Error detection in patients with lesions to the medial prefrontal cortex: an ERP study

When people detect their own errors in a discrimination task, a negative-going waveform can be observed in scalp-recorded EEG that has been coined the error-related negativity (Ne/ERN). Generation of the Ne/ERN has been associated with structures in the prefrontal cortex, especially the anterior cin...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published in:Neuropsychologia 2004, Vol.42 (1), p.118-130
Main Authors: Stemmer, Brigitte, Segalowitz, Sidney J, Witzke, Wolfgang, Schönle, Paul Walter
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Adult and adolescent clinical studies
Aged
Aged, 80 and over
Anterior cingulate
Biological and medical sciences
Conscious control
Discrimination (Psychology) - physiology
Electroencephalography
ERP, Ne/ERN
Error awareness
Error detection
Error negativity
Evoked Potentials - physiology
Female
Gyrus Cinguli - physiology
Humans
Intracranial Aneurysm - pathology
Intracranial Aneurysm - physiopathology
Intracranial Aneurysm - surgery
Magnetic Resonance Imaging
Male
Medical sciences
Middle Aged
Neuropsychological Tests
Neurosurgical Procedures
Organic mental disorders. Neuropsychology
Prefrontal cortex
Prefrontal Cortex - pathology
Prefrontal Cortex - physiopathology
Prefrontal Cortex - surgery
Psychology. Psychoanalysis. Psychiatry
Psychomotor Performance - physiology
Psychopathology. Psychiatry
Reaction Time - physiology
Citations: Items that this one cites
Items that cite this one
Online Access:Get full text
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
Description
Summary:When people detect their own errors in a discrimination task, a negative-going waveform can be observed in scalp-recorded EEG that has been coined the error-related negativity (Ne/ERN). Generation of the Ne/ERN has been associated with structures in the prefrontal cortex, especially the anterior cingulate region, but also the supplementary motor cortex and subcortical structures. There is some controversy as to whether the Ne/ERN is a necessary concomitant to error detection. We examined the Ne/ERN in five patients with damage to the medial prefrontal cortex, including the anterior cingulate region. Our findings support the implication of the rostral anterior cingulate in Ne/ERN production, but they also show that subjects can be aware of errors and yet not produce an Ne/ERN. Thus, error detection leads to the Ne/ERN process and damage to the anterior cingulate region may interrupt this relay, suggesting that error detection may be supported by circuits outside the anterior cingulate region.
ISSN:0028-3932
1873-3514
DOI:10.1016/S0028-3932(03)00121-0