitoring (i.e., error-related negativity, ERN). Four hundred twenty-eight preadolescent children (8-9 years old) were randomized into a PA intervention or wait-list control group, and completed a fitness and cognitive control assessment (i.e., modified flanker task) at pre- and posttest. Following exclusion criterion, 308 children were included in the analyses (PA intervention: n = 139; wait-list control: n = 169). Children in the intervention displayed greater improvements in fitness and response accuracy, which were accompanied by stability of ERN amplitude from pre- to posttest. In contrast, the control group revealed increased ERN amplitude at posttest compared to pretest, despite no change in fitness or task performance. These findings demonstrate the efficacy of daily PA for promoting children's fitness and underlying neural processes associated with effective conflict monitoring. Such findings have significant implications for promoting organized PA programs intended to foster overall physical and brain health in school age children.

Differential effects of real versus hypothetical monetary reward magnitude on risk-taking behavior and brain activity

Human decisions are more easily affected by a larger amount of money than a smaller one. Although numerous studies have used hypothetical money as incentives to motivate human behavior, the validity of hypothetical versus real monetary rewards remains controversial. In the present study, we used event-related potential (ERP) with the balloon analogue risk task to investigate how magnitudes of real and hypothetical monetary rewards modulate risk-taking behavior and feedback-related negativity (FRN). Behavioral data showed that participants were more risk averse after negative feedback with increased magnitude of real monetary rewards, while no behavior differences were observed between large and small hypothetical monetary rewards. Similarly, ERP data showed a larger FRN in response to negative feedback during risk taking with large compared to small real monetary rewards, while no FRN differences were observed between large and small hypothetical monetary rewards. Moreover, FRN amplitude differences correlated with risk-taking behavior changes from small to large real monetary rewards, while such correlation was not observed for hypothetical monetary rewards. These findings suggest that the magnitudes of real and hypothetical monetary rewards have differential effects on risk-taking behavior and brain activity. Real and hypothetical money incentives may have different validity for modulating human decisions.

A history of sport-related concussion is associated with sustained deficits in conflict and error monitoring

Previous research has demonstrated long-term deficits in neurocognitive function in individuals with a history of sport-related concussion. The purpose of this study was to examine the relationship between a history of concussion and behavioral and event-related potential (ERP) indices of pre- and post-response conflict and error monitoring. A secondary aim was to determine whether years of high risk sport participation were related to impairments in these cognitive control processes. Forty-seven former athletes (age = 20.8 ± 2.2 years) with (n = 25; 5 females) and without (n = 22; 9 females) a history of concussion completed a modified flanker task while behavioral performance, N2, error-related negativity (ERN), and error positivity (Pe) components were assessed. An increase in post-response error-related (ERN) brain activity and a nonsignificant trend of increased pre-response conflict (N2) was observed in individuals with a prior sport-related concussion relative to non-concussed controls; however, no behavioral performance differences were found between groups. No significant associations were found between ERP and behavioral measures and the number of years of high-risk sport participation; however, time since last head injury was associated with shorter N2 latency. Together, these findings suggest a persistent impairment in cognitive control and error-related processing in individuals with a history of concussion. These findings are interpreted within the framework of the compensatory error-monitoring hypothesis.

Investigating error-related processing in incarcerated adolescents with self-report psychopathy measures

Disparate results have been found in previous reports when incorporating both interview-based and self-report measures of psychopathic traits within the same sample, suggesting such assessments should not be used interchangeably. We previously found Total and Facet 4 scores from Hare's Psychopathy Checklist: Youth Version (PCL:YV) were negatively related to amplitude of the error-related positivity (Pe) event-related potential (ERP) component. Here, we investigated using the same previously published sample whether scores on four different self-report measures of adolescent psychopathic traits (the Antisocial Process Screening Device [APSD], Child Psychopathy Scale [CPS], Inventory of Callous-Unemotional Traits [ICU], and Youth Psychopathic Traits Inventory [YPI]) were similarly associated with reduced Pe amplitude. Unlike our previous results, adolescent self-report psychopathy scores were not associated with reduced Pe amplitude in multiple regression analyses. Results obtained in the current report support previous research observing incongruent findings when incorporating different assessment types within the same sample.

Altered Functional Connectivity of Fronto-Cingulo-Striatal Circuits during Error Monitoring in Adolescents with a History of Childhood Abuse

Childhood maltreatment is associated with error hypersensitivity. We examined the effect of childhood abuse and abuse-by-gene (5-HTTLPR, MAOA) interaction on functional brain connectivity during error processing in medication/drug-free adolescents. Functional connectivity was compared, using generalized psychophysiological interaction (gPPI) analysis of functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) data, between 22 age- and gender-matched medication-naïve and substance abuse-free adolescents exposed to severe childhood abuse and 27 healthy controls, while they performed an individually adjusted tracking stop-signal task, designed to elicit 50% inhibition failures. During inhibition failures, abused participants relative to healthy controls exhibited reduced connectivity between right and left putamen, bilateral caudate and anterior cingulate cortex (ACC), and between right supplementary motor area (SMA) and right inferior and dorsolateral prefrontal cortex. Abuse-related connectivity abnormalities were associated with longer abuse duration. No group differences in connectivity were observed for successful inhibition. The findings suggest that childhood abuse is associated with decreased functional connectivity in fronto-cingulo-striatal networks during error processing. Furthermore that the severity of connectivity abnormalities increases with abuse duration. Reduced connectivity of error detection networks in maltreated individuals may be linked to constant monitoring of errors in order to avoid mistakes which, in abusive contexts, are often associated with harsh punishment.

Spontaneous Brain Activity Did Not Show the Effect of Violent Video Games on Aggression: A Resting-State fMRI Study

A great many of empirical researches have proved that longtime exposure to violent video game can lead to a series of negative effects. Although research has focused on the neural basis of the correlation between violent video game and aggression, little is known whether the spontaneous brain activity is associated with violent video game exposure. To address this question, we measured the spontaneous brain activity using resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI). We used the amplitude of low-frequency fluctuations (ALFF) and fractional ALFF (fALFF) to quantify spontaneous brain activity. The results showed there is no significant difference in ALFF, or fALFF, between violent video game group and the control part, indicating that long time exposure to violent video games won't significantly influence spontaneous brain activity, especially the core brain regions such as execution control, moral judgment and short-term memory. This implies the adverse impact of violent video games is exaggerated.

Cognitive Phenotypes for Biomarker Identification in Mental Illness: Forward and Reverse Translation

Psychiatric illness has been acknowledged for as long as people were able to describe behavioral abnormalities in the general population. In modern times, these descriptions have been codified and continuously updated into manuals by which clinicians can diagnose patients. None of these diagnostic manuals have attempted to tie abnormalities to neural dysfunction however, nor do they necessitate the quantification of cognitive function despite common knowledge of its ties to functional outcome. In fact, in recent years the National Institute of Mental Health released a novel transdiagnostic classification, the Research Domain Criteria (RDoC), which utilizes quantifiable behavioral abnormalities linked to neurophysiological processes. This reclassification highlights the utility of RDoC constructs as potential cognitive biomarkers of disease state. In addition, with RDoC and cognitive biomarkers, the onus of researchers utilizing animal models no longer necessitates the recreation of an entire disease state, but distinct processes. Here, we describe the utilization of constructs from the RDoC initiative to forward animal research on these cognitive and behavioral processes, agnostic of disease. By linking neural processes to these constructs, identifying putative abnormalities in diseased patients, more targeted therapeutics can be developed.

Using trial-level data and multilevel modeling to investigate within-task change in event-related potentials

EEG data, and specifically the ERP, provide psychologists with the power to examine quickly occurring cognitive processes at the native temporal resolution at which they occur. Despite the advantages conferred by ERPs to examine processes at different points in time, ERP researchers commonly ignore the trial-to-trial temporal dimension by collapsing across trials of similar types (i.e., the signal averaging approach) because of constraints imposed by repeated measures ANOVA. Here, we present the advantages of using multilevel modeling (MLM) to examine trial-level data to investigate change in neurocognitive processes across the course of an experiment. Two examples are presented to illustrate the usefulness of this technique. The first demonstrates decreasing differentiation in N170 amplitude to faces of different races across the course of a race categorization task. The second demonstrates attenuation of the ERN as participants commit more errors within a task designed to measure implicit racial bias. Although the examples presented here are within the realm of social psychology, the use of MLM to analyze trial-level EEG data has the potential to contribute to a number of different theoretical domains within psychology.

Error-related brain activity and anxiety symptoms in youth with autism spectrum disorder

Individuals with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) often experience symptoms associated with generalized anxiety disorder, obsessive-compulsive disorder, and social anxiety disorder. In other populations, these same symptoms are associated with a larger error-related negativity (ERN), an event-related potential that reflects endogenous threat sensitivity. As such, it is possible that the ERN may relate to the clinical presentation of anxiety in ASD. However, studies examining these associations in youth with ASD have yielded mixed results. The present study aimed to clarify this relationship by examining the ERN in relation to these specific anxiety symptoms in ASD, and by accounting for typical covariates (e.g., age, verbal abilities, depression, ASD symptoms) of the ERN. Fifty-one youth, ages 8-17, with ASD and intact cognitive ability completed a modified Flanker task, from which the ERN component was obtained. Measures of anxiety, verbal abilities, depression, and ASD symptoms were collected from participants and parents. Results revealed that greater self-reported social anxiety symptoms, specifically performance fears but not humiliation/rejection fears, were associated with an increased neural response to errors, as measured by the ERN. This relationship remained after controlling for other anxiety symptoms, as well as age, verbal IQ, depression symptoms, and ASD symptoms. Findings suggest that heightened threat sensitivity may be characteristic of individuals with ASD who exhibit social fearfulness. Autism Res 2018, 11: 342-354. © 2017 International Society for Autism Research, Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

LAY SUMMARY

The error-related negativity (ERN) is a physiological measure of the brain's response to errors which is thought to reflect threat sensitivity and has been implicated in anxiety disorders in individuals without autism spectrum disorder (ASD). The present study revealed that the ERN is related to social anxiety symptoms, specifically performance fears, in a sample of youth with ASD. Findings suggest that heightened threat sensitivity may be characteristic of individuals with ASD who exhibit social fearfulness.

A Neurobehavioral Mechanism Linking Behaviorally Inhibited Temperament and Later Adolescent Social Anxiety

OBJECTIVE

Behavioral inhibition (BI) is a temperament identified in early childhood that is a risk factor for later social anxiety. However, mechanisms underlying the development of social anxiety remain unclear. To better understand the emergence of social anxiety, longitudinal studies investigating changes at behavioral neural levels are needed.

METHOD

BI was assessed in the laboratory at 2 and 3 years of age (N = 268). Children returned at 12 years, and an electroencephalogram was recorded while children performed a flanker task under 2 conditions: once while believing they were being observed by peers and once while not being observed. This methodology isolated changes in error monitoring (error-related negativity) and behavior (post-error reaction time slowing) as a function of social context. At 12 years, current social anxiety symptoms and lifetime diagnoses of social anxiety were obtained.

RESULTS

Childhood BI prospectively predicted social-specific error-related negativity increases and social anxiety symptoms in adolescence; these symptoms directly related to clinical diagnoses. Serial mediation analysis showed that social error-related negativity changes explained relations between BI and social anxiety symptoms (n = 107) and diagnosis (n = 92), but only insofar as social context also led to increased post-error reaction time slowing (a measure of error preoccupation); this model was not significantly related to generalized anxiety.

CONCLUSION

Results extend prior work on socially induced changes in error monitoring and error preoccupation. These measures could index a neurobehavioral mechanism linking BI to adolescent social anxiety symptoms and diagnosis. This mechanism could relate more strongly to social than to generalized anxiety in the peri-adolescent period.

Error-related brain activity and internalizing disorder symptom dimensions in depression and anxiety

BACKGROUND

Research suggests that enhanced neural reactivity to errors, measured via the error-related negativity (ERN), is relatively unique to internalizing psychopathologies (IPs) and symptom clusters characterized by excessive worry and apprehension. However, no prior study has tested the association between the ERN and IP symptom dimensions in a heterogeneous, clinically representative patient population. The current study was designed to address this gap in the literature and clarify the role of the ERN in an adult IP treatment-seeking patient sample.

METHOD

Eighty-five participants completed a well-validated flanker task known to robustly elicit the ERN and a battery of questionnaires assessing a range of IP symptoms. All participants had at least one IP diagnosis and over 75% had co-occurring IPs. A principal components analysis (PCA) was performed on the questionnaire data indicating two distinct factors that characterized the IP sample: affective distress/misery and fear-based anxiety.

RESULTS

Analyses indicated that within this sample, an enhanced ERN, but not CRN, was associated with greater fear-based anxiety symptoms but had no relation with distress/misery symptoms.

CONCLUSIONS

Together, these findings indicate that an enhanced ERN may not be specific to worry/apprehension and may extend to the IP fear dimension. The results also converge with a broader literature suggesting that fear-based psychopathology is characterized by an exaggerated reactivity to threat and this objective, psychophysiological response tendency may distinguish fear disorders from distress.

Anhedonia and anxiety underlying depressive symptomatology have distinct effects on reward-based decision-making

Depressive pathology, which includes both heightened negative affect (e.g., anxiety) and reduced positive affect (e.g., anhedonia), is known to be associated with sub-optimal decision-making, particularly in uncertain environments. Here, we use a computational approach to quantify and disambiguate how individual differences in these affective measures specifically relate to different aspects of learning and decision-making in reward-based choice behavior. Fifty-three individuals with a range of depressed mood completed a two-armed bandit task, in which they choose between two arms with fixed but unknown reward rates. The decision-making component, which chooses among options based on current expectations about reward rates, is modeled by two different decision policies: a learning-independent Win-stay/Lose-shift (WSLS) policy that ignores all previous experiences except the last trial, and Softmax, which prefers the arm with the higher expected reward. To model the learning component for the Softmax choice policy, we use a Bayesian inference model, which updates estimated reward rates based on the observed history of trial outcomes. Softmax with Bayesian learning better fits the behavior of 55% of the participants, while the others are better fit by a learning-independent WSLS strategy. Among Softmax “users”, those with higher anhedonia are less likely to choose the option estimated to be most rewarding. Moreover, the Softmax parameter mediates the inverse relationship between anhedonia and overall monetary gains. On the other hand, among WSLS “users”, higher state anxiety correlates with increasingly better ability of WSLS, relative to Softmax, to explain subjects’ trial-by-trial choices. In summary, there is significant variability among individuals in their reward-based, exploratory decision-making, and this variability is at least partly mediated in a very specific manner by affective attributes, such as hedonic tone and state anxiety.

Bilinguals have more complex EEG brain signals in occipital regions than monolinguals

Brain signal complexity increases with development and is associated with better cognitive outcomes in older age. Research has also shown that bilinguals are able to stave off cognitive decline for longer periods of time than monolinguals, but no studies to date have examined whether bilinguals have more complex brain signals than monolinguals. Here we explored the hypothesis that bilingualism leads to greater brain signal complexity by examining multiscale entropy (MSE) in monolingual and bilingual young adults while EEG was recorded during a task-switching paradigm. Results revealed that bilinguals had greater brain signal complexity than monolinguals in occipital regions. Furthermore, bilinguals performed better with increasing occipital brain signal complexity, whereas monolinguals relied on coupling with frontal regions to demonstrate gains in performance. These findings are discussed in terms of how a lifetime of experience with a second language leads to more automatic and efficient processing of stimuli and how these adaptations could contribute to the prevention of cognitive decline in older age.

Processing of Internal and External Signals for Performance Monitoring in the Context of Emotional Faces

Performance monitoring can be based on internal or external signals. We recorded event-related potentials (ERPs) to investigate whether relating performance to external signals affects internal performance monitoring. Thirty participants performed a task in which responses were followed by faces whose expressions were partially contingent upon performance. Instructions given to half of the participants mentioned a link between task performance and the upcoming face expression. Instructed participants showed smaller error-related negativity (Ne/ERN) to erroneous responses and larger N170 to faces as compared to participants in the not-instructed group. In addition, we observed a correlation between ΔNe/ERN and P1-latency benefit for angry faces after errors. Taken together, processing of internally generated signals for performance monitoring is reduced by instructions referring to an emotional face. Furthermore, we relate the correlation between the magnitude of internal monitoring and facilitation in processing angry faces to priming induced by the negative affective meaning of errors.

The effect of expressive writing on the error-related negativity among individuals with chronic worry

The error-related negativity (ERN), an ERP elicited immediately after errors, is enlarged among individuals with anxiety. The relationship between anxiety and enlarged ERN has spurred interest in understanding potential therapeutic benefits of decreasing its amplitude within anxious individuals. The current study used a tailored intervention-expressive writing-in an attempt to reduce the ERN among a sample of individuals with chronic worry. Consistent with hypotheses, the ERN was reduced in the expressive writing group compared to an unrelated writing control group. Findings provide experimental support that the ERN can be reduced among anxious individuals with tailored interventions. Expressive writing may serve to "offload" worries from working memory, therefore relieving the distracting effects of worry on cognition as reflected in a decreased ERN.

Neural and Cognitive Factors Influencing the Emergence of Psychopathology: Insights From the Bucharest Early Intervention Project

The adverse effects of institutionalized care and psychosocial deprivation have been documented for more than 100 years. Children who have been raised in institutions are at heightened risk of developing internalizing and externalizing disorders. Given the profound biological and psychological effects of institutional rearing, identifying neural and cognitive factors that influence the emergence of psychopathology in institutionalized children is of great interest. Using data from the Bucharest Early Intervention Project, a randomized control study on the effects of institutional care and a foster care intervention, this article examines two factors that appear to influence the emergence of psychopathology in children who have been institutionalized-neural indices of cognitive control and visual attention biases.

Attention bias modification reduces neural correlates of response monitoring

The error-related negativity (ERN) is an electrophysiological response to errors. Individual differences in the ERN have been posited to reflect sensitivity to threat and linked with risk for anxiety disorders. Attention bias modification is a promising computerized intervention that has been shown to decrease threat biases and anxiety symptoms. In the present study, we examined the impact of a single session of attention bias modification, relative to a control task, on the neural correlates of response monitoring, including the ERN, correct response negativity (CRN), and their difference (i.e., the ERN - CRN or ΔERN). The final sample included 60 participants who first completed a flanker task to elicit the ERN and CRN, and were then randomly assigned to attention bias modification (n=30) or a control task (n=30). After completing the attention bias modification or control task, participants completed the same flanker task to again elicit the ERN and CRN. Among participants who completed attention bias modification training, the ERN, CRN, and ΔERN decreased from the pre- to post-training assessment. In contrast, in participants who completed the control task, the CRN, ERN, and ΔERN did not differ between the pre- and post-training assessment. The presents study suggests that a single session of attention bias modification reduces neural correlates of response monitoring, including error-related brain activity. These results also support attention bias modification as a potential mechanistic-based intervention for the prevention and treatment of anxiety pathology.

From neuro-pigments to neural efficiency: The relationship between retinal carotenoids and behavioral and neuroelectric indices of cognitive control in childhood

Lutein and zeaxanthin are plant pigments known to preferentially accumulate in neural tissue. Macular Pigment Optical Density (MPOD), a non-invasive measure of retinal carotenoids and surrogate measure of brain carotenoid concentration, has been associated with disease prevention and cognitive health. Superior MPOD status in later adulthood has been shown to provide neuroprotective effects on cognition. Given that childhood signifies a critical period for carotenoid accumulation in brain, it is likely that the beneficial impact would be evident during development, though this relationship has not been directly investigated. The present study investigated the relationship between MPOD and the behavioral and neuroelectric indices elicited during a cognitive control task in preadolescent children. 49 participants completed a modified flanker task while event-related potentials (ERPs) were recorded to assess the P3 component of the ERP waveform. MPOD was associated with both behavioral performance and P3 amplitude such that children with higher MPOD had more accurate performance and lower P3 amplitudes. These relationships were more pronounced for trials requiring greater amounts of cognitive control. These results indicate that children with higher MPOD may respond to cognitive tasks more efficiently, maintaining high performance while displaying neural indices indicative of lower cognitive load. These findings provide novel support for the neuroprotective influence of retinal carotenoids during preadolescence.

Transdiagnostic factors and pathways to multifinality: The error-related negativity predicts whether preschool irritability is associated with internalizing versus externalizing symptoms at age 9

There is increasing interest among developmental psychopathologists in broad transdiagnostic factors that give rise to a wide array of clinical presentations (multifinality), but little is known about how these processes lead to particular psychopathological manifestations over the course of development. We examined whether individual differences in the error-related negativity (ΔERN), a neural indicator of error monitoring, predicts whether early persistent irritability, a prototypical transdiagnostic construct, is associated with later internalizing versus externalizing outcomes. When children were 3 years old, mothers were interviewed about children's persistent irritability and completed questionnaires about their children's psychopathology. Three years later, EEG was recorded while children performed a go/no-go task to measure the ΔERN. When children were approximately 9 years old, mothers again completed questionnaires about their children's psychopathology. The results indicated that among children who were persistently irritable at age 3, an enhanced or more negative ΔERN at age 6 predicted the development of internalizing symptoms at age 9, whereas a blunted or smaller ΔERN at age 6 predicted the development of externalizing symptoms. Our results suggest that variation in error monitoring predicts, and may even shape, the expression of persistent irritability and differentiates developmental trajectories from preschool persistent irritability to internalizing versus externalizing outcomes in middle to late childhood.

Biobehavioral Mechanisms of Mindfulness as a Treatment for Chronic Stress: An RDoC Perspective

Mindfulness-based interventions have been heralded as promising means of alleviating chronic stress. While meta-analyses indicate that mindfulness-based interventions significantly reduce global measures of stress, how mindfulness-based interventions modulate the specific mechanisms underpinning chronic stress as operationalized by the National Institute of Mental Health research domain criteria (RDoC) of sustained threat has not yet been detailed in the literature. To address this knowledge gap, this article aims to (1) review evidence that mindfulness-based interventions ameliorate each of the 10 elements of behavioral dysregulation characterizing sustained threat via an array of mindful counter-regulatory strategies; (2) review evidence that mindfulness-based interventions modify biological domains implicated in sustained threat, such as the hypothalamic–pituitary–adrenal axis, as well as brain circuits involved in attentional function, limbic reactivity, habit behavior, and the default mode network; and (3) integrate these findings into a novel conceptual framework of mindful self-regulation in the face of stress—the Mindfulness-to-Meaning Theory. Taken together, the extant body of scientific evidence suggests that the practice of mindfulness enhances a range biobehavioral factors implicated in adaptive stress coping and induces self-referential plasticity, leading to the ability to find meaning in adversity. These mechanistic findings can inform the treatment development process to optimize the next generation of mindfulness-based interventions for greater therapeutic efficacy.

Impact of anxiety symptoms and problematic alcohol use on error-related brain activity

Anxiety disorders are associated with enhanced defensive reactivity to errors, measured via the error-related negativity (ERN). There is some evidence to suggest that problematic alcohol use is also associated with an enhanced ERN; although prior studies have been almost exclusively in men and have yet to examine the potential interactive effects of anxiety and alcohol abuse symptoms. The aim of the current study was to address the gaps in this literature by examining the unique and interactive effects of anxiety symptoms and problematic alcohol use on the ERN in a sample of 79 heterogeneous internalizing disorder patients. All participants completed a flanker task designed to robustly elicit the ERN and questionnaires assessing current internalizing symptoms and problematic alcohol use. As expected, results revealed that greater anxiety symptoms, but not depressive symptoms, were associated with a more enhanced ERN. There was no main effect of problematic alcohol use but there was a significant anxiety by problematic alcohol use interaction. At high anxiety symptoms, greater problematic alcohol use was associated with a more enhanced ERN; at low anxiety symptoms, alcohol use was unrelated to the ERN. There was no depression by alcohol abuse interaction. The findings suggest that within anxious individuals, heightened reactivity to errors/threat may be related to risk for alcohol abuse. The findings also converge with a broader literature suggesting that heightened reactivity to threat may be a shared vulnerability factor for anxiety and alcohol abuse and a novel prevention and intervention target for anxiety-alcohol abuse comorbidity.

Development of the error-monitoring system from ages 9-35: Unique insight provided by MRI-constrained source localization of EEG

The ability to self-detect errors and dynamically adapt behavior is a cornerstone of higher-level cognition, requiring coordinated activity from a network of neural regions. However, disagreement exists over how the error-monitoring system develops throughout adolescence and early adulthood. The present report leveraged MRI-constrained EEG source localization to detail typical development of the error-monitoring system in a sample of 9-35 year-olds (n = 43). Participants performed a flanker task while high-density EEG was recorded; structural MRIs were also acquired for all participants. Analysis of the scalp-recorded EEG data revealed a frontocentral negativity (error-related negativity; ERN) immediately following errors for all participants, although the topography of the ERN varied with age. Source localization of the ERN time range revealed maximal activity within the posterior cingulate cortex (PCC) for all ages, consistent with recent evidence that the PCC provides a substantial contribution to the scalp-recorded ERN. Activity within a network of brain regions, including dorsal anterior cingulate, PCC, and parietal cortex, was predictive of improved performance following errors, regardless of age. However, additional activity within insula, orbitofrontal cortex and inferior frontal gyrus linearly increased with age. Together, these data suggest that the core error-monitoring system is online by early adolescence and remains relatively stable into adulthood. However, additional brain regions become embedded within this core network with age. These results serve as a model of typical development of the error-monitoring system from early adolescence into adulthood.

Neural responses to negative outcomes predict success in community-based substance use treatment

BACKGROUND AND AIMS

Patterns of brain activation have demonstrated promise as prognostic indicators in substance dependent individuals (SDIs) but have not yet been explored in SDIs typical of community-based treatment settings.

DESIGN

Prospective clinical outcome design, evaluating baseline functional magnetic resonance imaging data from the Balloon Analogue Risk Task (BART) as a predictor of 3-month substance use treatment outcomes.

SETTING

Community-based substance use programs in Bloomington, Indiana, USA.

PARTICIPANTS

Twenty-three SDIs (17 male, aged 18-43 years) in an intensive outpatient or residential treatment program; abstinent 1-4 weeks at baseline.

MEASUREMENTS

Event-related brain response, BART performance and self-report scores at treatment onset, substance use outcome measure (based on days of use).

FINDINGS

Using voxel-level predictive modeling and leave-one-out cross-validation, an elevated response to unexpected negative feedback in bilateral amygdala and anterior hippocampus (Amyg/aHipp) at baseline successfully predicted greater substance use during the 3-month study interval (P ≤ 0.006, cluster-corrected). This effect was robust to inclusion of significant non-brain-based covariates. A larger response to negative feedback in bilateral Amyg/aHipp was also associated with faster reward-seeking responses after negative feedback (r₍₂₃₎  = -0.544, P = 0.007; r₍₂₃₎  = -0.588, P = 0.003). A model including Amyg/aHipp activation, faster reward-seeking after negative feedback and significant self-report scores accounted for 45% of the variance in substance use outcomes in our sample.

CONCLUSIONS

An elevated response to unexpected negative feedback in bilateral amygdala and anterior hippocampus (Amyg/aHipp) appears to predict relapse to substance use in people attending community-based treatment.

Cognitive Impairments in Occupational Burnout - Error Processing and Its Indices of Reactive and Proactive Control

The presented study refers to cognitive aspects of burnout as the effects of long-term work-related stress. The purpose of the study was to investigate electrophysiological correlates of burnout to explain the mechanisms of the core burnout symptoms: exhaustion and depersonalization/cynicism. The analyzed error-related electrophysiological markers shed light on impaired cognitive mechanisms and the specific changes in information-processing in burnout. In the EEG study design (N = 80), two components of error-related potential (ERP), error-related negativity (ERN), and error positivity (Pe), were analyzed. In the non-clinical burnout group (N = 40), a significant increase in ERN amplitude and a decrease in Pe amplitude were observed compared to controls (N = 40). Enhanced error detection, indexed by increased ERN amplitude, and diminished response monitoring, indexed by decreased Pe amplitude, reveal emerging cognitive problems in the non-clinical burnout group. Cognitive impairments in burnout subjects relate to both reactive and unconscious (ERN) and proactive and conscious (Pe) aspects of error processing. The results indicate a stronger ‘reactive control mode’ that can deplete resources for proactive control and the ability to actively maintain goals. The analysis refers to error processing and specific task demands, thus should not be extended to cognitive processes in general. The characteristics of ERP patterns in burnout resemble psychophysiological indexes of anxiety (increased ERN) and depressive symptoms (decreased Pe), showing to some extent an overlapping effect of burnout and related symptoms and disorders. The results support the scarce existing data on the psychobiological nature of burnout, while extending and specifying its cognitive characteristics.

Error-related oscillatory activity is modulated by novelty seeking in the reward condition

Behavioural research has revealed the influence of motivation conditions on cognitive task performance and demonstrated that these influences are modulated by temperament factors. Modern neuroimaging methods enable analysis of neuropsychological mechanisms through which individual differences in reinforcement sensitivity may influence cognitive functioning. In the study, fifty-six participants were scored on the Cloninger's Temperament and Character Inventory to assess punishment and reward sensitivity. Then, subjects participated in an EEG experiment using the numerical Stroop task under different motivational conditions. In one condition, they were punished for erroneous responses; in the other, they were rewarded for correct performance. We analysed event related changes in EEG spectral power to investigate the influence of temperamentally driven differences on error-related oscillatory brain activity. In agreement with previous findings, after incorrect responses an increase in frontocentral theta (3-7Hz) and a decrease in occipital alpha (10-11Hz) power were observed. Moreover, a multivariate regression analysis showed that these spectral markers were modulated by temperamental trait Novelty Seeking in the reward condition. To our knowledge, we are the first to demonstrate such a relationship between individual differences and error-related oscillatory activity. This neuronal pattern may explain why participants that score high on Novelty Seeking trait are highly motivated and strongly engaged in a task when a reward might be earned. Thus, in conclusion we emphasise that to understand an individual's response to errors, it is necessary to account simultaneously for motivational conditions as well as temperament traits.

Implications of the Hierarchical Structure of Psychopathology for Psychiatric Neuroimaging

Research into the neurobiological substrates of psychopathology has been impeded by heterogeneity within diagnostic categories, comorbidity among mental disorders, and the presence of symptoms that transcend diagnostic categories. Solutions to these issues increasingly focus neurobiological research on isolated or narrow groupings of symptoms or functional constructs rather than categorical diagnoses. Here we argue for a more integrative approach that also incorporates the broad hierarchical structure of psychopathological symptoms and their etiological mechanisms. This approach places clinical neuroscience research in the context of a hierarchy of empirically defined factors of symptoms such as internalizing disorders, externalizing disorders, and the general factor of psychopathology. Application of this hierarchical approach has the potential to reveal neural substrates that nonspecifically contribute to multiple forms of psychopathology and their comorbidity, and in doing so, facilitate the study of mechanisms that are specific to single dimensions and subsets of symptoms. Neurobiological research on the hierarchy of dimensions of psychopathology is only just beginning to emerge, but has the potential to radically alter our understanding of the neurobiology of abnormal behavior.

A genetic variant brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) polymorphism interacts with hostile parenting to predict error-related brain activity and thereby risk for internalizing disorders in children

The error-related negativity (ERN) is a negative deflection in the event-related potential occurring when individuals make mistakes, and is increased in children with internalizing psychopathology. We recently found that harsh parenting predicts a larger ERN in children, and recent work has suggested that variation in the brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) gene may moderate the impact of early life adversity. Parents and children completed measures of parenting when children were 3 years old (N = 201); 3 years later, the ERN was measured and diagnostic interviews as well as dimensional symptom measures were completed. We found that harsh parenting predicted an increased ERN only among children with a methionine allele of the BDNF genotype, and evidence of moderated mediation: the ERN mediated the relationship between parenting and internalizing diagnoses and dimensional symptoms only if children had a methionine allele. We tested this model with externalizing disorders, and found that harsh parenting predicted externalizing outcomes, but the ERN did not mediate this association. These findings suggest that harsh parenting predicts both externalizing and internalizing outcomes in children; however, this occurs through different pathways that uniquely implicate error-related brain activity in the development of internalizing disorders.

Performance monitoring in nicotine dependence: Considering integration of recent reinforcement history

INTRODUCTION

Impaired monitoring of errors and conflict (performance monitoring; PM) is well documented in substance dependence (SD) including nicotine dependence and may contribute to continued drug use. Contemporary models of PM and complementary behavioural evidence suggest that PM works by integrating recent reinforcement history rather than evaluating individual behaviours. Despite this, studies of PM in SD have typically used indices derived from reaction to task error or conflict on individual trials. Consequently impaired integration of reinforcement history during action selection tasks requiring behavioural control in SD populations has been underexplored.

METHODS

A reinforcement learning task assessed the ability of abstinent, satiated, former and never smokers (N=60) to integrate recent reinforcement history alongside a more typical behavioural index of PM reflecting the degree of reaction time slowing following an error (post-punishment slowing; PPS).

RESULTS

On both indices there was a consistent pattern in PM data: Former smokers had the greatest and satiated smokers the poorest PM. Specifically satiated smokers had poorer reinforcement integration than former (p=0.005) and never smokers (p=0.041) and had less post-punishment slowing than former (p<0.001), never (p=0.003) and abstinent smokers (p=0.026).

CONCLUSIONS

These are the first data examining the effects of smoking status on PM that use an integration of reinforcement history metric. The concordance of the reinforcement integration and PPS data suggest that this could be a promising method to interrogate PM in future studies. PM is influenced by smoking status. As PM is associated with adapting behaviour, poor PM in satiated smokers may contribute towards continued smoking despite negative consequences. Former smokers show elevated PM suggesting this may be a good relapse prevention target for individuals struggling to remain abstinent however prospective and intervention studies are needed. A better understanding of PM deficits in terms of reinforcement integration failure may stimulate development of novel treatment approaches.

The genetics of anxiety-related negative valence system traits

NIMH's Research Domain Criteria (RDoC) domain of negative valence systems (NVS) captures constructs of negative affect such as fear and distress traditionally subsumed under the various internalizing disorders. Through its aims to capture dimensional measures that cut across diagnostic categories and are linked to underlying neurobiological systems, a large number of phenotypic constructs have been proposed as potential research targets. Since "genes" represent a central "unit of analysis" in the RDoC matrix, it is important for studies going forward to apply what is known about the genetics of these phenotypes as well as fill in the gaps of existing knowledge. This article reviews the extant genetic epidemiological data (twin studies, heritability) and molecular genetic association findings for a broad range of putative NVS phenotypic measures. We find that scant genetic epidemiological data is available for experimentally derived measures such as attentional bias, peripheral physiology, or brain-based measures of threat response. The molecular genetic basis of NVS phenotypes is in its infancy, since most studies have focused on a small number of candidate genes selected for putative association to anxiety disorders (ADs). Thus, more research is required to provide a firm understanding of the genetic aspects of anxiety-related NVS constructs. © 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Curbing the DUI offender's self-efficacy to drink and drive: A laboratory study

BACKGROUND

People arrested for driving under the influence of alcohol (DUI) are at high risk to reoffend. One reason for this high rate of recidivism among DUI offenders is that these individuals systematically underestimate the degree to which alcohol impairs their ability to drive. This study compared perceived and objective driving ability following alcohol and performance feedback in drivers with and without a history of DUI.

METHOD

Adult drivers with (n=20) and without (n=20) a history of DUI arrest attended two dose challenge sessions where they received 0.64g/kg alcohol or placebo, completed a simulated driving task, and provided measures of subjective impairment. They attended a third retesting session where they received feedback that they were impaired by alcohol. They received 0.64g/kg alcohol and their objective and perceived driving ability was retested.

RESULTS

Both groups showed significant impairment of driving performance following 0.64g/kg alcohol compared to placebo. DUI offenders rated themselves as less impaired than controls. After performance feedback, self-reported impairment during the alcohol retest increased for DUI offenders but not for controls. There was no effect of performance feedback on objective driving ability.

CONCLUSIONS

These results support the notion that under alcohol DUI offenders characteristically perceive themselves as better able to drive than non-offenders. These perceptions can be tempered by performance feedback. To the extent that perceived ability to drive safely after drinking contributes to DUI and its recidivism, feedback geared towards lowering this self-efficacy could reduce willingness to engage in this behavior.

Detection of error-related negativity in complex visual stimuli: a new neuroergonomic arrow in the practitioner's quiver

Brain processes responsible for the error-related negativity (ERN) evoked response potential (ERP) have historically been studied in highly controlled laboratory experiments through presentation of simple visual stimuli. The present work describes the first time the ERN has been evoked and successfully detected in visual search of complex stimuli. A letter flanker task and a motorcycle conspicuity task were presented to participants during electroencephalographic (EEG) recording. Direct visual inspection and subsequent statistical analysis of the resultant time-locked ERP data clearly indicated that the ERN was detectable in both groups. Further, the ERN pattern did not differ between groups. Such results show that the ERN can be successfully elicited and detected in visual search of complex static images, opening the door to applied neuroergonomic use. Harnessing the brain's error detection system presents significant opportunities and complex challenges, and implication of such are discussed in the context of human-machine systems. Practitioner Summary: For the first time, error-related negativity (ERN) has been successfully elicited and detected in a visually complex applied search task. Brain-process-based error detection in human-machine systems presents unique challenges, but promises broad neuroergonomic applications.

Endophenotype best practices

This review examines the current state of electrophysiological endophenotype research and recommends best practices that are based on knowledge gleaned from the last decade of molecular genetic research with complex traits. Endophenotype research is being oversold for its potential to help discover psychopathology relevant genes using the types of small samples feasible for electrophysiological research. This is largely because the genetic architecture of endophenotypes appears to be very much like that of behavioral traits and disorders: they are complex, influenced by many variants (e.g., tens of thousands) within many genes, each contributing a very small effect. Out of over 40 electrophysiological endophenotypes covered by our review, only resting heart, a measure that has received scant advocacy as an endophenotype, emerges as an electrophysiological variable with verified associations with molecular genetic variants. To move the field forward, investigations designed to discover novel variants associated with endophenotypes will need extremely large samples best obtained by forming consortia and sharing data obtained from genome wide arrays. In addition, endophenotype research can benefit from successful molecular genetic studies of psychopathology by examining the degree to which these verified psychopathology-relevant variants are also associated with an endophenotype, and by using knowledge about the functional significance of these variants to generate new endophenotypes. Even without molecular genetic associations, endophenotypes still have value in studying the development of disorders in unaffected individuals at high genetic risk, constructing animal models, and gaining insight into neural mechanisms that are relevant to clinical disorder.

Abnormal neural responses to feedback in depressed adolescents

Depression rates surge in adolescence, particularly among females. Recent findings suggest that depressed adolescents are characterized by hypersensitivity to negative outcomes and blunted responsiveness to rewards. However, our understanding of the pathophysiology and time course of these abnormalities remains limited. Due to their high temporal resolution, event-related potentials (ERPs) provide an ideal probe to investigate these processes. In the present study, healthy (n = 25) and depressed (n = 26) female adolescents (13-18 years) completed a gambling task during 128-channel ERP recording. Time-domain analyses focused on ERPs linked to initial processing of negative versus rewarding outcomes (feedback-related negativity; FRN), and later, elaborative processing (late positive potential; LPP). Additionally, time-frequency analyses were used to decompose the FRN into its 2 constituent neural signals: loss-related theta and reward-related delta activity, thereby allowing us to separately probe these 2 putative mechanisms underlying FRN abnormalities in depression. Relative to healthy adolescents, depressed youth showed potentiated FRN (loss vs. reward) responses. Time-frequency analyses revealed that this group difference in the FRN was driven by increased loss-related theta activity in depressed youth, and not by reward-related delta activity. For the LPP, healthy adolescents exhibited sustained positivity to rewards versus losses, whereas depressed adolescents showed the opposite pattern. Moreover, an enhanced LPP to losses was associated with rumination. In summary, the LPP may be a sensitive probe of depressive rumination, whereas FRN-linked theta activity may represent a neural marker of hypersensitivity to negative outcomes in depressed youth. Implications for treatment and future ERP research are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record