Abstract
Performance monitoring is an executive function, which we depend on for detecting and evaluating the consequences of our behavior. Although event related potentials (ERPs) have revealed the existence of differences after correct and incorrect decisions, it is not known whether there is a trial-by-trial representation of the accuracy of the decision. We recorded the electroencephalographic activity (EEG) while participants performed a perceptual discrimination task, with two levels of difficulty, in which they received immediate feedback. Receiver Operating Characteristic (ROC) analyses were used to reveal two components that convey trial-by-trial representations of the correctness of the decisions. Firstly, the performance monitoring-related negativity (PM-N), a negative deflection whose amplitude is higher (more negative) after incorrect trials. Secondly, the performance monitoring-related positivity (PM-P), a positive deflection whose amplitude is higher after incorrect trials. During the time periods corresponding to these components, trials can be accurately categorized as correct or incorrect by looking at the EEG activity; this categorization is more accurate when based on the PM-P. We further show that the difficulty of the discrimination task has a different effect on each component: after easy trials the latency of the PM-N is shorter and the amplitude of the PM-P is higher than after difficult trials. Consistent with previous interpretations of performance-related ERPs, these results suggest a functional differentiation between these components. The PM-N could be related to an automatic error detection system, responsible for fast behavioral corrections of ongoing actions, while the PM-P could reflect the difference between expected and actual outcomes and be related to long-term changes in the decision process.
Highlights
Efficient decision-making for adaptive behavior requires monitoring of performance in order to detect and correct errors and to adjust future behavior
event related potentials (ERPs) RESULTS Average voltage and grand mean voltage Most studies on the relationship between performance monitoring and electroencephalographic activity (EEG) activity are based on the comparison of the grand mean ERPs, averaged across subjects, after correct and incorrect trials
The amplitude of the negative deflection was computed as the difference between the most negative peak following feedback onset in a 300–400 ms time window and the preceding positive peak between 200 and 300 ms [see Figure 2D; this method is similar to that used in previous works, e.g., (Schuermann et al, 2012)]
Summary
Efficient decision-making for adaptive behavior requires monitoring of performance in order to detect and correct errors and to adjust future behavior . The first one, called errorrelated negativity (ERN; Gehring et al, 1993) or error negativity (Ne; Falkenstein et al, 1991), is a negative deflection, with a fronto-central scalp distribution, which peaks about 80–100 ms after an incorrect response. A negative deflection has been found after feedback informing the participants about their performance; it has a fronto-central distribution, peaks about 250–350 ms after error feedback and is called feedback-related negativity (FRN; Miltner et al, 1997; Gehring and Willoughby, 2002; Holroyd and Coles, 2002; Nieuwenhuis et al, 2004). The positive deflection is higher after negative feedback, resembling the Pe (Frank et al, 2005; Crowley et al, 2009; San Martin et al, 2010; Schuermann et al, 2012)
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