Premium
Alpha power is influenced by performance errors
Author(s) -
Carp Joshua,
Compton Rebecca J.
Publication year - 2009
Publication title -
psychophysiology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.661
H-Index - 156
eISSN - 1469-8986
pISSN - 0048-5772
DOI - 10.1111/j.1469-8986.2008.00773.x
Subject(s) - psychology , disengagement theory , electroencephalography , stroop effect , arousal , error related negativity , anticipation (artificial intelligence) , alpha (finance) , audiology , cognitive psychology , cognition , developmental psychology , neuroscience , anterior cingulate cortex , psychometrics , artificial intelligence , computer science , gerontology , medicine , construct validity
Error commission evokes changes in event‐related potentials, autonomic nervous system activity, and behavior, presumably reflecting the operation of a cognitive control network. Here we test the hypothesis that errors lead to increased cortical arousal, measurable as changes in electroencephalogram (EEG) alpha band power. Participants performed a Stroop task while EEG was recorded. Following correct responses, alpha power increased and then decreased in a quadratic pattern, implying transient mental disengagement during the intertrial interval. This trend was absent following errors, which elicited significantly less alpha power than correct trials. Moreover, post‐error alpha power was a better predictor of individual differences in post‐error slowing than the error‐related negativity (ERN), whereas the ERN was a better predictor of post‐error accuracy than alpha power. These findings imply that changes in cortical arousal play a unique role in modulating post‐error behavior.