Tracking the Temporal Dynamics of Updating Cognitive Control: An Examination of Error Processing

Early correlates of error-related brain activity predict subjective timing of error awareness

Humans are remarkably reliable in detecting errors in their behavior. Whereas error awareness has been assumed to emerge not until 200-400 ms after an error, the so-called early error sensations refer to the subjective feeling of having detected an error even before the erroneous response was executed. Here, we collected electroencephalogram (EEG) to track how early error sensations are reflected in neural correlates of performance monitoring. Participants first had to perform a task, and then had to indicate whether an error has occurred and whether this error was detected before or after response execution. EEG results showed that early error sensations were associated with an earlier peak of the error-related negativity (Ne/ERN), a component of error-related brain activity that occurs briefly after the error response. This demonstrates that early error-related activity influences metacognitive judgments on the time course of error awareness, and thus contributes to error awareness.

Linking neurophysiological processes of action monitoring to post-response speed-accuracy adjustments in a neuro-cognitive diffusion model

The cognitive system needs to continuously monitor actions and initiate adaptive measures aimed at increasing task performance and avoiding future errors. To investigate the link between the contributing cognitive processes, we introduce the neuro-cognitive diffusion model, a statistical approach that allows a combination of computational modelling of behavioural and electrophysiological data on a single-trial level. This unique combination of methods allowed us to demonstrate across three experimental datasets that early response monitoring (error negativity; Ne/c) was related to more response caution and increased attention on task-relevant features on the subsequent trial, thereby preventing future errors, whereas later response monitoring (error positivity, Pe/c) maintained the ability of responding fast under speed pressure. Our results suggest that Pe/c-related processes might keep Ne/c-related processes in check regarding their impact on post-response adaptation to reconcile the conflicting criteria of fast and accurate responding.

Effects of Trait Anxiety on Error Processing and Post-error Adjustments: An Event-Related Potential Study With Stop-Signal Task

The present study aimed to use event-related potentials with the stop-signal task to investigate the effects of trait anxiety on inhibitory control, error monitoring, and post-error adjustments. The stop-signal reaction time (SSRT) was used to evaluate the behavioral competence of inhibitory control. Electrophysiological signals of error-related negativity (ERN) and error positivity (Pe) were used to study error perception and error awareness, respectively. Post-error slowing (PES) was applied to examine the behavioral adjustments after making errors. The results showed that SSRT and PES did not differ significantly between individuals with high trait anxiety (HTA) and those with low trait anxiety (LTA). However, individuals with HTA demonstrated reduced ERN amplitudes and prolonged Pe latencies than those with LTA. Prolonged Pe latencies were also significantly associated with poorer post-error adjustments. In conclusion, HTA led to reduced cortical responses to error monitoring. Furthermore, inefficient conscious awareness of errors might lead to maladaptive post-error adjustments.

Dissociation of Medial Frontal β-Bursts and Executive Control

The neural mechanisms of executive and motor control concern both basic researchers and clinicians. In human studies, preparation and cancellation of movements are accompanied by changes in the β-frequency band (15-29 Hz) of electroencephalogram (EEG). Previous studies with human participants performing stop signal (countermanding) tasks have described reduced frequency of transient β-bursts over sensorimotor cortical areas before movement initiation and increased β-bursting over medial frontal areas with movement cancellation. This modulation has been interpreted as contributing to the trial-by-trial control of behavior. We performed identical analyses of EEG recorded over the frontal lobe of macaque monkeys (one male, one female) performing a saccade countermanding task. While we replicate the occurrence and modulation of β-bursts associated with initiation and cancellation of saccades, we found that β-bursts occur too infrequently to account for the observed stopping behavior. We also found β-bursts were more common after errors, but their incidence was unrelated to response time (RT) adaptation. These results demonstrate the homology of this EEG signature between humans and macaques but raise questions about the current interpretation of β band functional significance.SIGNIFICANCE STATEMENT The finding of increased β-bursting over medial frontal cortex with movement cancellation in humans is difficult to reconcile with the finding of modulation too late to contribute to movement cancellation in medial frontal cortex of macaque monkeys. To obtain comparable measurement scales, we recorded electroencephalogram (EEG) over medial frontal cortex of macaques performing a stop signal (countermanding) task. We replicated the occurrence and modulation of β-bursts associated with the cancellation of movements, but we found that β-bursts occur too infrequently to account for observed stopping behavior. Unfortunately, this finding raises doubts whether β-bursts can be a causal mechanism of response inhibition, which impacts future applications in devices such as brain-machine interfaces.

Moderation of the relationship between the error-related negativity and anxiety by age and gender in young children: A preliminary investigation

The error-related negativity (ERN) is a neurophysiologic response to errors that associates with anxiety. Despite the potential relevance of the ERN for understanding mechanisms of early anxiety problems in the developing brain, the relation between ERN and anxious symptoms in young children remains poorly understood. Emerging evidence suggests that ERN-anxiety associations could vary by developmental stage, but this work requires replication and consideration of gender effects, given earlier maturation of the ERN and higher rates of anxiety problems in girls relative to boys. To address this gap, the ERN was collected in 49 preschool- to school-aged children (ages 4-9; 26 girls) sampled across a wide range of anxiety severity. Regression analyses revealed that ERN - anxiety associations depended on age and gender. Specifically, larger (more negative) ERN associated with more anxiety in older girls, whereas smaller ERN associated with more anxiety symptoms in younger girls. No ERN-anxiety association was found in boys. These findings suggest that age and gender moderate the direction of the relation between ERN and anxiety in early childhood and could have important implications for the development of ERN-based risk identification and targeted treatment strategies tailored to individual children.

Spatiotemporal dynamics of reward and punishment effects induced by associative learning

While reward associative learning has been studied extensively across different species, punishment avoidance learning has received far less attention. Of particular interest is how the two types of learning change perceptual processing of the learned stimuli. We designed a task that required participants to learn the association of emotionally neutral images with reward, punishment, and no incentive value outcomes through trial-and-error. During learning, participants received monetary reward, neutral outcomes or avoided punishment by correctly identifying corresponding images. Results showed an early bias in favor of learning reward associations, in the form of higher accuracy and fewer trials needed to reach learning criterion. We subsequently assessed electrophysiological learning effects with a task in which participants viewed the stimuli with no feedback or reinforcement. Critically, we found modulation of two early event-related potential components for reward images: the frontocentral P2 (170-230 ms) and the anterior N2/Early Anterior Positivity (N2/EAP; 210-310 ms). We suggest that reward associations may change stimuli detection and incentive salience as indexed by P2 and N2/EAP. We also reported, on an exploratory basis, a late negativity with frontopolar distribution enhanced by punishment images.

Distinct Roles for the Anterior Cingulate and Dorsolateral Prefrontal Cortices During Conflict Between Abstract Rules

Distinct patterns of activity within the anterior cingulate cortex (ACC) and dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (dlPFC) reported in neuroimaging studies during tasks involving conflict between competing responses have often been cited as evidence for their key contributions to conflict-monitoring and behavioral adaptation, respectively. However, supporting evidence from neuropsychological patients has been scarce and contradictory. We administered a well-studied analog of the Wisconsin Card Sorting Test, designed to elicit conflict between 2 abstract rules, to a cohort of 6 patients with damage to ACC or dlPFC. Patients who had sustained more significant damage to the ACC were not impaired either on a measure of "conflict cost" nor on measures of "conflict-induced behavioral adaptation." In contrast, damage to dlPFC did not affect the conflict cost measure but abolished the patients' ability to adapt their behavior following exposure to conflict, compared with controls. This pattern of results complements the findings from nonhuman primates with more circumscribed lesions to ACC or dlPFC on the same task and provides converging evidence that ACC is not necessary for performance when conflict is elicited between 2 abstract rules, whereas dlPFC plays a fundamental role in behavioral adaptation.

Event-related potentials reflect impaired temporal interval learning following haloperidol administration

BACKGROUND

Signals carried by the mesencephalic dopamine system and conveyed to anterior cingulate cortex are critically implicated in probabilistic reward learning and performance monitoring. A common evaluative mechanism purportedly subserves both functions, giving rise to homologous medial frontal negativities in feedback- and response-locked event-related brain potentials (the feedback-related negativity (FRN) and the error-related negativity (ERN), respectively), reflecting dopamine-dependent prediction error signals to unexpectedly negative events. Consistent with this model, the dopamine receptor antagonist, haloperidol, attenuates the ERN, but effects on FRN have not yet been evaluated.

METHODS

ERN and FRN were recorded during a temporal interval learning task (TILT) following randomized, double-blind administration of haloperidol (3 mg; n = 18), diphenhydramine (an active control for haloperidol; 25 mg; n = 20), or placebo (n = 21) to healthy controls. Centroparietal positivities, the Pe and feedback-locked P300, were also measured and correlations between ERP measures and behavioral indices of learning, overall accuracy, and post-error compensatory behavior were evaluated. We hypothesized that haloperidol would reduce ERN and FRN, but that ERN would uniquely track automatic, error-related performance adjustments, while FRN would be associated with learning and overall accuracy.

RESULTS

As predicted, ERN was reduced by haloperidol and in those exhibiting less adaptive post-error performance; however, these effects were limited to ERNs following fast timing errors. In contrast, the FRN was not affected by drug condition, although increased FRN amplitude was associated with improved accuracy. Significant drug effects on centroparietal positivities were also absent.

CONCLUSIONS

Our results support a functional and neurobiological dissociation between the ERN and FRN.

Alcohol words elicit reactive cognitive control in low-sensitivity drinkers

Previous ERP studies shown support for the idea that alcohol-related stimuli are particularly salient to individuals who report low sensitivity (LS) to alcohol's effects (a known risk factor for alcohol-related problems), leading such stimuli to spontaneously capture their attention and interfere with self-regulatory goal pursuit. The current study investigated LS individuals' use of reactive and proactive cognitive control in response to alcohol-related stimuli. Participants performed an alcohol Stroop task in which they indicated the font color of alcohol- and nonalcohol-related words while ERPs were recorded. The probability of alcohol and nonalcohol words was manipulated to test predictions derived from Dual Mechanisms of Control theory. Among LS individuals, infrequent alcohol-related words elicited slower responses and larger N2 amplitude, consistent with these stimuli eliciting enhanced reactive control responses. Amplitude of the frontal slow wave (FSW) component, associated with proactive control, was marginally larger among LS individuals when alcohol words were more frequent, but response accuracy was lower. These findings demonstrate that LS individuals experience conflict when presented with task-irrelevant alcohol-related stimuli, even in a context where conflict arguably should not be present. Findings further suggest that LS individuals can effectively implement reactive control to deal with this conflict when it is infrequent but have difficulty implementing proactive control in the context of more frequent conflict.

Performance monitoring mechanisms activated before and after a response: A comparison of aware and unaware errors

The main goal of the current study was to investigate whether correct withholds, aware errors and unaware errors could be distinguished in terms of performance monitoring mechanisms activated before and after the response. To this end, an error awareness task (explicit acknowledgment of a performance error, expressed by pressing a specific button) was combined with the event-related potential (ERP) technique. Results regarding the performance monitoring mechanisms triggered before a response revealed faster responses before an aware error than before an unaware error. Likewise, analysis of the error-preceding positivity (EPP) revealed specific modulation in frontal scalp regions according to error type. This result shows that transient disengagement and/or inefficiency of the performance monitoring system relates specifically to one type of error.

How the brain prevents a second error in a perceptual decision-making task

In cognitive tasks, error commission is usually followed by a performance characterized by post-error slowing (PES) and post-error improvement of accuracy (PIA). Three theoretical accounts were hypothesized to support these post-error adjustments: the cognitive, the inhibitory, and the orienting account. The aim of the present ERP study was to investigate the neural processes associated with the second error prevention. To this aim, we focused on the preparatory brain activities in a large sample of subjects performing a Go/No-go task. The main results were the enhancement of the prefrontal negativity (pN) component -especially on the right hemisphere- and the reduction of the Bereitschaftspotential (BP) -especially on the left hemisphere- in the post-error trials. The ERP data suggested an increased top-down and inhibitory control, such as the reduced excitability of the premotor areas in the preparation of the trials following error commission. The results were discussed in light of the three theoretical accounts of the post-error adjustments. Additional control analyses supported the view that the adjustments-oriented components (the post-error pN and BP) are separated by the error-related potentials (Ne and Pe), even if all these activities represent a cascade of processes triggered by error-commission.

Error-related brain activity and error awareness in an error classification paradigm

Error-related brain activity has been linked to error detection enabling adaptive behavioral adjustments. However, it is still unclear which role error awareness plays in this process. Here, we show that the error-related negativity (Ne/ERN), an event-related potential reflecting early error monitoring, is dissociable from the degree of error awareness. Participants responded to a target while ignoring two different incongruent distractors. After responding, they indicated whether they had committed an error, and if so, whether they had responded to one or to the other distractor. This error classification paradigm allowed distinguishing partially aware errors, (i.e., errors that were noticed but misclassified) and fully aware errors (i.e., errors that were correctly classified). The Ne/ERN was larger for partially aware errors than for fully aware errors. Whereas this speaks against the idea that the Ne/ERN foreshadows the degree of error awareness, it confirms the prediction of a computational model, which relates the Ne/ERN to post-response conflict. This model predicts that stronger distractor processing - a prerequisite of error classification in our paradigm - leads to lower post-response conflict and thus a smaller Ne/ERN. This implies that the relationship between Ne/ERN and error awareness depends on how error awareness is related to response conflict in a specific task. Our results further indicate that the Ne/ERN but not the degree of error awareness determines adaptive performance adjustments. Taken together, we conclude that the Ne/ERN is dissociable from error awareness and foreshadows adaptive performance adjustments. Our results suggest that the relationship between the Ne/ERN and error awareness is correlative and mediated by response conflict.

Give me just a little more time: effects of alcohol on the failure and recovery of cognitive control

Numerous externalizing behaviors, from aggression to risk taking to drug abuse, stem from impaired cognitive control, including that brought about by the acute effects of alcohol. Although research generally indicates that alcohol impairs cognitive abilities, a close examination of the literature suggests that alcohol's effects are quite variable and likely depend on a number of contextual factors. The purpose of the current study was to characterize the effects of alcohol on cognitive control in terms of neural and behavioral responses to successful and unsuccessful control attempts. Participants were randomly assigned to consume an alcohol (0.80 g/kg ETOH), placebo, or nonalcoholic control beverage prior to completing a cognitive control (flanker) task while event-related brain potentials were recorded. Alcohol reduced the amplitude of the error-related negativity on error trials and increased the posterror compatibility effect in response time. Of particular interest, neural indices of conflict monitoring and performance adjustment (frontal slow wave) were attenuated by alcohol, but only on trials following errors. These functions had recovered, however, by 2 trials after an error. These findings suggest that alcohol's effects on cognitive control are best characterized as impaired (or delayed) recovery following control failures. Implications of these findings for understanding alcohol's effects on behavioral undercontrol are discussed.

Sustained attention is associated with error processing impairment: evidence from mental fatigue study in four-choice reaction time task

Attention is important in error processing. Few studies have examined the link between sustained attention and error processing. In this study, we examined how error-related negativity (ERN) of a four-choice reaction time task was reduced in the mental fatigue condition and investigated the role of sustained attention in error processing. Forty-one recruited participants were divided into two groups. In the fatigue experiment group, 20 subjects performed a fatigue experiment and an additional continuous psychomotor vigilance test (PVT) for 1 h. In the normal experiment group, 21 subjects only performed the normal experimental procedures without the PVT test. Fatigue and sustained attention states were assessed with a questionnaire. Event-related potential results showed that ERN (p < 0.005) and peak (p < 0.05) mean amplitudes decreased in the fatigue experiment. ERN amplitudes were significantly associated with the attention and fatigue states in electrodes Fz, FC1, Cz, and FC2. These findings indicated that sustained attention was related to error processing and that decreased attention is likely the cause of error processing impairment.

Age Differences in the Processing of Context Information

The dual mechanisms of control theory (DMC; Braver & Barch, 2002 ) assumes that age-related changes in the temporal structure of context processing underlie age differences in numerous cognitive control tasks. Younger adults usually exhibit a proactive control mode, characterized by cue-related context updating, while older adults show a reactive control mode, updating information when interference is detected. This study aimed at determining whether age differences in electrophysiological correlates of context updating in a pro-and reactive manner are independent of individual differences in task performance. To this end, younger and older adults were split into four groups according to their updating efficiency in behavioral data. Nineteen younger and 18 older adults completed a modified AX-Continuous-Performance Task ( Lenartowicz, Escobedo-Quiroz, & Cohen, 2010 ) in which correct responses to probes were either dependent (c-dep) or independent (c-indep) on a preceding contextual cue. Analysis of the behavioral data showed no differences in context updating when performance was matched, that is, between low performing younger and high performing older adults. However, low performing younger adults showed larger cue-locked parietal P3b amplitudes on c-dep than c-indep trials, indicating c-dep trials to require context updating to a larger extent, while high performing older adults exhibited a specific control strategy and continuously updated context information, as reflected in comparable P3b amplitudes on c-dep and c-indep trials. The persistent age effect in the P3b when controlling for performance differences suggests context updating to be fundamental to cognitive aging. High performing in contrast to low performing older adults also showed a larger negative N450 to ambiguous probes on c-dep trials associated with conflict detection. According to the DMC, this finding suggests late conflict detection at the time interference is detected, indicative of a reactive control style particular in high performing elderly.

Event-related potentials for post-error and post-conflict slowing

In a reaction time task, people typically slow down following an error or conflict, each called post-error slowing (PES) and post-conflict slowing (PCS). Despite many studies of the cognitive mechanisms, the neural responses of PES and PCS continue to be debated. In this study, we combined high-density array EEG and a stop-signal task to examine event-related potentials of PES and PCS in sixteen young adult participants. The results showed that the amplitude of N2 is greater during PES but not PCS. In contrast, the peak latency of N2 is longer for PCS but not PES. Furthermore, error-positivity (Pe) but not error-related negativity (ERN) was greater in the stop error trials preceding PES than non-PES trials, suggesting that PES is related to participants' awareness of the error. Together, these findings extend earlier work of cognitive control by specifying the neural correlates of PES and PCS in the stop signal task.

Frontal midline theta reflects anxiety and cognitive control: meta-analytic evidence

Evidence from imaging and anatomical studies suggests that the midcingulate cortex (MCC) is a dynamic hub lying at the interface of affect and cognition. In particular, this neural system appears to integrate information about conflict and punishment in order to optimize behavior in the face of action-outcome uncertainty. In a series of meta-analyses, we show how recent human electrophysiological research provides compelling evidence that frontal-midline theta signals reflecting MCC activity are moderated by anxiety and predict adaptive behavioral adjustments. These findings underscore the importance of frontal theta activity to a broad spectrum of control operations. We argue that frontal-midline theta provides a neurophysiologically plausible mechanism for optimally adjusting behavior to uncertainty, a hallmark of situations that elicit anxiety and demand cognitive control. These observations compel a new perspective on the mechanisms guiding motivated learning and behavior and provide a framework for understanding the role of the MCC in temperament and psychopathology.

Neurophysiology of performance monitoring and adaptive behavior

Successful goal-directed behavior requires not only correct action selection, planning, and execution but also the ability to flexibly adapt behavior when performance problems occur or the environment changes. A prerequisite for determining the necessity, type, and magnitude of adjustments is to continuously monitor the course and outcome of one's actions. Feedback-control loops correcting deviations from intended states constitute a basic functional principle of adaptation at all levels of the nervous system. Here, we review the neurophysiology of evaluating action course and outcome with respect to their valence, i.e., reward and punishment, and initiating short- and long-term adaptations, learning, and decisions. Based on studies in humans and other mammals, we outline the physiological principles of performance monitoring and subsequent cognitive, motivational, autonomic, and behavioral adaptation and link them to the underlying neuroanatomy, neurochemistry, psychological theories, and computational models. We provide an overview of invasive and noninvasive systemic measures, such as electrophysiological, neuroimaging, and lesion data. We describe how a wide network of brain areas encompassing frontal cortices, basal ganglia, thalamus, and monoaminergic brain stem nuclei detects and evaluates deviations of actual from predicted states indicating changed action costs or outcomes. This information is used to learn and update stimulus and action values, guide action selection, and recruit adaptive mechanisms that compensate errors and optimize goal achievement.

Improved effectiveness of performance monitoring in amateur instrumental musicians

Here we report a cross-sectional study investigating the influence of instrumental music practice on the ability to monitor for and respond to processing conflicts and performance errors. Behavioural and electrophysiological indicators of response monitoring in amateur musicians with various skill levels were collected using simple conflict tasks. The results show that instrumental musicians are better able than non-musicians to detect conflicts and errors as indicated by systematic increases in the amplitude of the error-related negativity and the N200 with increasing levels of instrumental practice. Also, high levels of musical training were associated with more efficient and less reactive responses after experience of conflicts and errors as indicated by reduced post-error interference and post-conflict processing adjustments. Together, the present findings suggest that playing a musical instrument might improve the ability to monitor our behavior and adjust our responses effectively when needed. As these processes are amongst the first to be affected by cognitive aging, our evidence could promote musical activity as a realistic intervention to slow or even prevent age-related decline in frontal cortex mediated executive functioning.

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We evaluated the effects of instrumental practice on cognitive control functions.

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We show that Instrumental practice affects the ability to detect errors and conflicts.

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We found an enlarged ERN and N200 in musicians compared to non-musicians.

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Musical training predicted less reactive control adjustments after conflicts/errors.

How about lunch? Consequences of the meal context on cognition and emotion

Although research addresses the effects of a meal’s context on food preference, the psychological consequences of meal situations are largely unexplored. We compared the cognitive and emotional effects of a restaurant meal eaten in the company of others to a solitary meal consumed in a plain office using pre- and post-tests analysis and controlling for the kind and amount of food consumed. Three tasks were conducted, measuring: (1) semantic memory (2) cognitive control and error monitoring, and (3) processing of emotional facial expressions. Covert processes in these tasks were assessed with event-related brain potentials. A mood rating questionnaire indicated a relaxation effect of the restaurant as compared to the plain meal situation. The restaurant meal increased sensitivity to threatening facial expressions and diminished cognitive control and error monitoring. No effects were observed for semantic memory. These findings provide the first experimental evidence that a restaurant meal with a social component may be more relaxing than a meal eaten alone in a plain setting and may reduce cognitive control.

Preliminary evidence for reduced posterror reaction time slowing in hyperactive/inattentive preschool children

BACKGROUND

Attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) has been associated with deficits in self-regulatory cognitive processes, some of which are thought to lie at the heart of the disorder. Slowing of reaction times (RTs) for correct responses following errors made during decision tasks has been interpreted as an indication of intact self-regulatory functioning and has been shown to be attenuated in school-aged children with ADHD. This study attempted to examine whether ADHD symptoms are associated with an early-emerging deficit in posterror slowing.

METHOD

A computerized two-choice RT task was administered to an ethnically diverse sample of preschool-aged children classified as either "control" (n = 120) or "hyperactive/inattentive" (HI; n = 148) using parent- and teacher-rated ADHD symptoms. Analyses were conducted to determine whether HI preschoolers exhibit a deficit in this self-regulatory ability.

RESULTS

HI children exhibited reduced posterror slowing relative to controls on the trials selected for analysis. Supplementary analyses indicated that this may have been due to a reduced proportion of trials following errors on which HI children slowed rather than due to a reduction in the absolute magnitude of slowing on all trials following errors.

CONCLUSIONS

High levels of ADHD symptoms in preschoolers may be associated with a deficit in error processing as indicated by posterror slowing. The results of supplementary analyses suggest that this deficit is perhaps more a result of failures to perceive errors than of difficulties with executive control.

What are the influences of orthogonally-manipulated valence and arousal on performance monitoring processes? The effects of affective state

Studies of the influence of affective state on the cognitive control process of performance monitoring are mixed and few studies have orthogonally manipulated affective valence and arousal. Performance monitoring can be measured using behaviors (e.g., response times and error rates) and components of the event-related potentials (ERPs), such as the error-related negativity (ERN), correct-related negativity (CRN), and post-error positivity (Pe). We used a pre/post design and standard mood induction paradigm in 121 healthy participants randomly assigned to orthogonal valence (positive or negative) and arousal (high or low) conditions (i.e., happy, calm, anxious, or sad mood states). Following mood induction, valence and arousal ratings differed between groups. Behavioral findings showed decreased accuracy in participants with high arousal and negative valence (i.e., anxious condition), but no additional response time (RT), post-error slowing, or accuracy effects. Amplitude of the CRN differentiated high and low valence, but was not related to arousal. Positive valence was associated with decreased CRN amplitude even when baseline affect and demographic variables were controlled. Valence and arousal did not significantly differentiate the amplitude of the ERN, although the ERN minus CRN difference was related to arousal but not valence ratings in multiple regression analyses. Affect-related differences were not shown for the Pe. Findings provide a context to understand how dimensional aspects of emotional valence and arousal influence performance-monitoring processes and suggest a need for further research on the functional role of the CRN and its relation to affective valence.

Weaker error signals do not reduce the effectiveness of post-error adjustments: comparing error processing in young and middle-aged adults

In this study we investigated age-related differences in error processing, comparing performance measures and physiological indicators of error processing of middle-aged (41-59years) and young (18-31years) adults using a version of the Eriksen flanker task. Although middle-aged participants were overall slower, both groups showed a comparable decrease in reaction time on error trials as well as slower and more accurate post-error performance. Despite the preserved error speeding and post-error slowing effects, we found an amplitude reduction in the Ne/ERN, contradicting the existence of a direct relationship between the amplitude of this component and post-error adjustments. This was further supported by the lack of significant correlations between the single-trial Ne/ERN amplitude and error-related reaction times. The single-trial Ne/ERN distribution showed a reduced variance for middle-aged compared to young participants, suggesting that weaker overall error signals rather than lapses in error detection are responsible for the observed Ne/ERN amplitude reductions. However, we argue that the signal still reached the necessary threshold to trigger normal post-error adjustments. Finally, the early Pe showed a reduction in amplitude and an increase in latency for middle-aged compared to young adults. Together, the findings suggest clear signs of a physiological decline in error processing at an earlier age than previously known, but these changes do not yet affect implementation of adaptive behavioral changes in middle-aged participants.

"I will fix only my own mistakes": an ERP study investigating error processing in a joint choice-RT task

The current study investigated error monitoring and subsequent control adjustments in a joint choice RT task. External feedback relating to the combined performance of both actors was provided. Participants slowed down only after their own but not after the co-actor's mistakes. In order to investigate the neural correlates of interpersonal error monitoring, ERPs associated with error processing (Ne/ERN, Pe) and feedback-related processing (FRN, f-P300) were analysed. The Ne/ERN and Pe were only affected by own but not the co-actor's actions. Conversely, at the feedback stage both the FRN and the f-P300 were larger when external feedback indicated a co-actor's error, yet despite this finding, co-actor errors did not affect the actor's subsequent performance. These findings are in line with previous research suggesting that we monitor not only our own but also others' errors. Importantly, however, monitoring others' performance seems insufficient to trigger subsequent behavioural adjustment in the form of post-error slowing, but might only occur when a surprising outcome is evaluated as negative.

Event-related potentials elicited by errors during the stop-signal task. I. Macaque monkeys

The error-related negativity (ERN) and positivity (Pe) are components of event-related potential (ERP) waveforms recorded from humans and are thought to reflect performance monitoring. Error-related signals have also been found in single-neuron responses and local-field potentials recorded in supplementary eye field and anterior cingulate cortex of macaque monkeys. However, the homology of these neural signals across species remains controversial. Here, we show that monkeys exhibit ERN and Pe components when they commit errors during a saccadic stop-signal task. The voltage distributions and current densities of these components were similar to those found in humans performing the same task. Subsequent analyses show that neither stimulus- nor response-related artifacts accounted for the error-ERPs. This demonstration of macaque homologues of the ERN and Pe forms a keystone in the bridge linking human and nonhuman primate studies on the neural basis of performance monitoring.

Error monitoring dysfunction across the illness course of schizophrenia

Response monitoring abnormalities have been reported in chronic schizophrenia patients, but it is unknown whether they predate the onset of psychosis, are present in early stages of illness, or are late-developing abnormalities associated with illness progression. Response-synchronized event-related potentials (ERP) recorded during a picture-word matching task yielded error-related negativity (ERN), correct-response negativity (CRN), and error positivity (Pe) from 84 schizophrenia patients (SZ), 48 clinical high risk patients (CHR), and their age-matched healthy controls (HC; n = 110 and 88, respectively). A sub-sample of 35 early illness schizophrenia patients (ESZ) was compared to 93 age-matched HC and the CHR patients (after statistically removing the effects of normal aging). Relative to HC, 1) SZ, ESZ, and CHR had smaller ERNs, and 2) SZ and ESZ had larger CRNs and smaller Pes. Within the SZ, longer illness duration was associated with larger CRNs but was unrelated to ERN or Pe. CHR and ESZ did not differ on ERN or CRN, although Pe was smaller in ESZ than CHR. These results indicate that while ERN, CRN, and Pe abnormalities are present early in the illness, only the ERN abnormality is evident prior to psychosis onset, and only the CRN abnormality appears to worsen progressively over the illness course. Brain regions subserving response monitoring may be compromised early in the illness and possibly during its clinical prodrome.

Post-error adjustments

When our brain detects an error, this process changes how we react on ensuing trials. People show post-error adaptations, potentially to improve their performance in the near future. At least three types of behavioral post-error adjustments have been observed. These are post-error slowing (PES), post-error reduction of interference, and post-error improvement in accuracy (PIA). Apart from these behavioral changes, post-error adaptations have also been observed on a neuronal level with functional magnetic resonance imaging and electroencephalography. Neuronal post-error adaptations comprise activity increase in task-relevant brain areas, activity decrease in distracter-encoding brain areas, activity modulations in the motor system, and mid-frontal theta power increases. Here, we review the current literature with respect to these post-error adjustments, discuss under which circumstances these adjustments can be observed, and whether the different types of adjustments are linked to each other. We also evaluate different approaches for explaining the functional role of PES. In addition, we report reanalyzed and follow-up data from a flanker task and a moving dots interference task showing (1) that PES and PIA are not necessarily correlated, (2) that PES depends on the response-stimulus interval, and (3) that PES is reliable on a within-subject level over periods as long as several months.

The effects of induced state negative affect on performance monitoring processes

Previous research suggests that performance-monitoring processes are related to personality traits; relationships with affective states, however, remain unclear. The purpose of this study was to replicate and extend previous findings that induced state negative affect alters electrophysiological reflections of performance monitoring. High-density event-related potentials (ERPs) were obtained from 69 healthy individuals (41 female, 28 male) who completed an Eriksen flanker task and received either encouraging or derogatory feedback based on mean reaction times (RTs) for 30-trial sub-blocks. Affective state, behavioral measures (i.e. error rates, RTs) and ERP measures [i.e. error-related negativity (ERN), post-error positivity (Pe) and N2] were assessed. Reaction times did not differ between feedback groups. Participants who received derogatory feedback committed more errors over time. Despite changes in affect, no significant group differences were demonstrated for behavioral or ERP measures of performance monitoring. Increases in vigilance were associated with more negative N2 amplitudes; no other changes in affective state were associated with changes in ERP measures. Results are consistent with findings suggesting performance-monitoring processes are only slightly affected by changes in affective state and fail to replicate previous studies suggesting the ERN is related to state changes in affect-supporting the possibility of the ERN as an endophenotype.

Absorbed in the task: Personality measures predict engagement during task performance as tracked by error negativity and asymmetrical frontal activity

We hypothesized that interactions between traits and context predict task engagement, as measured by the amplitude of the error-related negativity (ERN), performance, and relative frontal activity asymmetry (RFA). In Study 1, we found that drive for reward, absorption, and constraint independently predicted self-reported persistence. We hypothesized that, during a prolonged monotonous task, absorption would predict initial ERN amplitudes, constraint would delay declines in ERN amplitudes and deterioration of performance, and drive for reward would predict left RFA when a reward could be obtained. Study 2, employing EEG recordings, confirmed our predictions. The results showed that most traits that have in previous research been related to ERN amplitudes have a relationship with the motivational trait persistence in common. In addition, trait-context combinations that are likely associated with increased engagement predict larger ERN amplitudes and RFA. Together, these results support the hypothesis that engagement may be a common underlying factor predicting ERN amplitude.

Aging and error processing: age related increase in the variability of the error-negativity is not accompanied by increase in response variability

Background

Several studies report an amplitude reduction of the error negativity (Ne or ERN), an event-related potential occurring after erroneous responses, in older participants. In earlier studies it was shown that the Ne can be explained by a single independent component. In the present study we aimed to investigate whether the Ne reduction usually found in older subjects is due to an altered component structure, i.e., a true alteration in response monitoring in older subjects.

Methodology/Principal Findings

Two age groups conducted two tasks with different stimulus response mappings and task difficulty. Both groups received fully balanced speed or accuracy instructions and an individually adapted deadline in both tasks. Event-related potentials, Independent Component analysis of EEG-data and between trial variability of the Ne were combined with analysis of error rates, coefficients of variation of RT-data and ex-Gaussian fittings to reaction times. The Ne was examined by means of ICA and PCA, yielding a prominent independent component on error trials, the Ne-IC. The Ne-IC was smaller in the older than the younger subjects for both speed and accuracy instructions. Also, the Ne-IC contributed to a much lesser extent to the Ne in older than in younger subjects. RT distribution parameters were not related to Ne/ERP-variability.

Conclusions/Significance

The results show a genuine reduction as well as a different component structure of the Ne in older compared to young subjects. This reduction is not reflected in behaviour, apart from a general slowing of older participants. Also, the Ne decline in the elderly is not due to speed accuracy trade-off. Hence, the results indicate that older subjects can compensate the reduction in control reflected in the reduced Ne, at least in simple tasks that induce reaction slips.

Dissociable processes of cognitive control during error and non-error conflicts: a study of the stop signal task

BACKGROUND

Conflict detection and subsequent behavioral adjustment are critical to daily life, and how this process is controlled has been increasingly of interest. A medial cortical region which includes the anterior cingulate cortex (ACC) has been theorized to act as a conflict detector that can direct prefrontal activity for behavioral adjustments. This conflict monitoring hypothesis was supported by many imaging studies of the Stroop task, with a focus on non-error processes. Here we sought to examine whether this circuit could be generalized to the stop signal task (SST), another behavioral paradigm widely used to study cognitive control. In particular, with a procedure to elicit errors in the SST, we examined whether error and non-error control were mediated by the same pathways.

METHODOLOGY/PRINCIPAL FINDINGS

In functional magnetic resonance imaging of 60 healthy adults, we demonstrated that the medial cortical activity during stop success (SS) as compared to go success (G) trials is correlated with increased prefrontal activity in post-stop SS as compared to post-go SS trials, though this correlation was not specific to the medial cortical region. Furthermore, thalamic and insular rather than medial cortical activation during stop error (SE) as compared to G trials correlated with increased prefrontal activity in post-stop SS as compared to post-go SS trials.

CONCLUSIONS/SIGNIFICANCE

Taken together, these new findings challenge a specific role of the ACC and support distinct pathways for error and non-error conflict processing in cognitive control.

Cortisol involvement in mechanisms of behavioral inhibition

We studied whether baseline cortisol is associated with post-error slowing, a measure that depends upon brain areas involved in behavioral inhibition. Moreover, we studied whether this association holds after controlling for positive associations with behavioral inhibition scores and error-related negativity (ERN) amplitudes that cortisol and post-error slowing may share. Healthy female volunteers performed a flanker task. Cortisol was independently positively associated with post-error slowing and the ERN, supporting hypotheses that cortisol is involved in behavioral inhibition. Additionally, cortisol mediated an association between ERN and more post-error slowing, which suppressed a direct association between ERN and less post-error slowing. The results are relevant, not only for researchers of behavioral inhibition, but also for researchers of the basic mechanisms of the ERN and post-error slowing, and may bring those literatures together.

Post-error behavioral adjustments are facilitated by activation and suppression of task-relevant and task-irrelevant information processing

Error monitoring by the posterior medial frontal cortex (pMFC) has been linked to post-error behavioral adaptation effects and cognitive control dynamics in lateral prefrontal cortex (LPFC). It remains unknown, however, whether control adjustments following errors produce post-error behavioral adjustments (PEBAs) by inhibiting inappropriate responses or facilitating goal-directed ones. Here we used functional magnetic resonance imaging to investigate the hemodynamic correlates of PEBAs in a stimulus-response compatibility task. Our task was designed to test whether PEBAs are implemented by suppressing motor responses primed by irrelevant stimulus features (face location), redirecting attention to relevant features (face gender), or both or neither of these possibilities. Independent of PEBAs, error-related pMFC activation was followed by post-error recruitment of prefrontal and parietal control regions and, crucially, both (1) suppressed response-related activity in sensorimotor cortex and (2) enhanced target processing in face-sensitive sensory cortex ("fusiform face area"). More importantly, by investigating the covariation between post-error hemodynamic activity and individual differences in PEBAs, we showed that modulation of task-related motor and sensory processing was dependent on whether participants produced generally slower responses ("post-error slowing"; PES) or selectively reduced interference effects ("post-error reduction of interference"; PERI), respectively. Each of these behaviorally dependent effects was mediated by distinct LPFC control mechanisms (PES: inferior frontal junction; PERI: superior frontal sulcus). While establishing relationships between PEBAs and cognitive control, our findings suggest that the neural architecture underlying sequential behavioral adaptation may be determined primarily by how control is executed by the individual when adjustments are needed.

Outcome expectancy and not accuracy determines posterror slowing: ERP support

A considerable number of studies have recently used event-related potentials (ERPs) to investigate the mechanisms underlying error processing. Nevertheless, how these mechanisms are associated with behavioral adjustments following errors remains unclear. In the present study, we investigated how posterror slowing is linked to outcome expectations and error feedback. We used an adaptive four-choice reaction time task to manipulate outcome expectancy. Behaviorally, the results show posterror slowing when errors are unexpected and post-correct slowing when correct responses are unexpected, indicating that outcome expectancy is crucial for post-error slowing. ERP analyses revealed that the error-related negativity and the feedback-related negativity were not correlated with the behavioral reaction time pattern, whereas the P3 was. The results support the hypothesis that posterror slowing is caused by attentional orienting to unexpected events.

The relationship between performance monitoring, satisfaction with life, and positive personality traits

Neural reflections of performance monitoring, including the error-related negativity (ERN) component of the event-related potential (ERP), are modulated by personality and affective constructs. Little is known, however, about the relationship between positive personality traits and neural indices of performance monitoring. We investigated the relationship between measures of positive personality traits, including satisfaction with life, dispositional optimism, and positive affect, and indices of performance monitoring in a sample of 45 neurologically-healthy individuals. Increased satisfaction with life was associated with decreased (i.e., less negative) ERN amplitude. Dispositional optimism and positive affect were not related to ERN amplitude. Results remained consistent when negative affect and measures of positive personality were accounted for using multiple regression. There were no relationships between measures of positive personality and the post-error positivity (Pe) or behavioral indices. Findings are consistent with an affective salience interpretation of the ERN, with errors potentially being less meaningful for individuals with higher satisfaction with life.

Speeding before and slowing after errors: is it all just strategy?

People are usually faster before and slower after committing an error. This finding has traditionally been explained by strategic changes of response criteria to less or more conservative thresholds. This idea has been implemented in current cognitive control frameworks, where it is proposed that high or low levels of processing conflict can dynamically change these response thresholds to achieve optimal performance. However, recent evidence suggests that evaluation of conflict is time consuming and can potentially interfere with subsequent processing [Jentzsch, I., Dudschig, C., 2009. Why do we slow down after an error? Mechanisms underlying the effects of posterror slowing. Quarterly Journal of Experimental Psychology, 62, 209-218]. The present study aims to extend this finding by investigating whether similar mechanisms underlie effects of pre-error speeding and posterror slowing and whether the amplitude of the Ne/ERN predicts posterror slowing in the current task setting. The response stimulus interval (RSI) was systematically manipulated. Speed-up in pre-error trials was unaffected by RSI, suggesting that this effect is not the result of strategic, time-consuming control processes. Posterror slowing dramatically increased and performance became more error prone with decreasing RSI, providing further evidence for the idea that error evaluation can produce substantial interference with subsequent trial processing, particularly when there is insufficient time between the error and the subsequent event. Importantly, we did not find a positive relationship between the RSI-dependent change in posterror slowing and the Ne/ERN amplitude, questioning a direct link between the amplitude of this component and the amount of subsequent performance adjustments.