Event-related potentials associated with performance monitoring in non-human primates

The abilities to monitor performance outcomes and, when appropriate, impose strategic adjustments in behavior, are core features of the intact human cognitive control system. Errors committed in choice reaction time tasks are typically followed by two scalp potentials, the error negativity (Ne) and error positivity (Pe). These components are considered physiological signatures of the performance monitoring system. Several theories have been proposed to account for these error-related potentials and their functional and behavioral significance. These ideas were inspired by empirical data in humans and other mammalian species, and supported by the results of experiments in which performance monitoring, in humans and computational models, was investigated. However, an appropriate animal model is required to rigorously test the predictions that arise from these theories. Here, using a variant of the anti-saccade task, we demonstrate that event-related signals recorded from macaque monkeys, following errors in choice, resemble the human Ne and Pe. These components were modulated by cognitive variables, namely the degree of cognitive control associated with the applied rule, which implies the existence of hierarchical error processing systems in monkeys, and the degree of response control associated with the saccade. Error-related potential amplitudes were also correlated with remedial action, in a rule-dependent manner. These results demonstrate that error-related potentials in macaque monkeys and human subjects show important similarities, thus supporting the use of the macaque monkey as an animal model for the neurophysiological study of performance monitoring, and potentially, post-error adjustments.