ERP Correlates of Performance Monitoring: a Mouse-Tracking Study

Performance monitoring involves detection of action outcomes and initiation of appropriate behavioral adaptations. Psychophysiological mechanisms of performance monitoring remain largely understudied in the context of uncertainty that arises at the stage of stimulus identification and decision making, as well as in the context of inhibition/correction of the motor response. In the current study, we investigate relations between behavioral performance measures and several ERP components: N2, ERN/CRN and Pe. Participants performed a condensation task and made their responses by moving mouse cursor. Response registration using mouse tracking allowed us to obtain two independent behavioral measures: mouse movement initiation time and movement duration. Amplitude of N2 and CRN was dependent on movement initiation time: N2 was increased and CRN was decreased for ‘late’ correct responses compared with ‘early’ correct ones; this finding is compatible with the explanation that ‘late’ responses involve higher pre-response conflict and higher uncertainty compared with ‘early’ ones. Movement duration time was a novel independent behavioral parameter, that cannot be measured using traditional keystrokes. This behavioral measure was related to the early Pe: its amplitude was more positive for ‘long’ responses compared with ‘short’ ones. This finding may be explained by mechanisms of an ongoing response inhibition. We suggest that this effect is linked to response stopping, which may be related to outcome awareness.

1. Chernyshev B., Medvedev V. Event-related potential study of P2 and N2 components on fast and slow responses in the auditory condensation task // Higher School of Economics Research Paper. 2016. V. WP BRP 70/PSY/2016. DOI: 10.2139/ssrn.2890474
2. Danielmeier C., Wessel J.R., Steinhauser M., Ullsperger M. Modulation of the error-related negativity by response conflict // Psychophysiology. 2009. V. 46. № 6. P. 1288—1298. DOI: 10.1111/j.1469-8986.2009.00860.x
3. Delorme A., Makeig S. EEGLAB: an open source toolbox for analysis of single-trial EEG dynamics including independent component analysis // Journal of Neuroscience Methods. 2004. V. 134. № 1. P. 9—21. DOI: 10.1016/j.jneumeth.2003.10.009
4. Endrass T., Reuter B., Kathmann N. ERP correlates of conscious error recognition: aware and unaware errors in an antisaccade task // European Journal of Neuroscience. 2007. V. 26. № 6. P. 1714—1720. DOI: 10.1111/j.1460-9568.2007.05785.x
5. Falkenstein M., Hohnsbein J., Hoormann J., Blanke L. Effects of crossmodal divided attention on late ERP components. II. Error processing in choice reaction tasks. // Electroencephalography and Clinical Neurophysiology. 1991. V. 78. № 6. P. 447—455. DOI: 10.1016/0013-4694(91)90062-9
6. Falkenstein M., Hoormann J., Christ S., Hohnsbein J. ERP components on reaction errors and their functional significance: a tutorial // Biological Psychology. 2000. V. 51. № 2—3. P. 87—107. DOI: 10.1016/ S0301-0511(99)00031-9
7. Folstein J.R., van Petten C. Influence of cognitive control and mismatch on the N2 component of the ERP: a review // Psychophysiology. 2008. V. 45. № 1. P. 152—170. DOI: 10.1111/j.1469-8986.2007.00602.x
8. Freeman J., Dale R., Farmer T. Hand in motion reveals mind in motion // Frontiers in Psychology. 2011. V. 2. P. 59. DOI: 10.3389/fpsyg.2011.00059
9. Garner W.R. Processing of information and structure. Oxford: Psychology Press. 1974.
10. Gehring W.J., Goss B., Coles M.G.H., Meyer D.E., Donchin E. A neural system for error-detection and compensation // Psychological Science. — 1993. V. 4. № 6. P. 385—390. DOI: 10.1111/j.1467-9280.1993.tb00586.x
11. Gottwald R.L., Garner W.R. Filtering and condensation tasks with integral and separable dimensions // Perception & Psychophysics. 1975. V. 18. № 1. P. 26—28. DOI: 10.3758/Bf03199362
12. Gruendler T. O., Ullsperger M., Huster R.J. Event-related potential correlates of performance-monitoring in a lateralized time-estimation task // PloS one. 2011. V. 6. № 10. P. e25591. DOI: 10.1371/journal. pone.0025591
13. Kieffaber P.D., Hershaw J., Sredl J., West R. Electrophysiological correlates of error initiation and response correction // Neuroimage. 2016. V. 128. P. 158—166. DOI: 10.1016/j.neuroimage.2015.12.046
14. Lopez-Calderon J., Luck S.J. ERPLAB: an open-source toolbox for the analysis of event-related potentials // Frontiers in human neuroscience. 2014. V. 8. P. 213. DOI: 10.3389/fnhum.2014.00213
15. Novikov N.A., Bryzgalov D.V., Chernyshev B.V. Theta and alpha band modulations reflect error-related adjustments in the auditory condensation task // Frontiers in Human Neuroscience. 2015. V. 9. P. 673. DOI: 10.3389/fnhum.2015.00673
16. Novikov N.A., Nurislamova Y.M., Zhozhikashvili N.A., Kalenkovich E.E., Lapina A.A., Chernyshev B.V. Slow and fast responses: two mechanisms of trial outcome processing revealed by EEG oscillations // Frontiers in Human Neuroscience. 2017. V. 11. P. Artn 218. DOI: 10.3389/Fnhum.2017.00218
17. Pailing P.E., Segalowitz S.J. The effects of uncertainty in error monitoring on associated ERPs // Brain and Cognition. 2004. V. 56. № 2. P. 215—233. DOI: 10.1016/j.bandc.2004.06.005
18. Posner M.I. Information reduction in the analysis of sequential tasks // Psychological Review. 1964. V. 71. № 6. P. 491—504. DOI: 10.1037/H0041120
19. Rabbitt P. Detection of errors by skilled typists // Ergonomics. 1978. V. 21. № 11. P. 945—958. DOI: 10.1080/00140137808931800
20. Scheffers M.K., Coles M.G. Performance monitoring in a confusing world: error-related brain activity, judgments of response accuracy, and types of errors // Journal of Experimental Psychology. Human Perception and Performance. 2000. V. 26. № 1. P. 141—51. DOI: 10.1037/0096-1523.26.1.141
21. Scheffers M.K., Humphrey D.G., Stanny R.R., Kramer A F., Coles M.G. Error-related processing during a period of extended wakefulness // Psychophysiology. 1999. V. 36. № 2. P. 149—157. DOI: 10.1017/ S0048577299980307
22. Steinhauser M., Yeung N. Decision processes in human performance monitoring // Journal of Neuroscience. 2010. V. 30. № 46. P. 15643—15653. DOI: 10.1523/JNEUROSCI.1899-10.2010
23. van Driel J., Ridderinkhof K.R., Cohen M.X. Not all errors are alike: theta and alpha EEG dynamics relate to differences in error-processing dynamics // The Journal of Neuroscience. 2012. V. 32. № 47. P. 16795— 806. DOI: 10.1523/JNEUROSCI.0802-12.2012
24. van Veen V., Carter C. S. The timing of action-monitoring processes in the anterior cingulate cortex // Journal of Cognitive Neuroscience. 2002. V. 14. № 4. P. 593—602. DOI: 10.1162/08989290260045837
25. Vidal F., Hasbroucq T., Grapperon J., Bonnet M. Is the ‘error negativity’specific to errors? // Biological Psychology. 2000. V. 51. № 2—3. P. 109—128. DOI: 10.1016/S0301-0511(99)00032-0
26. Wessel J.R. Error awareness and the error-related negativity: evaluating the first decade of evidence // Frontiers in Human Neuroscience. 2012. V. 6. P. 88. DOI: 10.3389/fnhum.2012.00088
27. Yeung N. Conflict monitoring and cognitive control // The Oxford Handbook of Cognitive Neuroscience: The Cutting Edges / Ochsner K. N., Kosslyn S. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2014. C. 275—299. DOI: 10.1093/oxfordhb/9780199988709.001.0001