ABSTRACT
Errors during speeded response tasks are typically immediately followed by a large component in the event-related potential, the error-related negativity; various lines of research have suggested that this component is primarily generated by the anterior cingulate cortex. This error-related activity has generated a high level of interest and investigation by cognitive neuroscientists because of the importance of online action monitoring for theories of cognitive regulation. A subsequent component, the error positivity, has remained more elusive to date. In this review we will discuss some of the extensive research which has suggested that these components are related to performance monitoring, and, should performance be compromised, dynamically adjusting control processes. Furthermore, evidence from patients with mental illnesses, including schizophrenia and obsessive-compulsive disorder, suggests that such illnesses might be understood as resulting in part from disturbances in this action monitoring function.
Subject(s)
Attention/physiology , Conflict, Psychological , Gyrus Cinguli/physiology , Electroencephalography , Evoked Potentials/physiology , Humans , Magnetoencephalography , Psychomotor Performance/physiology , Reaction TimeABSTRACT
It has been hypothesized that the anterior cingulate cortex (ACC) contributes to cognition by detecting conflicts that might occur during information processing, to signal the need to engage top-down attentional processes. The present study was designed to investigate which levels of processing are being monitored by the ACC for the presence of conflict. Event-related fMRI was used to measure the response of the ACC during an interference task in which distracting information could be congruent, conflicting at the level of stimulus identification, or conflicting at the response level. Although both types of conflict caused reaction time interference, the fMRI data showed that the ACC is responsive only to response conflict, even when controlling for reaction times. These results suggest a highly specific contribution of the ACC to executive functions, through the detection of conflicts occurring at later or response-related levels of processing.
