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

Negative feedback, either internal or external, is a fundamental guide to human learning and performance. The neural system that underlies the monitoring of performance and the adjustment of behavior has been subject to multiple neuroimaging investigations that uniformly implicate the anterior cingulate cortex and other prefrontal structures as crucial to these executive functions. The present article describes a series of experiments that employed event-related potentials to study a variety of processes associated with internal or external feedback. Three medial-frontal negativities (error-related negativity, correct-response negativity, feedback-related negativity) are highlighted, each of which plays an important role in the monitoring and dynamic adjustment of behavior. Extensions of basic research on these ERPs to questions relevant to clinical-science are also provided.

Thirty low and 30 high anxious participants performed a speeded Go/noGo task during which they had to rely on evaluative feedback to infer whether their actions were timely (correct) or not. We focused on FRN, an ERP component that is sensitive to the valence of feedback.Depending on the context, neutral faces served either as positive or negative feedback.Whereas the FRN of low anxious individuals did discriminate between neutral faces when used either as positive or negative feedback, the FRN of high anxious individuals did not.However, before the FRN, we also found evidence for a differential perceptual effect at the level of the N170 face-specific component between the two feedback conditions, equally so in low and high anxious individuals. These results suggest that anxiety disrupts selectively the evaluative component of performance monitoring, which presumably allows to ascribe a given value (either positive or negative) to actions.Keywords: Anxiety, ERP, FRN, N170, attribution 3 Performance monitoring and anxiety Anxiety disrupts selectively the evaluative component of performance monitoring: An ERP study Depending on the situation and circumstances, the control of behavior is based on the monitoring of either internal or external signals, or sometimes a combination of both. For example, the adequacy of a given action in response to a familiar stimulus may be determined based on an internal representation allowing to compare the discrepancy between the actual and expected or desired action, with a swift detection of any divergence between the two (Gehring et al., 1993). However, in many situations, performance monitoring cannot be achieved solely based on the processing of internal signals, but the processing of new external feedback information in the environment is required to establish whether the current action is appropriate (e.g., timely, correct) or not. Hence, the processing of feedback information available in the environment often indicates the appropriateness of certain actions and in turn allows to correct or adjust behavior if required, eventually leading to learning and preventing errors from recurring in the future (Holroyd & Coles, 2002;Rabbitt, 1966).Several ERP studies looking at outcome evaluation processes based on external feedback have described an ERP component, the feedback-related negativity (FRN) that is selectively associated with the processing of the valence or motivational significance of the feedback (Gehring & Willoughby, 2002;Holroyd & Coles, 2002;Miltner et al., 1997). The FRN is a negative component peaking at fronto-central electrodes roughly 250-300 ms after presentation of relevant feedback information. Usually, the FRN was found to be larger after negative feedback on task performance, e.g., the presentation of an evaluation signal indicating error commission or monetary loss, compared to positive feedback, e.g., the presentation of an evaluation signal indicating correct performance or monetary reward anxiety, which is usually related to depression (Beck et...

Objective: To compare performance of children with attention deficit hyperactivity disorders-combined (ADHD-C) type with control children in multi-source interference task (MSIT) evaluated by means of error related negativity (ERN). Method: We studied 12 children with ADHD-C type with a median age of 7 years, control children were age-and gender-matched. Children performed MSIT and simultaneous recording of ERN. Results: We found no differences in MSIT parameters among groups. We found no differences in ERN variables between groups. We found a significant association of ERN amplitude with MSIT in children with ADHD-C type. Some correlation went in positive direction (frequency of hits and MSIT amplitude), and others in negative direction (frequency of errors and RT in MSIT). Conclusion: Children with ADHD-C type exhibited a significant association between ERN amplitude with MSIT. These results underline participation of a cingulofronto-parietal network and could help in the comprehension of pathophysiological mechanisms of ADHD.Keywords: attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, multi-source interference task, event related potentials, error-related negativity, cingulo-fronto-parietal network. RESUMENObjetivo: Comparar el rendimiento de un grupo de niños con trastorno por déficit de atención-hiperactividad de tipo combinado (TDAH-C), con niños controles, en la tarea de interferencia multi-fuente (TIMF), evaluado por la negatividad relacionada al error (NRE). Método: Estudiamos 12 niños con TDAH-C con una mediana de 7 años, los controles estuvieron pareados por edad y género. Los niños realizaron la TIMF con registros simultáneos de NRE. Resultados: No encontramos diferencias en los parámetros de la TIMF entre grupos. No encontramos diferencias en las variables de la NRE entre grupos. Encontramos asociaciones significativas entre la amplitud de la NRE en niños con TDAH-C. Una correlación fue en dirección positiva: (frecuencia de aciertos y amplitud de TIMF), y otras fueron en dirección negativa (frecuencia de errores y el tiempo de respuesta en la TIMF). Conclusión: Los niños con TDAH-C presentan una asociación significativa entre la amplitud de la NRE con la TIMF. Los resultados sugieren la participación de la red cíngulo-fronto-parietal y pueden ayudar en la comprensión de los mecanismos fisiopatológicos del TDAH-C.Palabras clave: trastorno por déficit de atención-hiperactividad, tarea de interferencia multi-fuente, potenciales relacionados a eventos cognoscitivos, negatividad relacionada al error, red cíngulo-fronto-parietal.Attention deficit-hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is an alteration whose main symptoms are inattention, hyperactivity, and impulsivity 1 . Children with ADHD present difficulties in several areas, such as those related to school, home or different social environments that affect their Quality of Life (QoL) 2 . Children with ADHD present alterations in other domains, such as executive functions (EF) 3 . Children with ADHD can be classified in three groups as follows: predominantly