Error negativity and response control

Neural spatio-temporal patterns of information processing related to cognitive conflict and correct or false recognitions

Using a visual short-term memory task and employing a new methodological approach, we analyzed neural responses from the perspective of the conflict level and correctness/erroneous over a longer time window. Sixty-five participants performed the short-term memory task in the fMRI scanner. We explore neural spatio-temporal patterns of information processing in the context of correct or erroneous response and high or low level of cognitive conflict using classical fMRI analysis, surface-based cortical data, temporal analysis of interpolated mean activations, and machine learning classifiers. Our results provide evidence that information processing dynamics during the retrieval process vary depending on the correct or false recognition—for stimuli inducing a high level of cognitive conflict and erroneous response, information processing is prolonged. The observed phenomenon may be interpreted as the manifestation of the brain’s preparation for future goal-directed action.

Investigating the consistency of ERPs across threatening situations among children and adolescents

Threat sensitivity is thought to be a precursor for anxiety. Yet it remains unknown whether individuals have consistently high neural activation to different threatening situations. The current study (N = 161, M_age = 11.26, SD = 1.79) used three ERPs from different threat-related events: 1) the P3 to receiving negative feedback; 2) the ERN to making mistakes; 3) the N170 to viewing angry faces. Participants also completed self-report measures of threat sensitivity, impulsivity, and demographics. In a follow-up analysis, we also investigated whether the results replicate when using the difference score for each ERP. Youth with higher self-reported sensitivity to threats and lower self-reported impulsivity had consistently higher neural activation to threatening situations. Males also had consistently higher neural activation to threats compared with females. When using the difference score, we found that youth with higher self-reported threat sensitivity had consistently higher neural activation to threats than nonthreats. Although it is common for youth to have high neural activation during at least one threatening situation (e.g., making mistakes), only ~12% of youth have consistently high neural activation across a variety of different threats. Thus, detecting youth who are sensitive to a variety of different threats may be an important avenue to investigate to identify youth most at risk for the development of anxiety.

Validity and utility of Hierarchical Taxonomy of Psychopathology (HiTOP): II. Externalizing superspectrum

The Hierarchical Taxonomy of Psychopathology (HiTOP) is an empirical effort to address limitations of traditional mental disorder diagnoses. These include arbitrary boundaries between disorder and normality, disorder co-occurrence in the modal case, heterogeneity of presentation within dis-orders, and instability of diagnosis within patients. This paper reviews the evidence on the validity and utility of the disinhibited externalizing and antagonistic externalizing spectra of HiTOP, which together constitute a broad externalizing superspectrum. These spectra are composed of elements subsumed within a variety of mental disorders described in recent DSM nosologies, including most notably substance use disorders and "Cluster B" personality disorders. The externalizing superspectrum ranges from normative levels of impulse control and self-assertion, to maladaptive disinhibition and antagonism, to extensive polysubstance involvement and personality psychopathology. A rich literature supports the validity of the externalizing superspectrum, and the disinhibited and antagonistic spectra. This evidence encompasses common genetic influences, environmental risk factors, childhood antecedents, cognitive abnormalities, neural alterations, and treatment response. The structure of these validators mirrors the structure of the phenotypic externalizing superspectrum, with some correlates more specific to disinhibited or antagonistic spectra, and others relevant to the entire externalizing superspectrum, underlining the hierarchical structure of the domain. Compared with traditional diagnostic categories, the externalizing superspectrum conceptualization shows improved utility, reliability, explanatory capacity, and clinical applicability. The externalizing superspectrum is one aspect of the general approach to psychopathology offered by HiTOP and can make diagnostic classification more useful in both research and the clinic.

Conflict monitoring and the affective-signaling hypothesis-An integrative review

Conflict-monitoring theory proposes that conflict between incompatible responses is registered by a dedicated monitoring system, and that this conflict signal triggers changes of attentional filters and adapts control processes according to the current task demands. Extending the conflict-monitoring theory, it has been suggested that conflict elicits a negative affective reaction, and that it is this affective signal that is monitored and then triggers control adaptation. This review article summarizes research on a potential signaling function of affect for cognitive control. First, we provide an overview of the conflict-monitoring theory, discuss neurophysiological and behavioral markers of monitoring and control adaptation, and introduce the affective-signaling hypothesis. In a second part, we review relevant studies that address the questions of (i) whether conflict elicits negative affect, (ii) whether negative affect is monitored, and (iii) whether affect modulates control. In sum, the reviewed literature supports the claim that conflict and errors trigger negative affect and provides some support for the claim that affect modulates control. However, studies on the monitoring of negative affect and the influence of phasic affect on control are ambiguous. On the basis of these findings, in a third part, we critically reassess the affective-signaling hypothesis, discuss relevant challenges to this account, and suggest future research strategies.

Developmental pathways to social anxiety and irritability: The role of the ERN

Early behaviors that differentiate later biomarkers for psychopathology can guide preventive efforts while also facilitating pathophysiological research. We tested whether error-related negativity (ERN) moderates the link between early behavior and later psychopathology in two early childhood phenotypes: behavioral inhibition and irritability. From ages 2 to 7 years, children (n = 291) were assessed longitudinally for behavioral inhibition (BI) and irritability. Behavioral inhibition was assessed via maternal report and behavioral responses to novelty. Childhood irritability was assessed using the Child Behavior Checklist. At age 12, an electroencephalogram (EEG) was recorded while children performed a flanker task to measure ERN, a neural indicator of error monitoring. Clinical assessments of anxiety and irritability were conducted using questionnaires (i.e., Screen for Child Anxiety Related Disorders and Affective Reactivity Index) and clinical interviews. Error monitoring interacted with early BI and early irritability to predict later psychopathology. Among children with high BI, an enhanced ERN predicted greater social anxiety at age 12. In contrast, children with high childhood irritability and blunted ERN predicted greater irritability at age 12. This converges with previous work and provides novel insight into the specificity of pathways associated with psychopathology.

Error-related negativity predicts failure in competitive dual-player video games

Along with improvement in electroencephalogram (EEG)-measurement technology, limitations on the situations in which data can be recorded are gradually being overcome. EEG measurement in real environments has become increasingly important as a means to monitor brain activity in our daily lives, such as while playing consumer games in the living room. The present study measured brain EEG activity while two players engaged in a competitive consumer baseball game in conditions that closely resembled daily life. The recorded brain activity was thus likely related to natural mental reactions and cognitive function that occur in similar daily life activities. To measure the EEG from participants who freely moved while playing the game, we developed EEG devices that incorporated a wireless time synchronization system using Global Positioning Satellite (GPS) signals. These devices stamped the time obtained from the GPS signals onto each data sample, which was then used to synchronize the data that were recorded by different devices. When the batter in the game swung and missed, the error-related negativity component of the event-related EEG potential was strongly evoked in frontal electrodes of the participant controlling the batter. Furthermore, the error-related negativity was modulated according to who was winning and by how much. Thus, here we have demonstrated "real-world" brain activity using a competitive consumer game, which increases intrinsic participant motivation.

An Event-related Potential Study of Error-monitoring Deficits in Female College Students Who Participate in Binge Drinking

Objective

This study investigated error-monitoring deficits in female college students with binge drinking (BD) using event-related potentials (ERPs) and the modified Flanker task.

Methods

Participants were categorized into BD (n=25) and non-BD (n=25) groups based on the scores of the Korean-version of the Alcohol Use Disorder Identification Test (AUDIT-K) and the Alcohol Use Questionnaire (AUQ). The modified Flanker task, consisting of congruent (target and flanker stimuli are the same) and incongruent (target and flanker stimuli are different) conditions, was used to evaluate error-monitoring abilities.

Results

The BD group exhibited significantly shorter response times and more error rates on the Flanker task, as well as reduced error-related negativity (ERN) amplitudes compared with the non-BD group. Additionally, ERN amplitudes measured at FCz and Cz were significantly correlated with scores on the AUDIT-K and AUQ in the whole participants. The BD and non-BD groups did not show any significant differences in error positivity amplitudes.

Conclusion

The present results indicate that college students with BD have deficits in error-monitoring, and that reduced ERN amplitudes may serve as a biological marker or risk factor of alcohol use disorder.

Social influences of error monitoring in adolescent girls

Adolescence is a developmental period characterized by increased social motivation and a heightened concern of peer evaluation. However, little research has examined social influences on neural functioning in adolescence. One psychophysiological measure of motivation, the error-related negativity (ERN), is an ERP following an error. In adults, the ERN is enhanced by contextual factors that influence motivation, such as social observation and evaluation. The current study examined relations among age and neural responses in social contexts in adolescence. Seventy-six adolescent girls (9-17 years old) completed a flanker task under two different conditions. In the social condition, adolescent girls were informed that two other adolescents would be observing and providing feedback about their performance. In the nonsocial condition, adolescent girls completed a flanker task alone and were told feedback was computer generated. Results revealed that younger adolescents exhibited a larger ERN in social contexts than nonsocial contexts. In contrast, there were no differences in the ERN between contexts among older adolescents. In addition, enhancements of the ERN in social contexts among younger adolescents diminished the relation between the ERN and age. These findings suggest that the ERN is sensitive to social contexts in early adolescence, and developmental changes in the ERN may be partially explained by contextual factors that influence motivation.

Effects of anterior cingulate cortex lesions on a continuous performance task for mice

Important tools in the study of prefrontal cortical-dependent executive functions are cross-species behavioural tasks with translational validity. A widely used test of executive function and attention in humans is the continuous performance task (CPT). Optimal performance in variations of this task is associated with activity along the medial wall of the prefrontal cortex, including the anterior cingulate cortex (ACC), for its essential components such as response control, target detection and processing of false alarm errors. We assess the validity of a recently developed rodent touchscreen continuous performance task (rCPT) that is analogous to typical human CPT procedures. Here we evaluate the performance of mice with quinolinic acid-induced lesions centred on the ACC in the rCPT following a range of task parameter manipulations designed to challenge attention and impulse control. Lesioned mice showed a disinhibited response profile expressed as a decreased response criterion and increased false alarm rates. ACC lesions also resulted in a milder increase in inter-trial interval responses ('ITI touches') and hit rate. Lesions did not affect discriminative sensitivity d'. The disinhibited behaviour of ACC lesioned animals was stable and not affected by the manipulation of variable task parameter manipulations designed to increase task difficulty. The results are in general agreement with human studies implicating the ACC in the processing of inappropriate responses. We conclude that the rCPT may be useful for studying prefrontal cortex function in mice and has the capability of providing meaningful links between animal and human cognitive tasks.

The error-related negativity (ERN) is an electrophysiological marker of motor impulsiveness on the Barratt Impulsiveness Scale (BIS-11) during adolescence

Objectives

Previous studies have postulated that the error-related negativity (ERN) may reflect individual differences in impulsivity; however, none have used a longitudinal framework or evaluated impulsivity as a multidimensional construct. The current study evaluated whether ERN amplitude, measured in childhood and adolescence, is predictive of impulsiveness during adolescence.

Methods

Seventy-five children participated in this study, initially at ages 7–9 years and again at 12–18 years. The interval between testing sessions ranged from 5 to 9 years. The ERN was extracted in response to behavioural errors produced during a modified visual flanker task at both time points (i.e. childhood and adolescence). Participants also completed the Barratt Impulsiveness Scale − a measure that considers impulsiveness to comprise three core sub-traits − during adolescence.

Results

At adolescence, the ERN amplitude was significantly larger than during childhood. Additionally, ERN amplitude during adolescence significantly predicted motor impulsiveness at that time point, after controlling for age, gender, and the number of trials included in the ERN. In contrast, ERN amplitude during childhood did not uniquely predict impulsiveness during adolescence.

Conclusions

These findings provide preliminary evidence that ERN amplitude is an electrophysiological marker of self-reported motor impulsiveness (i.e. acting without thinking) during adolescence.

Naps Enhance Executive Attention in Preschool-Aged Children

Objective

Executive attention is impaired following sleep loss in school-aged children, adolescents, and adults. Whether naps improve attention relative to nap deprivation in preschool-aged children is unknown. The aim of this study was to compare executive attention in preschool children following a nap and an interval of wake.

Method

Sixty-nine children, 35-70 months of age, completed a Flanker task to assess executive attention following a nap and an equivalent interval of wake.

Results

Overall, accuracy was greater after the nap compared with the wake interval. Reaction time(s) did not differ between the nap and wake intervals. Results did not differ between children who napped consistently and those who napped inconsistently, suggesting that naps benefit executive attention of preschoolers regardless of nap habituality.

Conclusions

These results indicate that naps enhance attention in preschool children. As executive attention supports executive functioning and learning, nap promotion may improve early education outcomes.

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.

Neural correlates of cognitive processing in monolinguals and bilinguals

Here, we review the neural correlates of cognitive control associated with bilingualism. We demonstrate that lifelong practice managing two languages orchestrates global changes to both the structure and function of the brain. Compared with monolinguals, bilinguals generally show greater gray matter volume, especially in perceptual/motor regions, greater white matter integrity, and greater functional connectivity between gray matter regions. These changes complement electroencephalography findings showing that bilinguals devote neural resources earlier than monolinguals. Parallel functional findings emerge from the functional magnetic resonance imaging literature: bilinguals show reduced frontal activity, suggesting that they do not need to rely on top-down mechanisms to the same extent as monolinguals. This shift for bilinguals to rely more on subcortical/posterior regions, which we term the bilingual anterior-to-posterior and subcortical shift (BAPSS), fits with results from cognitive aging studies and helps to explain why bilinguals experience cognitive decline at later stages of development than monolinguals.

Frontal Monitoring and Parietal Evidence: Mechanisms of Error Correction

When we respond to a stimulus, our decisions are based not only on external stimuli but also on our ongoing performance. If the response deviates from our goals, monitoring and decision-making brain areas interact so that future behavior may change. By taking advantage of natural variation in error salience, as measured by the RT taken to correct an error (RTEC), here we argue that an evidence accumulation framework provides a potential underlying mechanism for this variable process of error identification and correction, as evidenced by covariation of frontal monitoring and parietal decision-making processes. We study two early EEG signals linked to monitoring within medial PFC-the error-related negativity (ERN) and frontocentral theta activity-and a third EEG signal, the error positivity (Pe), that is thought to share the same parietal substrates as a signal (the P3b) proposed to reflect evidence accumulation. As predicted, our data show that on slow RTEC trials, frontal monitoring resources are less strongly employed, and the latency of the Pe is longer. Critically, the speed of the RTEC also covaries with the magnitude of subsequent neural (intertrial alpha power) and behavioral (post-error slowing) adjustments following the correction. These results are synthesized to describe a timing diagram for adaptive decision-making after errors and support a potential evidence accumulation mechanism in which error signaling is followed by rapid behavioral adjustments.

The Role of Intelligence Quotient and Emotional Intelligence in Cognitive Control Processes

The relationship between intelligence quotient (IQ) and cognitive control processes has been extensively established. Several studies have shown that IQ correlates with cognitive control abilities, such as interference suppression, as measured with experimental tasks like the Stroop and Flanker tasks. By contrast, there is a debate about the role of Emotional Intelligence (EI) in individuals' cognitive control abilities. The aim of this study is to examine the relation between IQ and EI, and cognitive control abilities evaluated by a typical laboratory control cognitive task, the Stroop task. Results show a negative correlation between IQ and the interference suppression index, the ability to inhibit processing of irrelevant information. However, the Managing Emotions dimension of EI measured by the Mayer-Salovey-Caruso Emotional Intelligence Test (MSCEIT), but not self-reported of EI, negatively correlates with the impulsivity index, the premature execution of the response. These results suggest that not only is IQ crucial, but also competences related to EI are essential to human cognitive control processes. Limitations and implications of these results are also discussed.

Increased error-related brain activity in six-year-old children with clinical anxiety

Anxiety disorders are the most frequently diagnosed form of psychopathology in children and often result in chronic impairment that persists into adulthood. Identifying neurobehavioral correlates of anxiety that appear relatively early in life would inform etiological models of development and allow intervention and prevention strategies to be implemented more effectively. The error-related negativity (ERN), a negative deflection in the event-related potential at fronto-central sites approximately 50 ms following the commission of errors, has been consistently found to be larger among anxious adults. The current study sought to extend these findings to even younger individuals: the ERN was elicited by a Go/NoGo task in 48 six year-old children with a clinical anxiety disorder assessed by diagnostic interview and 48 age-matched controls. In addition to child anxiety disorder, the ERN was examined in relation to maternal history of anxiety disorder, which was previously related to a smaller ERN. Anxious children were characterized by a larger (i.e., more negative) ERN and maternal history of anxiety disorder was associated with a smaller ERN. Thus, the relationship between an increased ERN and clinical anxiety is evident by age 6, and this effect appears independent from an opposing influence of maternal anxiety history on the ERN. These findings support the ERN as a promising neurobehavioral marker of anxiety, and implications are discussed.

Development of neural mechanisms of conflict and error processing during childhood: implications for self-regulation

Regulation of thoughts and behavior requires attention, particularly when there is conflict between alternative responses or when errors are to be prevented or corrected. Conflict monitoring and error processing are functions of the executive attention network, a neurocognitive system that greatly matures during childhood. In this study, we examined the development of brain mechanisms underlying conflict and error processing with event-related potentials (ERPs), and explored the relationship between brain function and individual differences in the ability to self-regulate behavior. Three groups of children aged 4-6, 7-9, and 10-13 years, and a group of adults performed a child-friendly version of the flanker task while ERPs were registered. Marked developmental changes were observed in both conflict processing and brain reactions to errors. After controlling by age, higher self-regulation skills are associated with smaller amplitude of the conflict effect but greater amplitude of the error-related negativity. Additionally, we found that electrophysiological measures of conflict and error monitoring predict individual differences in impulsivity and the capacity to delay gratification. These findings inform of brain mechanisms underlying the development of cognitive control and self-regulation.

Harsh parenting and fearfulness in toddlerhood interact to predict amplitudes of preschool error-related negativity

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Error-related negativity was visible in a group of 4.5-year old children.

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Early harsh parenting moderated the association between toddler fearfulness and preschool ERN amplitudes.

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The pattern of moderation found for ERN was also observed for shyness and cognitive efficiency.

Temperamentally fearful children are at increased risk for the development of anxiety problems relative to less-fearful children. This risk is even greater when early environments include high levels of harsh parenting behaviors. However, the mechanisms by which harsh parenting may impact fearful children's risk for anxiety problems are largely unknown. Recent neuroscience work has suggested that punishment is associated with exaggerated error-related negativity (ERN), an event-related potential linked to performance monitoring, even after the threat of punishment is removed. In the current study, we examined the possibility that harsh parenting interacts with fearfulness, impacting anxiety risk via neural processes of performance monitoring. We found that greater fearfulness and harsher parenting at 2 years of age predicted greater fearfulness and greater ERN amplitudes at age 4. Supporting the role of cognitive processes in this association, greater fearfulness and harsher parenting also predicted less efficient neural processing during preschool. This study provides initial evidence that performance monitoring may be a candidate process by which early parenting interacts with fearfulness to predict risk for anxiety problems.

Additive effects of the dopamine D2 receptor and dopamine transporter genes on the error-related negativity in young children

The error-related negativity (ERN) is a negative deflection in the event-related potential that occurs approximately 50 ms following the commission of an error at fronto-central electrode sites. Previous models suggest dopamine plays a role in the generation of the ERN. We recorded event-related potentials (ERPs) while 279 children aged 5-7 years completed a simple Go/No-Go task; the ERN was examined in relation to the dopamine D2 receptor (DRD2) and dopamine transporter (DAT1) genes. Results suggest an additive effect of the DRD2 and DAT1 genotype on ERN magnitude such that children with at least one DRD2 A1 allele and children with at least one DAT1 9 allele have an increased (i.e. more negative) ERN. These results provide further support for the involvement of dopamine in the generation of the ERN.

Event-related potentials elicited by errors during the stop-signal task. II: human effector-specific error responses

Although previous research with human and nonhuman primates has examined the neural correlates of performance monitoring, discrepancies in methodology have limited our ability to make cross-species generalizations. One major obstacle arises from the use of different behavioral responses and tasks across different primate species. Specifically, it is unknown whether performance-monitoring mechanisms rely on different neural circuitry in tasks requiring oculomotor vs. skeletomotor responses. Here, we show that the human error-related negativity (ERN) elicited by a saccadic eye-movement response relative to a manual response differs in several critical ways. The human saccadic ERN exhibits a prolonged duration, a broader frontomedial voltage distribution, and different neural source estimates than the manual ERN in exactly the same stop-signal task. The human saccadic error positivity (Pe) exhibited a frontomedial voltage distribution with estimated electrical sources in supplementary motor area and rostral anterior cingulate cortex for saccadic responses, whereas the manual Pe showed a posterior scalp distribution and potential origins in the superior parietal lobule. These findings constrain models of the cognitive mechanisms indexed by the ERN/Pe complex. Moreover, by paralleling work with nonhuman primates performing the same saccadic stop-signal task (Godlove et al. 2011), we demonstrate a cross-species homology of error event-related potentials (ERPs) and lay the groundwork for definitively localizing the neural sources of performance-monitoring ERPs.

Effect of d-amphetamine on post-error slowing in healthy volunteers

RATIONALE

Post-error slowing has long been considered a sign of healthy error detection and an important component of cognitive function. However, the neuropharmacological processes underlying post-error slowing are poorly understood.

OBJECTIVES

This study investigated the effect of the dopamine agonist d-amphetamine on post-error slowing and secondarily, the potential mediator of drug-induced euphoria and potential moderators of personality and baseline task performance.

METHODS

Healthy male and female participants (N = 110) completed four study sessions, at which d-amphetamine (placebo 5, 10, 20 mg) was administered under double-blind, counter-balanced conditions. At each session, participants completed subjective drug effect assessments and a working memory task (N-back) to measure post-error slowing. They completed the Multidimensional Personality Questionnaire (MPQ) during screening.

RESULTS

Amphetamine (20 mg) reduced post-error slowing, consistent with a dampened behavioral reactivity to errors. This was not related to drug-induced euphoria. Although higher scores on MPQ constraint were related to less post-error slowing under placebo conditions, neither personality nor baseline cognitive performance moderated the effects of amphetamine on post-error slowing.

CONCLUSIONS

The finding that amphetamine reduced post-error slowing supports the idea that dopamine plays a role in error stimulus processing. The finding is discussed in relation to an existing literature on the mechanisms and function of behavioral and electrophysiological indices of error sensitivity.

All about the Money - External Performance Monitoring is Affected by Monetary, but Not by Socially Conveyed Feedback Cues in More Antisocial Individuals

This study investigated the relationship between feedback processing and antisocial personality traits measured by the PSSI questionnaire (Kuhl and Kazén, 1997) in a healthy undergraduate sample. While event-related potentials [feedback related negativity (FRN), P300] were recorded, participants encountered expected and unexpected feedback during a gambling task. As recent findings suggest learning problems and deficiencies during feedback processing in clinical populations of antisocial individuals, we performed two experiments with different healthy participants in which feedback about monetary gains or losses consisted either of social-emotional (facial emotion displays) or non-social cues (numerical stimuli). Since the FRN and P300 are both sensitive to different aspects of feedback processing we hypothesized that they might help to differentiate between individuals scoring high and low on an antisocial trait measure. In line with previous evidence FRN amplitudes were enhanced after negative and after unexpected feedback stimuli. Crucially, participants scoring high on antisocial traits displayed larger FRN amplitudes than those scoring low only in response to expected and unexpected negative numerical feedback, but not in response to social-emotional feedback - irrespective of expectancy. P300 amplitudes were not modulated by antisocial traits at all, but by subjective reward probabilities. The present findings indicate that individuals scoring high on antisociality attribute higher motivational salience to monetary compared to emotional-social feedback which is reflected in FRN amplitude enhancement. Contrary to recent findings, however, no processing deficiencies concerning social-emotional feedback stimuli were apparent in those individuals. This indicates that stimulus salience is an important aspect in learning and feedback processes in individuals with antisocial traits which has potential implications for therapeutic interventions in clinical populations.

Electrocortical and behavioral measures of response monitoring in young children during a Go/No-Go task

The current study examined behavioral measures and response-locked event-related brain potentials (ERPs) derived from a Go/No-Go task in a large (N = 328) sample of 5- to 7-year-olds in order to better understand the early development of response monitoring and the impact of child age and sex. In particular, the error-related negativity (ERN, defined on both error trials alone and the difference between error and correct trials, or ΔERN), correct response negativity (CRN), and error positivity (P(e)) were examined. Overall, the ERN, CRN, and the P(e) were spatially and temporally similar to those measured in adults and older children. Even within our narrow age range, older children were faster and more accurate; a more negative ΔERN and a more positive P(e) were associated with: increasing age, increased accuracy, and faster reaction times on errors, suggesting these enhanced components reflected more efficient response monitoring of errors over development. Girls were slower and more accurate than boys, although both genders exhibited comparable ERPs. Younger children and girls were characterized by increased posterror slowing, although they did not demonstrate improved posterror accuracy. Posterror slowing was also related to a larger P(e) and reduced posterror accuracy. Collectively, these data suggest that posterror slowing may be unrelated to cognitive control and may, like the P(e), reflect an orienting response to errors.

Altered error processing following vascular thalamic damage: evidence from an antisaccade task

Event-related potentials (ERP) research has identified a negative deflection within about 100 to 150 ms after an erroneous response – the error-related negativity (ERN) - as a correlate of awareness-independent error processing. The short latency suggests an internal error monitoring system acting rapidly based on central information such as an efference copy signal. Studies on monkeys and humans have identified the thalamus as an important relay station for efference copy signals of ongoing saccades. The present study investigated error processing on an antisaccade task with ERPs in six patients with focal vascular damage to the thalamus and 28 control subjects. ERN amplitudes were significantly reduced in the patients, with the strongest ERN attenuation being observed in two patients with right mediodorsal and ventrolateral and bilateral ventrolateral damage, respectively. Although the number of errors was significantly higher in the thalamic lesion patients, the degree of ERN attenuation did not correlate with the error rate in the patients. The present data underline the role of the thalamus for the online monitoring of saccadic eye movements, albeit not providing unequivocal evidence in favour of an exclusive role of a particular thalamic site being involved in performance monitoring. By relaying saccade-related efference copy signals, the thalamus appears to enable fast error processing. Furthermore early error processing based on internal information may contribute to error awareness which was reduced in the patients.

Operationalizing proneness to externalizing psychopathology as a multivariate psychophysiological phenotype

The externalizing dimension is viewed as a broad dispositional factor underlying risk for numerous disinhibitory disorders. Prior work has documented deficits in event-related brain potential (ERP) responses in individuals prone to externalizing problems. Here, we constructed a direct physiological index of externalizing vulnerability from three ERP indicators and evaluated its validity in relation to criterion measures in two distinct domains: psychometric and physiological. The index was derived from three ERP measures that covaried in their relations with externalizing proneness-the error-related negativity and two variants of the P3. Scores on this ERP composite predicted psychometric criterion variables and accounted for externalizing-related variance in P3 response from a separate task. These findings illustrate how a diagnostic construct can be operationalized as a composite (multivariate) psychophysiological variable (phenotype).

Negative affect induced by derogatory verbal feedback modulates the neural signature of error detection

The present study examines the influence of induced affective state on performance monitoring. The electroencephalogram was recorded while human participants engaged in a speeded choice-reaction time task commonly used to examine performance monitoring processes. Prior to the experiment, participants were randomly allocated to receive either encouraging or derogatory feedback during task execution. Feedback was based on each participant's reaction times. Affective state was assessed prior and after the experiment with a state questionnaire. Although participants of both feedback groups loaded high on items describing tiredness in the state questionnaire, only those with derogatory feedback loaded higher on negative state items and lower on positive state items after completion of the experiment. The error-related negativity (ERN) as an index of performance monitoring was increased after derogatory feedback; this difference was not seen at the beginning of the experiment. Negative state correlated significantly with ERN amplitude. The error positivity, a later component following errors, did not differ between feedback groups. This study provides further evidence that changes in affective state influence how we monitor ongoing behavior.

Impulsivity in Decision-Making: An Event-Related Potential Investigation

Impulsive individuals make risky choices, motivated more by immediate reward than potential long-term negative consequences. We used event-related potentials to study the impact of reward and punishment sensitivity in impulsivity on risky decision-making in a two-card choice task in groups of 14 high and 14 low impulsive undergraduates formed by a median split on the Barratt Impulsiveness Scale score. The high impulsives had a larger P3 and the low impulsives a smaller P3 to the cards when making a low-risk choice suggesting that the high-risk option was the default choice of the high impulsives and the low-risk choice the default for the low impulsives. The low, but not the high impulsives had a larger error-related negativity following high-risk choice indicating that the low impulsives evaluated the risky choice as a poor decision. The results indicate that high impulsive individuals are biased towards immediate reward during option evaluation but are less sensitive to the negative consequences of their choices.

Brain signatures of monetary loss and gain: outcome-related potentials in a single outcome gambling task

This study evaluates the event-related potential (ERP) components in a single outcome gambling task that involved monetary losses and gains. The participants were 50 healthy young volunteers (25 males and 25 females). The gambling task involved valence (loss and gain) and amount (50 cent and 10 cent) as outcomes. The outcome-related negativity (ORN/N2) and outcome-related positivity (ORP/P3) were analyzed and compared across conditions and gender. Monetary gain (compared to loss) and higher amount (50 cent compared to 10 cent) produced higher amplitudes and shorter latencies in both ORN and ORP components. Difference wave plots showed that earlier processing (200-400 ms) is dominated by the valence (loss/gain) while later processing (after 400 ms) is marked by the amount (50 cent/10 cent). Functional mapping using Low Resolution Electromagnetic Tomography (LORETA) indicated that the ORN separated the loss against gain in both genders, while the ORP activity distinguished the 50 cent against 10 cent in males. This study further strengthens the view that separate brain processes/circuitry may mediate loss and gain. Although there were no gender differences in behavioral and impulsivity scores, ORN and ORP measures for different task conditions had significant correlations with behavioral scores. This gambling paradigm may potentially offer valuable indicators to study outcome processing and impulsivity in normals as well as in clinical populations.

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

The ERN is a negative deflection in the event-related potential that peaks approximately 50 ms after the commission of an error. The ERN is thought to reflect early error-processing activity of the anterior cingulate cortex (ACC). First, we review current functional, neurobiological, and developmental data on the ERN. Next, the ERN is discussed in terms of three psychiatric disorders characterized by abnormal response monitoring: anxiety disorders, depression, and substance abuse. These data indicate that increased and decreased error-related brain activity is associated with the internalizing and externalizing dimensions of psychopathology, respectively. Recent data further suggest that abnormal error-processing indexed by the ERN indexes trait- but not state-related symptoms, especially related to anxiety. Overall, these data point to utility of ERN in studying risk for psychiatric disorders, and are discussed in terms of the endophenotype construct.

Impulsiveness and ERP components in a Go/Nogo task

Impulsiveness has been linked to fast guesses and premature responses in reaction time tasks like the Eriksen flanker task or the Go/Nogo task. In the present study, healthy subjects without history of DSM-IV Axis I or II psychopathology were examined. Impulsiveness was determined by calculating individual reaction times (as a function of general response speed) in order to split the entire group (n = 26) in a subgroup with a more controlled response style (low impulsiveness [LI] group; n = 13) and a subgroup with a more impulsive response style (high impulsiveness [HI] group; n = 13). Subjects performed a Go/Nogo task while a multi-channel EEG was recorded. Two event-related potentials (ERP) were of special interest: the Nogo-N2 and -P3 component. HI subjects had significantly reduced (less positive) Nogo-P3 amplitudes compared to LI subjects whereas groups did not differ with regard to the Nogo-N2. These results corroborate previous findings of reduced Nogo-P3 amplitudes in samples with enhanced levels of impulsiveness. Moreover, present data suggest that there is a broader range of impulsiveness even in healthy subjects which might mask or pronounce between-group differences in clinical studies. Therefore, different levels of impulsiveness in control groups should be carefully taken into account in further ERP studies.

Externalizing psychopathology and the error-related negativity

Prior research has demonstrated that antisocial behavior, substance-use disorders, and personality dimensions of aggression and impulsivity are indicators of a highly heritable underlying dimension of risk, labeled externalizing. Other work has shown that individual trait constructs within this psychopathology spectrum are associated with reduced self-monitoring, as reflected by amplitude of the error-related negativity (ERN) brain response. In this study of undergraduate subjects, reduced ERN amplitude was associated with higher scores on a self-report measure of the broad externalizing construct that links these various indicators. In addition, the ERN was associated with a response-locked increase in anterior theta (4-7 Hz) oscillation; like the ERN, this theta response to errors was reduced among high-externalizing individuals. These findings suggest that neurobiologically based deficits in endogenous action monitoring may underlie generalized risk for an array of impulse-control problems.

Variations of the flanker paradigm: assessing selective attention in young children

The development of selective attention and associated self-regulatory processes was assessed in young children, ages 4, 5, and 6, through the use of three alternative versions of the flanker paradigm utilizing colors, shapes, and fish. These variations were used to examine the influence of task differences on children's performance. The presence of cognitive self-regulatory strategies in young children was also assessed. Significant flanker interference effects, marked by significant task-linked response time differences, were found across all three versions of the paradigm. Although a significant portion of children demonstrated self-regulatory abilities, not every participant demonstrated the specific strategies of self-monitoring and response control. Furthermore, these differences were evident across all age groups. The implications of these results are discussed within the theoretical context of task development, taking into consideration the need to modify computerized attention paradigms for use with young children in order to reliably measure cognitive constructs across children and adults.

Anxiety and error monitoring: increased error sensitivity or altered expectations?

This study tested the prediction that the error-related negativity (ERN), a physiological measure of error monitoring, would be enhanced in anxious individuals, particularly in conditions with threatening cues. Participants made gender judgments about faces whose expressions were either happy, angry, or neutral. Replicating prior studies, midline scalp negativities were greater following errors than following correct responses. In addition, state anxiety interacted with facial expression to predict ERN amplitudes. Counter to predictions, participants high in state anxiety displayed smaller ERNs for angry-face blocks and larger ERNs for happy-face blocks, compared to less anxious participants. These results are inconsistent with the simple notion that anxiety enhances error sensitivity globally. Rather, we interpret the findings within an expectancy violation framework, in which anxious participants have altered expectations for success and failure in the context of happy and angry facial cues, with greater ERN amplitudes when expectations are violated.

Alternative mechanisms for regulating racial responses according to internal vs external cues

Personal (internal) and normative (external) impetuses for regulating racially biased behaviour are well-documented, yet the extent to which internally and externally driven regulatory processes arise from the same mechanism is unknown. Whereas the regulation of race bias according to internal cues has been associated with conflict-monitoring processes and activation of the dorsal anterior cingulate cortex (dACC), we proposed that responses regulated according to external cues to respond without prejudice involves mechanisms of error-perception, a process associated with rostral anterior cingulate cortex (rACC) activity. We recruited low-prejudice participants who reported high or low sensitivity to non-prejudiced norms, and participants completed a stereotype inhibition task in private or public while electroencephalography was recorded. Analysis of event-related potentials revealed that the error-related negativity component, linked to dACC activity, predicted behavioural control of bias across conditions, whereas the error-perception component, linked to rACC activity, predicted control only in public among participants sensitive to external pressures to respond without prejudice.

Context Modulates Early Stimulus Processing when Resolving Stimulus-response Conflict

When responding to stimuli in our environment, the presence of multiple items associated with task-relevant responses affects both ongoing response selection and subsequent behavior. Computational modeling of conflict monitoring and neuroimaging data predict that the recent context of response competition will bias the selection of certain stimuli over others very early in the processing stream through increased focal spatial attention. We used high-density EEG to test this hypothesis and to investigate the contextual effects on nonspatial, early stimulus processing in a modified flanker task. Subjects were required to respond to a central arrow and to ignore potentially conflicting information from flanking arrows in trials preceded by a series of either compatible or incompatible trials. On some trials, we presented the flanking arrows in the absence of the central target. The visual P1 component was selectively enhanced only for incompatible trials when preceded by incompatible ones, suggesting that contextual effects depend on feature-based processing, and not only simple enhancement of the target location. Context effects also occurred on no-target trials as evidenced by an enhanced early-evoked response when they followed compatible compared to incompatible trials, suggesting that spatial attention was also modulated by recent context. These results support a multi-componential account of spatial and nonspatial attention and they suggest that contextually driven cognitive control mechanisms can operate on specific stimulus features at extremely early stages of processing within stimulus-response conflict tasks.

Development of response-monitoring ERPs in 7- to 25-year-olds

In a target discrimination task, trials with incorrect responses elicit event-related potentials (ERPs) that include an error-related negativity (ERN or Ne) and a later error-positivity (Pe). Substantial evidence points to the anterior cingulate cortex as the source generator of the ERN. We examined the development of ERP component morphology, amplitude and latency to processing of correct and incorrect responses in 124 children, 7 to 18 years of age, and 27 adults, 19 through 25 years of age. The ERN and Pe were recorded during a standard 480-trial visual flanker task. As expected, response times decreased significantly with age. The ERN amplitude in error trials increased with age, although this was qualified by a nonlinear change as well. The Pe amplitude did not change with age. In correct trials, most participants produced a small negativity corresponding to the timing of the ERN in error trials. This correct-response negativity (CRN) amplitude was larger in children than in adults. Results are discussed with respect to continued maturation of the anterior cingulate cortex and prefrontal cortex into young adulthood.