title: Hierarchical error evaluation: the role of medial-frontal cortex in postural control.
abstract: Motor error evaluation appears to be a hierarchically organized process subserved by 2 distinct systems: a higher level system within medial-frontal cortex responsible for movement outcome evaluation (high-level error evaluation) and a lower level posterior system(s) responsible for the mediation of within-movement errors (low-level error evaluation). While a growing body of evidence suggests that a reinforcement learning system within medial-frontal cortex plays a crucial role in the evaluation of high-level errors made during discrete reaching movements and continuous motor tracking, the role of this system in postural control is currently unclear. Participants learned a postural control task via a feedback-driven trial-and-error shaping process. In line with previous findings, electroencephalographic recordings revealed that feedback about movement outcomes elicited a feedback error-related negativity: a component of the human event-related brain potential associated with high-level outcome evaluation within medial-frontal cortex. Thus, the data provide evidence that a high-level error-evaluation system within medial-frontal cortex plays a key role in learning to control our body posture.
authors.affiliation: a Psychology and Neuroscience , Dalhousie University , Halifax , Nova Scotia.
authors.forename: Cameron D
authors.initials: CD
authors.lastname: Hassall
authors.forename: Stephane
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: MacLean
authors.forename: Olave E
authors.initials: OE
authors.lastname: Krigolson
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D005071:Evoked Potentials / Q000502:physiology; D056228:Feedback, Sensory / Q000502:physiology; D005260:Female; D005625:Frontal Lobe / Q000502:physiology*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D009068:Movement / Q000502:physiology*; D004856:Postural Balance / Q000502:physiology*; D011597:Psychomotor Performance / Q000502:physiology; D055815:Young Adult
keywords: ERP; balance; fERN; outcome evaluation; posture; reinforcement learning