Feedback-related Event-related Potential Research Articles

Unveiling the efficacy of the feedback concealed information test in collaborative crime detection

Collaborative crime poses severe social hazards. In collaborative crime scenarios, previous studies have indicated that perpetrators’ collaborative encoding can impair the detection efficiency of P300-based complex trial protocols due to the collaborative encoding deficit. The feedback concealed information test (fCIT), a unique variation of the concealed information test, provides participants with feedback on how well they conceal information from memory. The fCIT, which has proven to be highly efficient, detects concealed information using recognition P300 along with feedback-related event-related potentials, and reflects the subject’s motivation to conceal. However, no studies have examined the fCIT’s effectiveness in identifying collaborative criminals. We propose that the fCIT’s efficiency persists in cases of collaborative crime and test this hypothesis using a sample of 48 participants. The participants in the collaborative groups were instructed to have hushed conversations about theft to simulate the collaborative crime process. Subsequently, they completed the fCIT. The findings indicate a significant decline in recognition P300′s detection efficiency when participants committed crimes collaboratively. Nevertheless, the detection efficiency of feedback P300 and feedback-related negativity remained high. This study’s outcomes illustrate the capacity of the fCIT to detect perpetrators involved in collaborative crime.

Associations between peer stress in early adolescence and multiple event-related potentials elicited during social feedback processing.

Interpersonal stress in adolescence has been associated with alterations in neural responses to peer feedback, and increased vulnerability to psychopathology. However, it is unclear whether the associations of interpersonal problems with neural responses are global across event-related potentials (ERPs) or might result in alterations only in specific ERPs. We examined associations between multiple informants of peer stress (self-reported, parent-reported, and peer-reported) and multiple ERPs (N1, P2, RewP, and LPP) to social feedback in a sample of 46 early adolescents (aged 12-13 years). Reports of peer stress were only moderately correlated with one another, indicating different informants capture different aspects of peer stress. Regressions using informant reports to predict ERPs revealed greater parent-reported peer stress was associated with a smaller RewP, whereas self-reported stress was associated with a smaller P2, to acceptance. In contrast, greater peer-reported stress was associated with larger P2, RewP, and LPP to acceptance. Findings suggest that different sources of stress measurement are differentially associated with ERPs. Future research using social feedback-related ERPs should consider multiple sources of information as well as multiple ERP components across the time-course of feedback processing, to gain a clearer understanding of the effects of peer stress on neural responses to feedback.

Dynamic changes of brain networks during feedback-related processing of reinforcement learning in schizophrenia

Previous studies have reported that schizophrenia (SZ) patients showed selective reinforcement learning deficits and abnormal feedback-related event-related potential (ERP) components. However, how the brain networks and their topological properties evolve over time during transient feedback-related cognition processing in SZ patients has not been investigated so far. In this paper, using publicly available feedback-related ERP data which were recorded from SZ patients and healthy controls (HC) when they performed a reinforcement learning task, we carried out an event-related network analysis where topology of brain functional networks was characterized with some graph measures including clustering coefficient (C), global efficiency (Eglobal) and local efficiency (Elocal) on a millisecond timescale. Our results showed that the brain functional networks displayed rapid rearrangements of topological properties during transient feedback-related cognition process for both two groups. More importantly, we found that SZ patients exhibited significantly reduced theta-band (time window of 170–350 ms after stimuli onset) brain functional connectivity strength, Eglobal, Elocal and C in response to negative feedback stimuli compared to HC group. The network based statistic (NBS) analysis detected one significantly decreased theta-band subnetwork in SZ patients mainly involving in frontal-occipital and temporal-occipital connections compared to HC group. In addition, clozapine treatment seemed to greatly reduce theta-band power and topological measures of brain networks in SZ patients. Finally, the theta-band power, graph measures and functional connectivity were extracted to train a support vector machine classifier for classification of HC from SZ, or Cloz + SZ or Cloz- SZ, and a relatively good classification accuracy of 84.48%, 89.47% and 78.26% was obtained, respectively. The above results suggested a less optimal organization of theta-band brain network in SZ patients, and studying the topological parameters of brain networks evolve over time during transient feedback-related processing could be useful for understanding the pathophysiologic mechanisms underlying reinforcement learning deficits in SZ patients.

Assessing Feedback Response With a Wearable Electroencephalography System.

Background: Event related potential (ERP) components, such as P3, N2, and FRN, are potential metrics for assessing feedback response as a form of performance monitoring. Most research studies investigate these ERP components using clinical or research-grade electroencephalography (EEG) systems. Wearable EEGs, which are an affordable alternative, have the potential to assess feedback response using ERPs but have not been sufficiently evaluated. Feedback-related ERPs also have not been scientifically evaluated in interactive settings that are similar to daily computer use. In this study, a consumer-grade wearable EEG system was assessed for its feasibility to collect feedback-related ERPs through an interactive software module that provided an environment in which users were permitted to navigate freely within the program to make decisions.Methods: The recording hardware, which costs < $1,500 in total, incorporated the OpenBCI Cyton Board with Daisy chain, a consumer-grade EEG system that costs $949 USD. Seventeen participants interacted with an oddball paradigm and an interactive module designed to elicit feedback-related ERPs. The features of interests for the oddball paradigm were the P3 and N2 components. The features of interests for the interactive module were the P3, N2, and FRN components elicited in response to positive, neutral, and two types of negative feedback. The FRN was calculated by subtracting the positive feedback response from the negative feedback responses.Results: The P3 and N2 components of the oddball paradigm indicated statistically significant differences between infrequent targets and frequent targets which is in line with current literature. The P3 and N2 components elicited in the interactive module indicated statistically significant differences between positive, neutral, and negative feedback responses. There were no significant differences between the FRN types and significant interactions with channel group and FRN type.Conclusion: The OpenBCI Cyton, after some modifications, shows potential for eliciting and assessing P3, N2, and FRN components, which are important indicators for performance monitoring, in an interactive setting.

The relationship between responsiveness to social and monetary rewards and ADHD symptoms

IntroductionAlterations in reward processing are frequently reported in ADHD. One important factor that affects reward processing is the quality of reward, as social and monetary, rewards are processed by different neural networks. However, effect of reward type on reward processing in ADHD was not extensively studied.AimsWe aimed to explore the effect of reward type (i.e., social or monetary) on different phases of reward processing and also to test the hypothesis that ADHD symptoms may be associated with a problem in processing of social rewards.MethodsWe recorded event-related potentials (ERPs) during a spatial attention paradigm in which cues heralded availability and type of the upcoming reward and feedbacks informed about the reward earned. Thirty-nine (19 males and 20 females) healthy individuals (age range: 19–27) participated in the study. ADHD symptoms were measured using ADHD self-report scale (ASRS).ResultsThe feedback related potentials, namely feedback related negativity (FRN), P200 and P300 amplitudes, were larger for social rewards compared to monetary rewards (Fig. 1). There was a consistent negative correlation between the hyperactivity subscale of ASRS and almost all feedback related ERPs. ERP amplitudes after social rewards were smaller for individuals with more hyperactivity.ConclusionsOur findings suggest that hypo responsiveness to social rewards may be associated with hyperactivity. However, the results have to be confirmed with clinical populations.Disclosure of interestThe authors have not supplied their declaration of competing interest.

Feedback-Related ERP Components Are Modulated by Social Distance during Non-Contingent Evaluation of Someone Else's Performance.

Performance monitoring depends on cortical structures that are also activated in vicarious monitoring. While many experiments have shown that vicarious and on-line monitoring have a similar basis, most such experiments have focused on simple tasks. In order to assess the effect of non-contingent feedback on vicarious monitoring, 23 young volunteer adults were evaluated: in one session, they performed a rule-based category formation task, receiving no feedback on their performance. In a second session, Event Related Potentials (ERPs) were obtained while participants passively reviewed performances attributed to themselves and peers they had previously rated as either socially close or distant. Feedback Related Negativity (FRN) and Feedback Related P300 (fP300) components were analyzed with respect to feedback valence and agent. Results show that both components can be elicited through non-contingent feedback related to prior performance. In addition, FRN waves are modulated by the valence of the feedback, and fP300 is modulated by the agent to whom performance feedback is attributed. This experiment constitutes a novel approach to the evaluation of ERP correlates of vicarious monitoring through non-contingent feedback and its relations to empathy processing.

Brain activity elicited by reward and reward omission in individuals with psychopathic traits: An ERP study

Psychopathy has been associated with behavioral adaptation deficits, which might be associated with problems in feedback and reward processing. In the present study, we examined the relation between psychopathic traits and reward processing in a passive gambling task. A total of 39 male participants who scored high (HP) and 39 male participants who scored low (LP) on the Triarchic Psychopathy Measure (TriPM), total score were tested. Feedback-related Event-Related Potentials (ERPs; i.e., P2, FRN, and P3) on predicted and unpredicted rewards and reward omissions were compared between both groups. It was found that in HP individuals, the P2 was enhanced for predicted rewards and reward omissions, but not for unpredicted stimuli. Moreover, HP individuals as compared to the LP individuals demonstrated a generally reduced P3 amplitude. The FRN amplitude, however, did not differ between the two groups. In addition, HP individuals showed enhanced reward sensitivity on the self-report level. Taken together, these findings suggest that HP individuals show enhanced sensitivity to early and reduced sensitivity to later markers of processing reinforcement learning signals, which points in the direction of compromised behavioral adaptation.

Detecting concealed information using feedback related event-related brain potentials

Employing an event-related potential (ERP)-based concealed information test (CIT), the present study investigated (1) the neurocognitive processes when people received feedbacks regarding their deceptive/truthful responses and (2) whether such feedback-related ERP activities can be used to detect concealed information above and beyond the recognition-related P300. During the CIT, participants were presented with rare, meaningful probes (their own names) embedded within a series of frequent yet meaningless irrelevants (others’ names). Participants were instructed to deny their recognition of the probes. Critically, following participants’ responses, they were provided with feedbacks regarding whether they succeeded or failed in the CIT. Replicating previous ERP-based CITs, we found a larger P300 elicited by probe compared to irrelevant. Regarding feedback-related ERPs, a temporospatial Principle Component Analyses found two ERP components that were not only sensitive to feedback manipulations but also can discriminate probe from irrelevant: an earlier, central-distributed positivity that was elicited by “success” feedbacks peaked around 219ms; and a later, right central-distributed positivity that was also elicited by “success” feedbacks, peaked around 400ms. Importantly, the feedback ERPs were not correlated with P300 that was elicited by probe/irrelevant, suggesting that these two ERPs reflect independent processes underlying memory concealment. These findings illustrate the feasibility and promise of using feedback-related ERPs to detect concealed memory and thus deception.

Positive Outcome Evaluation Is Modulated by Closeness of Outcome: An ERP Research

Closeness of outcome refers to the degree of distance between real behavioral outcomes and desired outcomes. Previous studies revealed that closeness of outcome was one of the main factors that induce counterfactual thinking about the outcome, and played an important role in inducing post-decisional emotions (e.g., regret, rejoicing). Although some recent researches have explored how closeness of outcome affects negative outcome evaluation (e.g., losing money) in gambles, there is no evidence that whether it modulates positive outcome evaluation (e.g., gaining money). By simultaneously recording event-related potentials (ERPs) data from participants engaged in a simple like-slot-machine gambling task, the present study aimed to further investigate that whether and how closeness of outcome modulated feedback outcome evaluation when gaining money. Fourteen healthy undergraduates (7 males and 7 females, age 19-24, M=21.6 years) were recruited to take part to this study. The participants in the experiment were all right-hand, had normal or corrected-to-normal vision and had no neurological or psychological disorders. Each participant signed a consent form prior to the experiments and was paid after the experiment. The study was approved by the local academic committee. In this experimental task, closeness of feedback outcome was manipulated through depending on the distance between feedback outcome and desired outcome in the screen in the gambling task. Thus, three conditions were included in analyzed results: near-gain, general-gain, and full-gain. The EEG was recorded from 64 scalp channels using electrodes mounted in an elastic cap. Feedback-related ERPs, including feedback-related negativity (FRN) and P300, were calculated for a 1200 ms epoch including a 200 ms pre-feedback baseline. The amplitude of FRN and P300 were peek-to-peak measured separately in the 200~300 ms and 300~500 ms time windows after the appearance of feedback. Behavioral results suggested that emotional response of the participants was obviously modulated by the closeness of outcome. Specially, participants tended to use the emotional word rejoicing to describe their feelings when near-gains, and tended to use the word elation to describe their feelings when full-gains. In addition, the closeness of feedback outcome also modulated the reaction time of participants in the next trial following it, in which, participants' reaction time was evidently longer when near-gains, compared with the one when full-gains and general-gains. ERP results indicated that the FRN and P300 were sensitive to the closeness of outcome, with near-gains eliciting larger amplitudes of the FRN and larger amplitudes and longer latencies of the P300, compared with full-gains and general-gains. These results revealed that positive outcome evaluation is also modulated obviously by closeness of outcome.

Processing of Continuously Provided Punishment and Reward in Children with ADHD and the Modulating Effects of Stimulant Medication: An ERP Study

ObjectivesCurrent models of ADHD suggest abnormal reward and punishment sensitivity, but the exact mechanisms are unclear. This study aims to investigate effects of continuous reward and punishment on the processing of performance feedback in children with ADHD and the modulating effects of stimulant medication.Methods15 Methylphenidate (Mph)-treated and 15 Mph-free children of the ADHD-combined type and 17 control children performed a selective attention task with three feedback conditions: no-feedback, gain and loss. Event Related Potentials (ERPs) time-locked to feedback and errors were computed.ResultsAll groups performed more accurately with gain and loss than without feedback. Feedback-related ERPs demonstrated no group differences in the feedback P2, but an enhanced late positive potential (LPP) to feedback stimuli (both gains and losses) for Mph-free children with ADHD compared to controls. Feedback-related ERPs in Mph-treated children with ADHD were similar to controls. Correlational analyses in the ADHD groups revealed that the severity of inattention problems correlated negatively with the feedback P2 amplitude and positively with the LPP to losses and omitted gains.ConclusionsThe early selective attention for rewarding and punishing feedback was relatively intact in children with ADHD, but the late feedback processing was deviant (increased feedback LPP). This may explain the often observed positive effects of continuous reinforcement on performance and behaviour in children with ADHD. However, these group findings cannot be generalised to all individuals with the ADHD, because the feedback-related ERPs were associated with the severity of the inattention problems. Children with ADHD-combined type with more inattention problems showed both deviant early attentional selection of feedback stimuli, and deviant late processing of non-reward and punishment.

Error-related brain activity in extraverts: Evidence for altered response monitoring in social context

While the personality trait of extraversion has been linked to enhanced reward sensitivity and its putative neural correlates, little is known about whether extraverts’ neural circuits are particularly sensitive to social rewards, given their preference for social engagement and social interactions. Using event-related potentials (ERPs), this study examined the relationship between the variation on the extraversion spectrum and a feedback-related ERP component (the error-related negativity or ERN) known to be sensitive to the value placed on errors and reward. Participants completed a forced-choice task, in which either rewarding or punitive feedback regarding their performance was provided, through either social (facial expressions) or non-social (verbal written) mode. The ERNs elicited by error trials in the social – but not in non-social – blocks were found to be associated with the extent of one's extraversion. However, the directionality of the effect was in contrast with the original prediction: namely, extraverts exhibited smaller ERNs than introverts during social blocks, whereas all participants produced similar ERNs in the non-social, verbal feedback condition. This finding suggests that extraverts exhibit diminished engagement in response monitoring – or find errors to be less salient – in the context of social feedback, perhaps because they find social contexts more predictable and thus more pleasant and less anxiety provoking.