Obsessive‐compulsive disorder (OCD) is a complex and heterogeneous disorder that is associated with high personal and societal costs. Feelings of doubt, worry, and repetitive behavior, key symptoms ...of OCD, have been linked to hyperactive error signals in the brain. The error‐related negativity (ERN) represents a validated marker of error processing in the ERP. Increased ERN amplitudes in OCD have been reported very robustly over the last 20 years. This article integrates results from 38 studies analyzing the ERN in OCD, using a quantitative meta‐analysis. Meta‐regressions were used to examine potential moderators such as task type, symptom severity, age, and sample size. The meta‐analysis reveals a robust increase of ERN in OCD patients compared to healthy participants in response‐conflict tasks (SMD −0.55) that is not modulated by symptom severity and age. No increase in ERN in OCD was observed in tasks that do not induce response conflict (SMD −0.10). In addition to the meta‐analysis, the current article reviews evidence supporting that increased ERN amplitudes in OCD fulfill central criteria for an endophenotype. Further, the specificity of increased ERN amplitudes for OCD and its suitability as a potential transdiagnostic endophenotype is discussed. Finally, the clinical utility and clinical applications are examined. Overall, the evidence that increased ERN amplitudes represent a promising endophenotype indicating vulnerability for OCD is compelling. Furthermore, alterations in ERN are not limited to OCD and may constitute a transdiagnostic endophenotype. Altered neural error signals might serve as a diagnostic or predictive marker and represent a promising target for interventions.
Obsessive‐compulsive disorder (OCD) has been associated with increased error‐related negativity (ERN) amplitudes. The present paper summarizes and integrates results from 38 studies analyzing the ERN in OCD, using a quantitative meta‐analysis and examines potential moderators such as task type and symptom severity. Further, results supporting the notion that increased ERN amplitudes represent a promising endophenotype for OCD are reviewed. Finally, the specificity of altered neural error‐signals for OCD and its clinical utility are discussed.
Recent years have seen an explosion of research on the N2 component of the event‐related potential, a negative wave peaking between 200 and 350 ms after stimulus onset. This research has focused on ...the influence of “cognitive control,” a concept that covers strategic monitoring and control of motor responses. However, rich research traditions focus on attention and novelty or mismatch as determinants of N2 amplitude. We focus on paradigms that elicit N2 components with an anterior scalp distribution, namely, cognitive control, novelty, and sequential matching, and argue that the anterior N2 should be divided into separate control‐ and mismatch‐related subcomponents. We also argue that the oddball N2 belongs in the family of attention‐related N2 components that, in the visual modality, have a posterior scalp distribution. We focus on the visual modality for which components with frontocentral and more posterior scalp distributions can be readily distinguished.
To ensure adequate reliability (i.e., internal consistency), it is common in studies using event‐related brain potentials (ERPs) to exclude participants for having too few trials. This practice is ...particularly relevant for error‐related ERPs, such as error‐related negativity (ERN), where the number of recorded ERN trials is not entirely under the researcher's control. Furthermore, there is a widespread practice of inferring reliability based on published psychometric research, which assumes that internal consistency is a universal property of ERN. The present, preregistered reliability generalization study examined whether there is heterogeneity in internal consistency estimates of ERN scores and whether contextual factors moderate reliability. A total of 189 internal consistency estimates from 68 samples nested within 43 studies (n = 4,499 total participants) were analyzed. There was substantial heterogeneity in ERN score internal consistency, which was partially moderated by the type of paradigm (e.g., Stroop, flanker), the clinical status of the sample, the ocular artifact correction procedure, measurement sensors (single versus cluster), and the approach to scoring and estimating reliability, suggesting that contextual factors impact internal consistency at the individual study level. Age, sex, year of publication, artifact rejection procedure, acquisition system, sample type (undergraduate versus community), and length of mean amplitude window did not significantly moderate reliability. Notably, the overall estimated reliability of ERN scores was below established standards. Recommendations for improving ERN score reliability are provided, but the routine failure of most ERN studies to report internal consistency represents a substantial barrier to understanding the factors that impact reliability.
The majority of ERP research infers internal consistency based on published psychometric information. This reliability generalization study calls this practice into question by examining moderators of error‐related negativity (ERN) reliability estimates. Substantial heterogeneity in reliability was observed, and these findings highlight the importance of examining the reliability on a study‐by‐study basis.
Error detection in typing is crucial for assessing the adequacy of ongoing actions, leveraging both predictive mechanisms for early detection and sensory feedback for late detection. ...Neurophysiological studies have supported the anticipation of errors through predictive models. This research extends the understanding of error detection in typing, focusing on the neurocognitive mechanisms underlying errors in transparent and intransparent German words. Thirty-six volunteer students typed out aurally presented words, classified as either orthographically transparent or intransparent, on a computer keyboard without the possibility of correction. Because of poor spelling or excessive artifacts, the final sample comprised 27 participants. Event-related potentials (ERPs) were obtained time-locked to key presses, and behavioral data on typing correctness and speed were collected. A higher error rate and longer latency for intransparent words compared to transparent ones were found, suggesting the complexity of spelling impacts typing correctness. Post-error slowing was observed, aligning with increased cognitive control following errors. ERPs revealed a negative component akin to the error-related negativity (ERN) for typing errors, with a pronounced ERN-like negativity preceding erroneous key-presses, particularly for intransparent words. The study provides evidence of the cognitive and neural mechanisms underlying typing errors, highlighting the impact of orthographic transparency. The detection of an ERN-like negativity before erroneous key-presses, especially in typing intransparent words, underscores the brain's use of predictive mechanisms for error detection.
•Typing errors occur more frequently with intransparent than transparent words.•Post-error slowing indicates a rise in cognitive control.•ERN-like negativity shows predictive error detection in the brain.•Sensory feedback is not crucial for detecting typing errors.
The current review focuses on our work on the relationship between the error‐related negativity (i.e., ERN) and anxiety in children and adolescents. The ERN is an event‐related potential (ERP) that ...appears as a negative deflection in the ERP waveform when individuals make errors and has been found to be increased in anxious individuals. We, and others, have extended this work into developmental populations, finding that the ERN can be measured reliably in children and that the ERN is increased among clinically anxious youth. Furthermore, we have found that the ERN predicts risk for increases in anxiety across development, among healthy and clinically anxious children. We have done work to elucidate what psychological phenomena the increased ERN among anxious children may reflect by creating a self‐report measure of error sensitivity (i.e., the Child Error Sensitivity Index) that relates to the ERN. Moreover, we review our work on parenting and the ERN, which suggests that harsh or critical parenting styles may potentiate the ERN in offspring. And, building on these findings, we discuss our recent work to develop novel, computerized intervention strategies to reduce the ERN and thereby risk for anxiety.
This review summarizes our work on the relationship between the error‐related negativity (ERN) and anxiety in children. We find that the ERN is both a correlate and risk marker of anxiety. Novel contributions include a self‐report measure of error sensitivity, findings linking parenting styles with the ERN in offspring, and recent work developing computerized interventions targeting the ERN.
The error‐related negativity (ERN) and the error positivity (Pe) are electrophysiological components associated with error processing that are thought to exhibit distinctive developmental ...trajectories from childhood to adulthood. To investigate the age and age moderation effects on the ERN and the Pe strength during development, we conducted a preregistered three‐level meta‐analysis synthesizing 120 and 41 effect sizes across 18 group comparison studies and 19 correlational studies, respectively. The meta‐analysis included studies with mean age between 3.6 and 28.7 (min‐max age range: 3.5 and 49.8) years for age‐group comparisons and 6.1 to 18.7 (min‐max age range: 4.0–35.7) years for age correlations. Results showed that age was associated with a more negative ERN (SMD = −.433, r = −.230). No statistically significant association between age and the Pe was found (SMD = .059, r = −.091), except for in a group comparison between younger and older adolescents. The age effects were not significantly moderated by whether a Flanker or a Go/No‐Go task was used, whereas a probabilistic learning task moderated the age effect on the Pe. Moreover, the Fz and Cz electrode sites yielded stronger negative associations between age and the ERN and the Pe, respectively. The results confirm that the ERN and the Pe show differential development courses and suggest that sample and methodological characteristics influence the age effects, and lay the foundation for investigations of developmental patterns of the ERN and the Pe in relation to psychopathology and early genetic and environmental risk factors.
Background
Anxiety disorders are associated with an overactive action monitoring system as indexed by a larger error‐related negativity (ERN). This study tests whether ERN magnitude changes following ...treatment, predicts response to treatment, and varies by treatment type.
Methods
The sample included 130 youth (9–14 years): youth with an anxiety disorder (ANX; n = 100) and healthy control (HC; n = 30) youth with no lifetime DSM‐IV disorders. ANX youth were randomized to either a manualized cognitive‐behavior therapy (CBT) or a comparison child‐centered therapy (CCT). The ERN was assessed before and after 16 sessions of treatment and within a comparable interval for HC. Subjective ratings about making errors on the task were obtained following each testing session. The ClinicalTrials.gov identifier is NCT00774150.
Results
The ERN was larger in ANX than HC youth but ERN magnitude did not significantly change following treatment in the ANX youth, regardless of treatment type, and baseline ERN did not predict treatment response. Post‐task ratings revealed that ANX youth worried more about task performance feedback than HC. Like the ERN, mean ratings did not significantly change following treatment. However, these ratings were not correlated with ERN amplitude.
Conclusions
Findings of greater ERN in pediatric anxiety disorders are replicated in a larger sample. More importantly, findings from this randomized control trial show that a larger ERN and feeling worried about performance feedback remain unchanged following treatment and are unrelated to treatment response. Such findings suggest that action monitoring systems remain overactive in anxious youth treated with psychotherapy, suggesting the need for future investigation of whether novel complimentary cognitive and emotional training programs can modify these systems would be warranted.
Boredom, the unfulfilled desire to be engaged in a satisfying mental activity, is an aversive state characterized by poor self‐regulation. There is ample evidence that both state and trait boredom ...are associated with failures of attention in both experimental and everyday settings. The neural correlates of boredom, however, remain underexplored. We recorded electroencephalographic signal from 83 participants during a resting state and while performing a go/no‐go task. We found a negative correlation between trait boredom proneness and power in the alpha and theta bands during the resting state. Furthermore, higher levels of task‐induced boredom were associated with reduced amplitudes for the P3 and error‐related negativity event‐related potentials. Increased commission error rates were also associated with higher levels of task‐induced boredom. We conclude that state and trait boredom are associated with inadequate engagement of attentional resources.
Very little research has examined the relationship between brain activity and boredom. Here we show that trait boredom proneness is associated with increased cortical activity at rest and reduced attentional control and performance monitoring during task performance as indexed by the P3 and error‐related negativity, respectively.
The N200 and the feedback error‐related negativity (fERN) are two components of the event‐related brain potential (ERP) that share similar scalp distributions, time courses, morphologies, and ...functional dependencies, which raises the question as to whether they are actually the same phenomenon. To investigate this issue, we recorded the ERP from participants engaged in two tasks that independently elicited the N200 and fERN. Our results indicate that they are, in fact, the same ERP component and further suggest that positive feedback elicits a positive‐going deflection in the time range of the fERN. Taken together, these results indicate that negative feedback elicits a common N200 and that modulation of fERN amplitude results from the superposition on correct trials of a positive‐going deflection that we term the feedback correct‐related positivity.
Substance use disorders are characterized by marked changes in reward and error processing. The primary objective of this meta‐analysis was to estimate effect sizes for the reward positivity (RewP) ...and error‐related negativity (ERN), two event‐related potential indicators of outcome monitoring, in substance users compared to controls. The secondary objective was to test for moderation by demographic, substance type, and EEG experiment parameters. Final PubMed searches were performed in August 2023. Inclusion criteria were substance use disorder/dependence or validated self‐report of substance misuse, RewP/ERN means available, healthy control comparison group, non‐acute drug study, peer‐reviewed journal, English language, and human participants. Selection bias was tested through modified Egger's regression and exploratory 3‐parameter selection model tests. The RewP results (19 studies, 1641 participants) did not support an overall effect (Hedges' g = 0.07, 95% CI −0.44, 0.58, p = .777) and nor effect of any moderators. The ERN results (20 studies, 1022 participants) indicated no significant overall effect (g = 0.41, 95%CI −0.05, 0.88). Subgroup analyses indicated that cocaine users had a blunted ERN compared to controls (g = 1.12, 95%CI 0.77, 1.47). There was limited evidence for publication/small study bias. Although the results indicate a potential dissociation between substance types, this meta‐analysis revealed the need for additional research on the RewP/ERN in substance using populations and for better designed experiments that adequately address research questions.
Biomarkers have proven useful for detecting medical conditions, but remain elusive for psychiatric problems, including substance misuse. This meta‐analysis investigated how biomarkers of reward and punishment processing differ between substance misuse and comparison groups. This work has the potential to enhance the way we identify substance misuse problems and has implications for diagnosis and treatment.
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