title: Affective context-induced modulation of the error-related negativity.
abstract: The error-related negativity putatively reflects the activity of performance-monitoring processes influenced by motivational factors, and is overactive in certain anxiety states, suggesting that affective factors affect its generation. We examined the effects of emotionally arousing and neutral task-irrelevant backgrounds on the error-related negativity to determine whether an affective context 'mismatch' alters error-related neural processing. Event-related potentials were acquired while healthy participants performed a modified Eriksen flanker task wherein flanker stimuli were superimposed on neutral, pleasant, and unpleasant pictures. The error-related negativity varied as a function of picture valence, peaking both earlier and larger in the context of pleasant backgrounds than neutral or unpleasant backgrounds. Findings support the hypothesis that affective factors influence the error-related negativity, potentially reflecting an affective mismatch associated with performance monitoring.
authors.affiliation: Department of Clinical and Health Psychology, University of Florida, Gainesville, Florida 32610, USA.
authors.forename: Michael J
authors.initials: MJ
authors.lastname: Larson
authors.forename: William M
authors.initials: WM
authors.lastname: Perlstein
authors.forename: David
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Stigge-Kaufman
authors.forename: Kiesa G
authors.initials: KG
authors.lastname: Kelly
authors.forename: Vonetta M
authors.initials: VM
authors.lastname: Dotson
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000704:Analysis of Variance; D001143:Arousal; D001931:Brain Mapping; D003265:Contingent Negative Variation / Q000502:physiology*; D004569:Electroencephalography / Q000379:methods; D004644:Emotions / Q000502:physiology*; D005074:Evoked Potentials, Visual / Q000502:physiology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D010364:Pattern Recognition, Visual; D010775:Photic Stimulation / Q000379:methods; D011930:Reaction Time / Q000502:physiology; D013647:Task Performance and Analysis