On the ERN and the significance of errors

The error-related negativity (ERN) is an event-related brain potential observed when subjects commit errors. To examine whether the ERN is sensitive to the value of errors, the motivational significance of errors wasmanipulated in two experiments. In Experiment 1, low and high monetary value errors were compared to evaluate the effect of trial value on the ERN. In Experiment 2, subjects performed a flanker task both while their performance was being evaluated and during a control condition. Consistent with the notion that the error-detection system is sensitive to the significance of errors, the ERN was significantly larger on high-value trials in Experiment 1 and during evaluation in Experiment 2. There were no corresponding effects on the correct response negativity, and no behavioral differences between conditions were evident in either experiment. These results are discussed in terms of the functional role of the ERN in response monitoring. Descriptors:Motivation, Event-related potentials (ERPs), Error-related negativity (ERN), Ne, Value, Affect Effective action monitoring involves appropriate performance adjustments in terms of task demands, and a crucial component of this process is the ability to detect errors and adjust per-formance accordingly (Falkenstein, Hoormann, Christ, & Hohnsbein, 2000). Studies that measure response-locked event-related brain potentials (ERPs) have described fronto-centrally maximal negative components that appear relevant to response monitoring. Perhaps most notably, when subjects make a mis-take, the response-locked ERP at fronto-central recording sites is characterized by a negative deflection known as the error-related negativity (ERN or Ne) that peaks approximately 50 ms post