Event-related brain potential signaling unexpected timing of feedback: A source localization analysis

Mediofrontal event-related potential (ERP) components have been extensively reported following performance error or unexpected feedback, and could reflect dopaminergic phasic changes conveyed to medial prefrontal cortex. Recent studies suggest a role for medial prefrontal cortex not only in signaling unexpected feedback but also unexpected timing of expected feedback. However, analyses of this aspect are still scarce. In this study, a task creating a condition of unexpected (anticipated) timing of a predicted feedback was designed and the associated ERP analyzed. Both an aversive and a neutral feedback were considered. ERP analysis evidenced frontocentral component elicited by unexpected, relative to expected, timing of feedback, more significant for aversive than neutral feedback. Cortical generators of this ERP component were estimated using sLORETA source localization method: we found that some regions in the frontal and prefrontal cortex may be responsive to unexpected timing of feedback, to a larger extent in case of aversive than neutral feedback. Results are discussed with respect to findings of previous works. This study can contribute to inform current theories of performance monitoring in frontal/prefrontal cortex and to drive future investigations.

[1]  Nicola K. Ferdinand,et al.  The Processing of Unexpected Positive Response Outcomes in the Mediofrontal Cortex , 2012, The Journal of Neuroscience.

[2]  P. Goldman-Rakic,et al.  Characterization of the dopaminergic innervation of the primate frontal cortex using a dopamine-specific antibody. , 1993, Cerebral cortex.

[3]  田中 秀明,et al.  Low Resolution Brain Electromagnetic Tomography(LORETA)をもちいた脳機能マッピングの新たな展開 , 2002 .

[4]  Joshua W. Brown,et al.  Medial prefrontal cortex as an action-outcome predictor , 2011, Nature Neuroscience.

[5]  Joshua W. Brown,et al.  Medial prefrontal cortex predicts and evaluates the timing of action outcomes , 2011, NeuroImage.

[6]  J. Hollerman,et al.  Dopamine neurons report an error in the temporal prediction of reward during learning , 1998, Nature Neuroscience.

[7]  Laura Astolfi,et al.  Use of a neural mass model for the analysis of effective connectivity among cortical regions based on high resolution EEG recordings , 2007, Biological Cybernetics.

[8]  Dirk Ostwald,et al.  Imaging tactile imagery: Changes in brain connectivity support perceptual grounding of mental images in primary sensory cortices , 2014, NeuroImage.

[9]  John R. Anderson,et al.  Learning from experience: Event-related potential correlates of reward processing, neural adaptation, and behavioral choice , 2012, Neuroscience & Biobehavioral Reviews.

[10]  Martin E. Maier,et al.  Mediofrontal negativity signals unexpected omission of aversive events , 2014, Scientific Reports.

[11]  Arnaud Delorme,et al.  EEGLAB: an open source toolbox for analysis of single-trial EEG dynamics including independent component analysis , 2004, Journal of Neuroscience Methods.

[12]  M. Walton,et al.  Action sets and decisions in the medial frontal cortex , 2004, Trends in Cognitive Sciences.

[13]  J Mazziotta,et al.  A probabilistic atlas and reference system for the human brain: International Consortium for Brain Mapping (ICBM). , 2001, Philosophical transactions of the Royal Society of London. Series B, Biological sciences.

[14]  Mauro Ursino,et al.  Neurocomputational approaches to modelling multisensory integration in the brain: A review , 2014, Neural Networks.

[15]  W. Schultz,et al.  Discrete Coding of Reward Probability and Uncertainty by Dopamine Neurons , 2003, Science.

[16]  Deborah Talmi,et al.  The Feedback-Related Negativity Signals Salience Prediction Errors, Not Reward Prediction Errors , 2013, The Journal of Neuroscience.

[17]  Clay B. Holroyd,et al.  The feedback-related negativity reflects the binary evaluation of good versus bad outcomes , 2006, Biological Psychology.

[18]  Thomas E. Nichols,et al.  Nonparametric permutation tests for functional neuroimaging: A primer with examples , 2002, Human brain mapping.

[19]  R D Pascual-Marqui,et al.  Standardized low-resolution brain electromagnetic tomography (sLORETA): technical details. , 2002, Methods and findings in experimental and clinical pharmacology.