Confidence tracks sensory- and decision-related ERP dynamics during auditory detection

Area of Science:

• Neuroscience
• Cognitive Science
• Auditory Perception

Background:

• Metacognitive judgments are crucial for decision-making and memory retrieval.
• Previous research focused on decision and post-decision neural correlates.
• The role of neural monitoring in earlier sensory processing for metacognition is less understood.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate the neural correlates of confidence in an auditory detection task.
• To determine if metacognitive judgments reflect early sensory processing or later decision-making stages.
• To examine the influence of stimulus probability on confidence-related neural activity.

Main Methods:

• Event-related potentials (ERPs) were recorded from participants performing a tone-in-noise detection task.
• Participants indicated the interval containing a pure tone and rated their confidence.
• Stimuli included a frequent primary tone and a rare probe tone, presented in one of two intervals.

Main Results:

• Tone-locked N1, P2, and P3 amplitudes were larger for high-confidence than low-confidence judgments.
• A P3-like positivity in the tone-absent interval was larger for low-confidence judgments.
• Confidence differences between primary and probe trials correlated with N1 and P3 amplitudes.

Conclusions:

• Metacognitive judgments can reflect both sensory- (N1) and decision-related (P3) neural processes.
• The neural basis of confidence depends on the task demands and available information.
• This study highlights the dynamic nature of metacognition in tracking neural activity across processing stages.