Errors can be related to pre-stimulus differences in ERP topography and their concomitant sources

Area of Science:

• Cognitive Neuroscience
• Neurophysiology
• Psychology

Background:

• Pre-stimulus brain activity fluctuations significantly influence neuronal and behavioral responses to stimuli.
• Understanding the neural basis of errors is crucial for cognitive control research.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate the hypothesis that errors result from stochastic fluctuations in pre-stimulus brain activity.
• To examine the temporal dynamics and intracranial generators of event-related potentials (ERPs) associated with errors versus correct trials in a Stroop task.

Main Methods:

• Utilized high-density electroencephalography (EEG) to record scalp topography and estimate intracranial sources of ERPs.
• Analyzed stimulus- and response-locked ERPs during a Stroop task, comparing error and correct trials.
• Investigated the statistical properties of error occurrences.

Main Results:

• Significant differences in ERP topography and intracranial sources were observed before stimulus onset and after response initiation, but not due to stimulus-induced conflict.
• Pre-stimulus differences were linked to activity in frontal, parietal, and temporal areas involved in attention and cognitive control.
• Post-response differences involved a network associated with performance monitoring, propagating along a rostral-caudal axis.

Conclusions:

• Errors in cognitive tasks are associated with stochastic fluctuations in brain activity occurring before the stimulus and after the response.
• These findings highlight the role of pre-stimulus and post-response neural dynamics in error generation and performance monitoring.