Sending mixed signals: worry is associated with enhanced initial error processing but reduced call for subsequent cognitive control

Moran, Tim P.; Bernat, E. M.; Aviyente, Selin; Schroder, Hans S.; Moser, Jason S.

doi:10.1093/scan/nsv046

Cited by 46 publications

(29 citation statements)

References 67 publications

(91 reference statements)

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…We recently investigated potential mechanisms to explain the disconnect between a larger ERN and the failure of anxious adults to adaptively change their behavioral performance (Moran et al 2015). Findings suggested that this disconnect was a result of decreased theta band synchrony, indicative of reduced connectivity between medial frontal and lateral pre-frontal regions associated with the generation of the ERN.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Associations between Disorder-Specific Symptoms of Anxiety and Error-Monitoring Brain Activity in Young Children

Schroder

Fisher

et al. 2016

J Abnorm Child Psychol

Self Cite

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Anxiety disorders are among the earliest emerging disorders and most common mental health problem across the lifespan. A common characteristic of individuals with anxiety is poor attentional and cognitive control. Therefore, researchers are interested in how cognitive functioning relates to anxiety in young children. In particular, research has demonstrated associations between anxiety and electrophysiological markers of cognitive control skills such as the error-related negativity (ERN). The nature of the anxiety-ERN relationship is not well understood, however. The purpose of the present study was to examine: 1) the association between the ERN and diagnostically-defined symptoms of different anxiety disorders; and 2) the extent to which disorder-specific symptoms of anxiety moderated the association between ERN and behavioral performance on a Go/No-Go task in a sample of 139 children 5–8 years of age (70 females and 69 males). Results suggest that more separation anxiety disorder (SAD) symptoms are associated with a smaller ΔERN, even after controlling for other anxiety disorder symptoms. Children with more SAD symptoms showed higher error rates and failed to exhibit the expected association between ΔERN and behavioral performance, suggesting ineffective error-monitoring in young children with SAD problems.

show abstract

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Associations between Disorder-Specific Symptoms of Anxiety and Error-Monitoring Brain Activity in Young Children

Schroder

Fisher

et al. 2016

J Abnorm Child Psychol

Self Cite

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…Interestingly, a recent study found that while worry was associated with increased neural reactivity to conflict, this anxiety was not associated with enhanced connectivity (i.e., theta phase synchrony; ) between medial and lateral electrode sites (Moran, Bernat, Aviyente, Schroder, & Moser, 2015). This latter finding suggests that despite reacting more strongly to conflict, anxious individuals are less able to use this signal to improve control.…”

Section: Anxiety Acceptance and Improving Cognitive Controlmentioning

confidence: 93%

The emotive nature of conflict monitoring in the medial prefrontal cortex

Saunders

Lin

Milyavskaya

et al. 2017

International Journal of Psychophysiology

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

The detection of conflict between incompatible impulses, thoughts, and actions is a ubiquitous source of motivation across theories of goal-directed action. In this overview, we explore the hypothesis that conflict is emotive, integrating perspectives from affective science and cognitive neuroscience. Initially, we review evidence suggesting that the mental and biological processes that monitor for information processing conflict-particularly those generated by the anterior midcingulate cortex-track the affective significance of conflict and use this signal to motivate increased control. In this sense, variation in control resembles a form of affect regulation in which control implementation counteracts the aversive experience of conflict. We also highlight emerging evidence proposing that states and dispositions associated with acceptance facilitate control by tuning individuals to the emotive nature of conflict, before proposing avenues for future research, including investigating the role of affect in reinforcement learning and decision making.Keywords: emotion; cognitive control; motivation; event-related potentials; negative affect; medial prefrontal cortex;The Emotive Nature of Conflict 3 The emotive nature of conflict monitoring in the medial prefrontal cortexMonitoring performance for goal conflicting thoughts, feelings, and behaviours underlies flexible responding in complex, unpredictable environments. During smoking cessation, for example, quickly detecting impulses (e.g., the desire to smoke) or actions (e.g., picking up a cigarette) that conflict with the goal to quit can signal the need to control behaviour, safeguarding goal progress. Beyond unwanted temptations, conflict is evoked across diverse explanatory frameworks, ranging from high-level dissonant states that emerge when individual's hold multiple inconsistent ideologies, to seemingly lower-level conflicts that occur when stimulus dimensions cue mutually incompatible responses (e.g., Stroop conflict).Underscoring the theoretical ubiquity of conflict, detecting and overcoming some internal conflict or discord is fundamental to multiple seminal perspectives in western philosophy, psychology, and neuroscience (e.g

show abstract

“…Somewhat notably, the type of task itself does not seem to play a role in whether a study will find a relative increase or a decrease in accuracy after errors. For example, while several studies using the flanker task have found increases in accuracy following errors compared to correct trials (Grutzmann, Endrass, Klawohn, & Kathmann, ; Marco‐Pallares, Camara, Munte, & Rodriguez‐Fornells, ; Pontifex et al, ; Seifert, von Cramon, Imperati, Tittgemeyer, & Ullsperger, ; Strozyk & Jentzsch, ), other studies using the same paradigm have shown either the opposite pattern (Arnstein, Lakey, Compton, & Kleinow, ; Fiehler, Ullsperger, & von Cramon, ; Franken, van Strien, Franzek, & van de Wetering, ) or no difference between the conditions (Moran, Bernat, Aviyente, Schroder, & Moser, ; van den Brink et al, ). The same picture is true for other tasks, with some studies showing post‐error increases in accuracy (Danielmeier et al, ; Dutilh et al, ; Forster & Cho, ; Klein et al, ), some showing decreases (Bombeke, Schouppe, Duthoo, & Notebaert, ; Carp & Compton, ; Houtman & Notebaert, ; Jentzsch & Dudschig, ; Jonker, Seli, Cheyne, & Smilek, ; Notebaert et al, ; Notebaert & Verguts, ; Van der Borght, Braem, Stevens, & Notebaert, ), and some showing no change (e.g., Hajcak et al, ).…”

Section: Section Ii: Behavioral Studies Of Post‐error Accuracy Are Inmentioning

confidence: 99%

An adaptive orienting theory of error processing

2017

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

The ability to detect and correct action errors is paramount to safe and efficient goaldirected behaviors. Existing work on the neural underpinnings of error processing and post-error behavioral adaptations has led to the development of several mechanistic theories of error processing. These theories can be roughly grouped into adaptive and maladaptive theories. While adaptive theories propose that errors trigger a cascade of processes that will result in improved behavior after error commission, maladaptive theories hold that error commission momentarily impairs behavior. Neither group of theories can account for all available data, as different empirical studies find both impaired and improved post-error behavior. This article attempts a synthesis between the predictions made by prominent adaptive and maladaptive theories. Specifically, it is proposed that errors invoke a nonspecific cascade of processing that will rapidly interrupt and inhibit ongoing behavior and cognition, as well as orient attention toward the source of the error. It is proposed that this cascade follows all unexpected action outcomes, not just errors. In the case of errors, this cascade is followed by error-specific, controlled processing, which is specifically aimed at (re) tuning the existing task set. This theory combines existing predictions from maladaptive orienting and bottleneck theories with specific neural mechanisms from the wider field of cognitive control, including from error-specific theories of adaptive post-error processing. The article aims to describe the proposed framework and its implications for post-error slowing and post-error accuracy, propose mechanistic neural circuitry for post-error processing, and derive specific hypotheses for future empirical investigations. K E Y W O R D Sattention, cognitive control, error processing, inhibitory control, orienting, performance monitoring | IN TRO DUCT IO NThe ability to adapt behavior after erroneous actions is one of the key components of human cognitive control. Correcting current and avoiding future errors is paramount to survival. These abilities are the centerpiece of the scientific field of performance monitoring. Research into the neurophysiological and behavioral changes associated with error processing has generated several influential theories over the past few decades, which seek to explain how the human brain reacts to error commission. While many existing theories entail unique mechanisms and propose specific corollaries, one factor by which all theories can be roughly classified is whether they propose that psychological and neural processes triggered by error commission are maladaptive or adaptive. Empirically, this classification can be made based on whether a theory predicts that error commission is ultimately beneficial or detrimental to post-error behavior. Specifically, adaptive theories propose that errors trigger a cascade of neural processes that represents a remedial effort of the cognitive system, which is explicitly targeted at avoiding f...

show abstract

Sending mixed signals: worry is associated with enhanced initial error processing but reduced call for subsequent cognitive control

Cited by 46 publications

References 67 publications

Associations between Disorder-Specific Symptoms of Anxiety and Error-Monitoring Brain Activity in Young Children

Associations between Disorder-Specific Symptoms of Anxiety and Error-Monitoring Brain Activity in Young Children

The emotive nature of conflict monitoring in the medial prefrontal cortex

An adaptive orienting theory of error processing

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About