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Maturation of action monitoring from adolescence to adulthood: an ERP study
Author(s) -
Hogan Alexandra M.,
VarghaKhadem Faraneh,
Kirkham Fenella J.,
Baldeweg Torsten
Publication year - 2005
Publication title -
developmental science
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 2.801
H-Index - 127
eISSN - 1467-7687
pISSN - 1363-755X
DOI - 10.1111/j.1467-7687.2005.00444.x
Subject(s) - psychology , negativity effect , error related negativity , developmental psychology , young adult , audiology , action (physics) , electroencephalography , frontal lobe , cognitive psychology , cognition , neuroscience , physics , quantum mechanics , medicine , anterior cingulate cortex
This study investigated the development of the frontal lobe action‐monitoring system from late childhood and adolescence to early adulthood using ERP markers of error processing. Error negativity (ERN) and correct response negativity (CRN) potentials were recorded while adolescents and adults (aged 12–22 years, n = 23) performed two forced‐choice visual reaction time tasks of differing complexity. Significant age differences were seen for behavioural and ERP responses to complex (infrequent, incompatible) trials: adolescents elicited an error negativity of reduced magnitude compared with adults. Furthermore, in contrast to adults, adolescents showed a non‐significant differentiation between response‐locked ERP components elicited by correct (CRN) and error responses (ERN). Behaviourally, adolescents corrected fewer errors in incompatible trials, and with increasing age there was greater post‐error slowing. In conclusion, the neural systems underlying action‐monitoring continue to mature throughout the second decade of life, and are associated with increased efficiency for fast error detection and correction during complex tasks.