Changes of performance monitoring with learning in older and younger adults

This study examined age differences in performance monitoring during learning of a stimulus-response association task. At the beginning of the learning process, amplitudes of the response-locked error-related negativity (ERN or Ne) and correct response-related negativity (CRN) did not differ in both age groups. With advanced learning the response ERN/Ne increased and the CRN decreased in younger adults, but did not dissociate in older adults. Feedback ERN amplitudes decreased with learning in both age groups and were reduced in older relative to younger adults. Results indicate that performance monitoring became error specific with advanced learning in younger adults, but not in older adults. This might be due to weak representations of stimulus-response mappings in older adults as they learned worse. The decrease of the feedback ERN with learning and aging might suggest a decline of attention paid to negative feedback.     

Age-related alterations in performance monitoring during and after learning

Changes of performance monitoring during and after learning of stimulus-response (S-R) associations were examined in younger and older adults using event-related brain potentials (ERPs). To determine whether age-related differences in performance monitoring are attenuated when learning performance is equalized between age groups, participants learned S-R associations until they reached a learning criterion. After completed learning, time pressure was introduced to assess whether time pressure pronounces age-related differences in performance monitoring. In the initial learning phase, performance monitoring was unspecific, indicated by similar-sized ERN/Ne (error-related/error negativity) and CRN (correct response-related negativity) amplitudes. With advanced learning, ERN/Ne and CRN amplitudes dissociated in younger participants, suggesting error-specific performance monitoring, whereas in older participants, performance monitoring remained unspecific. However, after completed learning and under time pressure, larger ERN/Ne than CRN amplitudes were observed in older participants, too. This finding suggests that error-specific performance monitoring develops with learning in younger, but not necessarily in older adults. The administration of time pressure seemed to force older adults to monitor error responses more specifically.     

Performance monitoring among non-patients with obsessive-compulsive symptoms: ERP evidence of aberrant feedback monitoring

Electrophysiological studies have shown that obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) is associated with hyperactive performance monitoring, as indexed by the error-related negativity (ERN). The aim of the present study was to determine whether feedback monitoring is enhanced in addition to error monitoring among young adults with obsessive-compulsive symptomatology during performance of a learning task. The ERN was equivalent in amplitude for low and high OC groups. The feedback-related negativity (FRN) was more negative following presentation of incorrect feedback relative to correct feedback for the low OC group. For the high OC group, the FRN was equivalent in amplitude for correct and incorrect feedback. Young adults with high levels of obsessive-compulsive symptoms demonstrate aberrant feedback monitoring characterised by a lack of differentiation to the valence of feedback. This pattern of results may be indicative of a cognitive bias in outcome prediction associated with obsessive-compulsive symptomatology.     

Predictive information processing in the brain: errors and response monitoring

The monitoring of one's own actions is essential for adjusting behavior. In particular, response errors are important events that require behavioral adjustments. Correct and incorrect responses, as well as feedback to responses, are followed by brain activity originating mainly in the anterior cingulate, which can be measured with fMRI and event-related potential (ERP) techniques. After each response a small negativity (Nc or CRN) is elicited in the ERP, which is strongly enhanced in incorrect trials (Ne or ERN). Following feedback stimuli that signal a negative outcome of an action, a similar negativity, the feedback-related negativity (FRN) is elicited. Recently it has been shown that these neurophysiological correlates of response monitoring and evaluation can be classified even on the single-trial level in the EEG and thus could be utilized not only to distinguish between correct and erroneous actions, but also can be used online for a wide range of applications such as prediction of clinical outcomes or brain computer interfaces.     

The effect of interpersonal competition on monitoring internal and external error feedback

The present study examined the effect of the social context on early emotional appraisal of performance errors and negative feedback reflected by the error‐related negativity (ERN), feedback‐related negativity (FRN), and P300. Participants performed a probabilistic learning task in which they received valid and invalid performance feedback. During one half of the task they were led to believe that they were competing online against another participant. As expected, the ERN following response errors was enhanced in the competition compared to the neutral condition. The FRN was more negative following negative compared to positive feedback and valid compared to invalid feedback, but only during competition. The P300 was larger to false positive than false negative feedback, which was independent of the social context. In conclusion, ERN and FRN, but not P300, may be sensitive to affective distress elicited by expectation violations during social interaction.     

Age-related changes in processing positive and negative feedback: Is there a positivity effect for older adults?

Older people sometimes show a bias toward the processing of positive information. In this study, we used an event-related potential approach to examine whether such a positivity bias is also present during feedback processing in older adults. Our results suggest that a fast initial monitoring process, as reflected in the feedback-related negativity (FRN), is sensitive to the expectancy of events irrespective of their valence for older (aged 70–77 years) as well as younger (aged 20–27 years) adults. In contrast, in a later evaluation process, associated with memory updating and indexed by the P300, both age groups preferably processed unexpected positive feedback. However, younger adults additionally differentiated between unexpected negative and expected feedback while older adults did not, probably due to a lower working memory capacity.     

Manipulation of feedback expectancy and valence induces negative and positive reward prediction error signals manifest in event-related brain potentials

The feedback-related negativity (FRN) has been hypothesized to be most sensitive to unexpected negative feedback. The present study investigated feedback expectancy and valence using a probabilistic gambling paradigm where subjects encountered expected or unexpected positive and negative feedback outcomes. In line with previous studies, FRN amplitude reflected a negative reward prediction error, but to a minor extent also a positive reward prediction error. Moreover, the P300 amplitude was largest after unexpected feedback, irrespective of valence. We propose to interpret the FRN in terms of a reinforcement learning signal which is detecting mismatch between internal and external representations indexed by the ACC to extract motivationally salient outcomes.     

Response-related negativities following correct and incorrect responses: evidence from a temporospatial principal component analysis

Two ERP components have been observed following correct and incorrect responses, the error-related negativity (ERN/Ne) and the correct-related negativity (CRN). The function of these components is still under debate. We used a visual size discrimination task at three difficulty levels and utilized a temporospatial principal component analysis (PCA) to examine whether ERN/Ne and CRN could be explained by one or more factors. While ERN/Ne decreased with higher task difficulty, amplitudes increased for correct responses at parietal electrodes. PCA revealed two temporospatial factors: a centrally distributed factor differing between correct and incorrect responses and a more frontoparietally distributed factor contributing to both ERN/Ne and CRN. These data support the notion that ERN/Ne and CRN might reflect a combination of two underlying processes: an error-sensitive and an outcome-independent aspect of response monitoring.     

Physiological correlates of learning by performance feedback in children: a study of EEG event-related potentials and evoked heart rate

In this study we measured event-related potentials (ERPs) and evoked heart rate (EHR) to investigate performance monitoring in 10-12-year-old children. The children received feedback on their performance while conducting a probabilistic learning task. Error-related ERP components time-locked to the response increased in amplitude when the children had learned the task, whereas the feedback-locked components decreased. Concerning EHR, there was a general reduction in feedback-related heart rate deceleration when the children had learned. Moreover, a prolonged heart rate deceleration was observed at negative feedback onset in comparison to positive feedback, which shifted in timing when the task progressed. Together, the ERP and EHR-measures suggest a shift from external to internal monitoring when the children are learning by performance feedback. The data suggest that error- and feedback-related EHR deceleration is a reflection of the same error monitoring system that is responsible for the emergence of the error-related negativity (ERN).     

Physiological correlates of learning by performance feedback in children: a study of EEG event-related potentials and evoked heart rate

In this study we measured event-related potentials (ERPs) and evoked heart rate (EHR) to investigate performance monitoring in 10–12-year-old children. The children received feedback on their performance while conducting a probabilistic learning task. Error-related ERP components time-locked to the response increased in amplitude when the children had learned the task, whereas the feedback-locked components decreased. Concerning EHR, there was a general reduction in feedback-related heart rate deceleration when the children had learned. Moreover, a prolonged heart rate deceleration was observed at negative feedback onset in comparison to positive feedback, which shifted in timing when the task progressed. Together, the ERP and EHR-measures suggest a shift from external to internal monitoring when the children are learning by performance feedback. The data suggest that error- and feedback-related EHR deceleration is a reflection of the same error monitoring system that is responsible for the emergence of the error-related negativity (ERN).     

Developmental differences in learning and error processing: Evidence from ERPs

This study examined developmental differences in the ERP correlates of internal and external error processing (ERN and FRN) during learning. A probabilistic learning task was applied in which feedback validity was manipulated. The behavioral data showed similar accuracy for children and adults when feedback was valid, whereas age differences were obtained when it was partially invalid. We found no reduction of the ERN for children compared to adults when performance levels were equated. Yet, contrary to adults, children did not differentiate between responses when feedback was partially invalid, indicating that they are less able to represent the correctness of a response when there is interference during learning. Moreover, we found a larger FRN and reduced ERP learning effects for positive feedback for children, suggesting that they are more sensitive to external error feedback and less able to disengage from positive feedback during learning.     

Effects of response-set size on error-related brain activity

To study the effect of response-set size on action monitoring processes, the error-related negativity (Ne/ERN), the correct-related negativity (Nc/CRN), and behavioral indicators of action monitoring were compared across three groups of participants performing a two-choice, a four-choice, or an eight-choice version of the flanker task. After controlling for differential contribution of stimulus-related activity to response-locked averages resulting from large differences in response times across conditions, response-set size had strong effects on Ne/ERN and Nc/CRN. With increasing response-set size, the Ne/ERN amplitude decreased, but the Nc/CRN amplitude increased. Moreover, post-error behavioral adjustments were impaired with an increasing response-set size. These results suggest that action monitoring severely suffers when response-set size is increased. Implications of these findings for present theories of Ne/ERN and Nc/CRN are discussed.     

Aging and electrocortical response to error feedback during a spatial learning task

Event-related potentials were collected as older and younger adults responded to error feedback in an adaptation of the Groton Maze Learning Test, an age-sensitive measure of spatial learning and executive skills expected to maximally involve anterior cingulate cortex (ACC). Older adults made more errors and produced smaller feedback-related negativities (FRNs) than young controls. LORETA source localization revealed that, for young adults, neural activation associated with the FRN was focused in ACC and was stronger to negative feedback. Older adults responded with less intense and less differentiated ACC activation, but FRN amplitudes did relate to error rate for the most difficult mazes. The feedback P3 was sensitive to negative feedback but played no role in the prediction of error for either group. These data reflect the selective age-related decline of ACC response but also its continued contribution to performance monitoring in aging.     

Processing of expected and unexpected monetary performance outcomes in healthy older subjects

The feedback-related negativity (FRN), an event-related potential (ERP) component reflecting feedback processing in the anterior cingulate cortex (ACC), has consistently been found to be reduced in healthy aging, whereas behavioral findings regarding age-related changes in decision making and feedback-based learning are inconsistent. This study aimed to elucidate similarities and differences between healthy younger and older subjects in the processing of monetary performance feedback focusing on effects of reward expectancy. Eighteen younger and 20 older subjects completed a feedback learning task, in which a rule could be learned to predict the reward probabilities associated with particular stimuli. Older subjects showed evidence of slower learning than younger subjects. In both younger and older subjects, the amplitude difference between nonreward and reward in the FRN time window was larger for unexpected than expected outcomes, driven by modulations of negative feedback ERPs. Consistent with previous findings, the amplitude difference tended to be generally reduced in older subjects. P300 amplitude was larger for reward than nonreward in both groups, and interactions between valence and probability indicated that only the P300 for reward was modulated by expectancy. Despite general changes of outcome-related ERPs in healthy aging, older subjects show evidence of preserved effects of expectancy on the processing of monetary feedback.     

Retest reliability of medial frontal negativities during performance monitoring

The error‐related negativity (ERN) and feedback‐related negativity (FRN) have been used as electrophysiological indices of performance monitoring produced in response to internally generated (errors) and externally generated (feedback) activations of the anterior cingulate cortex (ACC). No studies to date have systematically examined the measurement reliability of these components. In this article, we present the retest reliability of the ERN and FRN during response tasks designed to elicit errors or feedback responses on two occasions. Data from four experiments are presented in which participants performed tasks over various periods of time. Results indicate good retest reliability of the ERN and FRN amplitudes and source generation of these components. The present article provides important validation of the ERN and FRN as stable and trait‐like electrophysiological reflections of performance monitoring and ACC functional integrity.     

Response-monitoring dysfunction in aging and Alzheimer's disease: an event-related potential study

Executive control is a broad-reaching function that includes response monitoring and is likely implemented in the frontal lobes. Age- and dementia-related changes in response-monitoring were assessed during a Picture-Name Verification Task, using response-synchronized event-related potential (ERP) markers of response monitoring: the centrally oriented error-related negativity (ERN); the smaller and more frontally-oriented correct-response negativity (CRN); and the positivity associated with errors (Pe), a marker of error awareness. These were recorded from 10 younger and 10 older healthy controls, as well as 12 Alzheimer's disease (AD) patients. Although the older and younger controls showed equivalent accuracy, error awareness (Pe), and relative ERN>CRN amplitude, aging was associated with slower behavioral responses and decreased ERN amplitude. Although dementia was associated with decreased accuracy, decreased ERN, and a loss of relative ERN>CRN amplitude, error awareness (Pe) remained somewhat intact in AD patients. In AD patients, CRN amplitude was affected by item certainty (assessed a week earlier), being larger to items that were idiosyncratically difficult for patients to name.     

The COMT Val158Met polymorphism regulates the effect of a dopamine antagonist on the feedback‐related negativity

Consistent with dopamine accounts of internal and external feedback processing, prior work showed that the dopamine D2 receptor antagonist sulpiride modulates the relationship between the dopaminergic COMT Val158Met polymorphism and the error‐related negativity (ERN). Here, we tested in an independent sample whether this Gene × Substance interaction generalizes to the feedback‐related negativity (FRN), which presumably shares underlying dopaminergic mechanisms with the ERN. N = 83 female participants genotyped for COMT Val158Met received 200 mg sulpiride versus placebo and performed a virtual ball‐catching task. The FRN to positive versus negative feedback was modulated by a significant COMT × Substance interaction. Mirroring prior work on the ERN, the tendency of the FRN to be more pronounced for VAL+ versus MET/MET carriers after placebo was reversed by sulpiride. The findings thus provide new evidence for dopaminergic models of feedback processing.     

This ought to be good: brain activity accompanying positive and negative expectations and outcomes

The current study employed a modified gambling task, in which probabilistic cues were provided to elicit positive or negative expectations. Event-related potentials (ERPs) to "final outcome" and "probabilistic cues" were analyzed. Difference waves between the negative condition and the corresponding positive condition were examined. The results confirm that feedback related negativity (FRN) amplitude is modulated by the interaction of outcome valence and expectancy by showing larger FRN difference waves for unexpected than expected outcomes. More interestingly, the difference wave between ERPs elicited by positive and negative expectations showed a negative deflection, with a frontal midline source density around 280 ms after onset of the predictive cue. Negative expectations were associated with larger FRN amplitudes than positive expectations. This suggests that FRN is elicited by probabilistic cues to pending outcomes.     

The effect of erroneous responses on response monitoring in patients with major depressive disorder: a study with event-related potentials

Perceived failure is reported to have detrimental effects on subsequent performance in patients with major depressive disorder. We investigated the error-related negativity (ERN)/error negativity (Ne), an electrophysiological correlate of response monitoring, using a 64-channel EEG. Sixteen patients with DSM-IV major depressive disorder and 16 matched controls participated in an Eriksen flanker task with continuous performance feedback that signaled monetary reward. Compared to controls, patients with major depressive disorder showed a less negative ERN/Ne in error trials following error trials. This result might reflect impaired response monitoring processes in major depressive disorder resulting from an underactivity in a central reward pathway and/or a deficit in strategic reasoning.     

Age, sex and individual differences in punishment sensitivity: factors influencing the feedback-related negativity

The anterior cingulate cortex (ACC) is central to evaluating performance outcomes and has been linked to individual differences in affective responses to feedback. We used electrophysiological source localization to examine the feedback-related negativity (FRN) and related ACC activity during a gambling task in relation to punishment and reward sensitivity among 16- to 17-year-old adolescents (n=20) and 18- to 29-year-old adults (n=30). The FRN was larger for monetary loss compared to win feedback and larger for high relative to low monetary value feedback, with no age differences in the FRN for win or loss feedback. Self-reported sensitivity to punishment accounted for unique variance (over sex and sensitivity to reward) in FRNs, with higher scores relating to larger FRNs and increased rostral ACC activity. These results support the ACC role in experiencing negative performance feedback, especially for individuals highly sensitive to punishment.